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Emily Simpson hopes the “Real Housewives of Orange County” Season 16 reunion will clear up questions about what really went down at Heather Dubrow and Terry Dubrow’s dramatic dinner party.
“I feel like with everything that happened at Heather’s dinner party, which was like Episode 2 or something, I feel like there was a lot of backlash when it came to Gina [Kirschenheiter] or me or things that happened that people aren’t aware of,” Simpson, 46, tells Page Six exclusively.
“And so I feel like the reunion is the opportunity to kind of give the viewers more of a view as to things that happened that weren’t shown,” she explains. “So I’m hoping that maybe more things are cleared up as far as that evening is concerned.”
During the Nobu-catered $36,000 soirée, Kirschenheiter, 37, informed Heather, 53, that her longtime pal Nicole James — a “friend of the Housewives” who was also in attendance — had sued Terry, 63, many years ago over an allegedly botched plastic surgery.
Kirschenheiter learned of the lawsuit from co-star Shannon Beador, who insisted Kirschenheiter and Simpson swore to her they would not bring it up on camera.
But the Dubrows were furious, mainly with Beador, 58.
“Here’s the thing: I feel like Shannon came out of that situation looking like a victim,” Simpson tells us. “I feel like she made it out to be like she made this pact with Gina and me and, like, we promised not to say anything and then we immediately turned around and told Heather, and that’s not what happened at all.”
“There were other factors and other things that took place,” she says. “And so I’m hoping that that gets cleared up at the reunion. … I hope that there’s a little more detail as to why things happened the way that they did.”
Despite feeling like there were holes in the story that was portrayed to viewers, Simpson does not “blame editing.”
“It’s only a 45-minute episode, so I understand that it has to be condensed into a smaller version,” she explains. “And a lot of times, there’s things that happen or conversations that take place off camera that the audience isn’t aware of it, and then you react to it on camera, so then sometimes it looks ridiculous.”
Despite Noella Bergener’s allegations that Heather was so angry that night that she slammed a cameraman against a wall, sources close to production assure Page Six there was zero physicality of any kind by anyone. Heather has repeatedly denied the story, too.
So where does leave Simpson’s relationships with Beador and Bergener? She is not sure. Although she agrees with her co-stars that she is a bit of a “pot stirrer,” she takes offense to being labeled a “mean girl.”
“If there wasn’t s–t between the women, I would have nothing to stir!” the attorney quips.
However, Simpson would “never, ever consider [herself] a mean girl,” telling us, “I feel like I really am that person that wants to build real friendships and real relationships with people.
“I could see how maybe people think that I was mean to Shannon, but I don’t agree,” she adds. “I think all I did was basically [bring up] things that were said and done on camera, so I don’t feel like I was really being shady.”
Though Simpson adores the good times she shares with “fun Shannon” — like turning up on vacation and dressing up in bear costumes to scare their castmates — she feels the “RHOC” veteran changes when cameras are down.
“I find her to be difficult and neurotic, and that annoys me,” Simpson says. “It’s like a range of emotions with her.”
When it comes to Bergener, Simpson feels the newcomer, 36, is “more of a character than someone that’s easy to connect with, especially when she becomes very angry, very easily.”
One topic Simpson felt she had to hear about constantly but could never question was Bergener’s messy divorce, which became a primary storyline of the season.
“It’s like, if you want to talk about it all the time, then you should be open to people questioning it,” Simpson tells us, adding that she has decided to “back off and let Noella kind of navigate her way through it and get to a better headspace.”
Unsurprisingly, Simpson says she and Kirschenheiter are still thick as thieves. In fact, the two are co-hosting a fundraiser in San Diego Wednesday night to benefit the California Innocence Project.
Simpson says she could see wedding bells in her friend’s future — and a bridesmaid dress for herself.
“Gina and Travis [Mullen] definitely want to get married, but they want to do it when it’s best for them as a family,” she shares. “And I better be in the wedding!”
As for the upcoming season finale — which Simpson describes as “fun” and “interesting” — she tells us she is “excited” about it because it is “different than any other ‘Housewife’ franchise has ever done.”
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