BRAVO'S BLONDETOURAGE RETURNS ON "THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ORANGE COUNTY" SEASON SEVEN PREMIERING ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7 AT 9PM ET/PT

Cast Welcomes New Housewife And Brunette Heather Dubrow

NEW YORK - December 19, 2011 - Bravo's original series that started the hit franchise, "The Real Housewives of Orange County," returns for season seven on Tuesday, February 7 at 9pm ET/PT. Reeling from the repercussions of last season's drama, the series once again ventures behind the gates for a salacious look at the loves and lives unfolding inside one of Southern California's wealthiest communities. This season Vicki Gunvalson, Tamra Barney, Gretchen Rossi and Alexis Bellino welcome brunette bombshell Heather Dubrow, a former actress and now stay-at-home mother of four who is married to a prominent Newport Beach plastic surgeon.

Still in the process of divorcing Donn, Vicki puts her house up for sale and introduces the wives to Brooks, her new Southern boyfriend. Vicki is blissfully in love, but her kids and some of the women start to worry that Vicki is moving too fast with this relationship. Vicki continues to deal with her daughter Briana's health issues, but it's another shocking surprise that leaves Vicki completely speechless.

Longtime foes Tamra and Gretchen finally try to bury the hatchet and begin a blossoming friendship. But this unlikely twosome causes a strain in both Tamra's relationship with best friend, Vicki, and Gretchen's romance with boyfriend, Slade.

On the precipice of finalizing her divorce from her ex-husband, Tamra begins to take her relationship with boyfriend Eddie to the next level.

But with so much change in her life and her new-found sense of freedom, Tamra is torn between jumping in head first or taking it slow.

Gretchen begins a daring new chapter in her life when she takes to the stage as a singer and dancer with the Pussycat Dolls in Las Vegas. Her relationship with Slade becomes strained as he continues to dwell on past battles with Tamra and Vicki.

Alexis continues to test the boundaries of independence with her husband Jim when she gets a job as a correspondent with a local morning news show. She also continues to run her dress line business, but is quickly learning that it's not easy to manage it all and run a household. As Tamra and Gretchen become closer, Alexis fears she is losing her only ally in this group of women.

Season six of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" was the highest rated season of the series among all key demos, averaging 2,560,000 total viewers, and 1,917,000 adults 18-49.

Season seven of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" is produced by Evolution Media for Bravo, with partners Douglas Ross, Gregory Stewart and Kathleen French along with Scott Dunlop and Kevin Lee serving as executive producers.

Source: Nielsen Media Research, L7 data. Premieres only.

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