Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Career[edit]
She is one of the original cast members of Bravo's reality television show The Real Housewives of
Orange County. In January 2020, Gunvalson announced her departure from the franchise; in a
statement, she said: "It's been an incredible ride for 14 years and I want thank all of you for your
support, for your love and for 'whooping it up' with me along the way."[4]
In 2020, she hosted a podcast titled Whoop It Up with Vicki.[5]
Personal life[edit]
Gunvalson is one of five children. Her father owned a construction company and her mother was a
housewife.[1] She married her first husband Michael J. Wolfsmith at the age of 21 and they had two
children, Briana Culberson (née Wolfsmith) and Michael Wolfsmith.[6] At the age of 29, they divorced
and she began a part-time job at her father's construction company.[1]
In 1991, after her father's death from Alzheimer's disease, she joined the health insurance business.
[7]
In 1994, she married Donn Gunvalson and founded Coto Insurance and Financial Services, after
obtaining her insurance license in California.[1][6] Vicki and Donn divorced in 2014. Vicki is engaged to
Steve Lodge, brother of Roger Lodge.[8]
During the tenth season of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Gunvalson dated Brooks Ayers.
It was revealed that Ayers' claim that he had cancer, which was a story line throughout the season,
was untrue, and that Gunvalson lied about it. In 2015, Ayers admitted that he had fabricated
"documents to 'prove' to the world that I, in fact, have cancer