On last week’s The Real Housewives of Orange County, Tamra Judge was exposed as a two-faced manipulator and a “snake.”
She had some real fallout to deal with after the other Housewives compared notes and realized that Tamra had been starting drama left and right.
But before she and Shannon could get into it, Tamra had another issue much closer to home.
Her eldest son, Ryan Vieth, is a deeply troubled man.
Hearing him admit his devastatingly low self-esteem issue as he discusses his mental and emotional health was a blow to Tamra’s heart.
In fact, she confesses that it makes her want to die — and she fears that Ryan could take his own life.
1.
Tamra has some real concerns
Her eldest child, Ryan Vieth, is a deeply troubled man. On top of behavioral, mental, and emotional issues, he’s a grown man in his thirties who is obsessed with the opportunities that he was denied due to his background.
2.
Ryan’s issues are clear
On top of things like leaked texts showing him making vicious threats against the mother of his child, his alarming social media posts, and his arrest for domestic violence, he clearly has self-esteem issues. So after Tamra got him to go see a therapist, Tamra was invited to a session to address Ryan’s childhood.
3.
Tamra feels like she failed him
“I carry guilt ’cause I feel like I let him down,” Tamra admits through tears. “I look at my kids now and the opportunities that they have. I got two kids in college now. Ryan never… He ran out of the house at 18 ’cause he couldn’t stand his stepdad. He doesn’t want to be controlled, he doesn’t want to be told what to do, so he fights life.”
4.
Ryan says …
Obviously, Ryan envies his siblings — who were born into a wealthy household rather than going from a loosely supervised child of a young, working, single mom to one living in a structured and affluent home at 13. That was a jarring change. But Ryan also talks about how he resents that his biological father has missed so many of his and his young daughter’s milestones.
5.
Speaking of Ryan’s daughter, Ava
“You are a good dad,” Tamra assures Ryan through tears, telling the therapist: “But I see that he’s putting all of his energy — all of it — into her. He is so troubled by his past that he doesn’t want her to have that life.” That is not uncommon for parents who had rough lives and want their children to have a better future.
6.
Tamra tells the camera
“I can look at my son’s eyes and see he’s just not himself,” she says during a confessional. “He just wants to protect this little girl so much, like just smother her, and he doesn’t let other people in. He isolates himself with Ava, and it’s starting to concern me.”