Vicki Gunvalson, a television personality known for her role on Bravo’s hit reality show “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” has revealed that she recently experienced a serious health scare that nearly resulted in her death. “There’s a lot of hours missing in my life because I got, like, amnesia, semi-stroke,” she said during the episode, published on Aug. 26.
“Last Thursday, I went and got my hair done as usual, went on my way to the office, and there seems to be about an hour or two that I was missing,” she added. “I don’t know where I was.” The reality star’s partner, Michael Smith, joined her during the episode to help fill in lapses in her memory.
Smith’s daughter, Olivia—who is employed at Gunvalson’s firm, Coto Insurance, a life insurance agency located in Irvine, California—said Gunvalson did make it into the office that day. However, she said her speech was noticeably unintelligible. “She said I was talking gibberish and I wrote an email out and the email didn’t make sense,” Gunvalson explained.
The Coto Insurance founder said she subsequently met with a client, who happened to be a retired emergency room physician. “He got up and told Olivia that I was possibly having a stroke,” Gunvalson shared. “I don’t remember anything, and she took me to the hospital.
” Gunvalson—who served as a cast member on “The Real Housewives of Orange County” for 13 seasons, from 2006 to 2018—was diagnosed with a sinus infection .