How Emily Simpson Really Feels About "Shocking" RHOC Cast Shakeup & Heather Dubrow's Return

The Real Housewives of Orange County star Emily Simpson explains why she was "shocked" to learn of Kelly Dodd's departure, and teases what's in store for Heather Dubrow.

Watch: Heather Dubrow Returns to “RHOC” as Kelly, Braunwyn & Elizabeth Exit

Not everyone thought it was time for a The Real Housewives of Orange County cast shakeup.

RHOC star Emily Simpson didn’t expect Kelly Dodd, Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Elizabeth Lyn Vargas to be axed ahead of season 16 of the Bravo reality series. Even though Kelly was “expecting to be fired” for a quite a while due to her controversial comments, Emily exclusively told E! News that the June 15 announcement left her “shocked.” 

“I had no idea that they were going to make that many changes,” Emily told E! News exclusively on Tuesday, June 29 at the Veganic Nail Spa Grand Opening in Costa Mesa, Calif. “There are a lot of times where people or even Andy [Cohen] will say something like a reboot. First of all, I don’t even know what reboot means. Do you mean recast or reboot? So I really, honestly, didn’t think there would be that big of changes. I mean it was a shock, like shocking, shocking. I was shocked so many times in one day. I was traumatized.” 

Emily even joked “I didn’t think I was going to make it” when discussing the “cutthroat” recasting.

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“It bothers me when fans become really critical of the last season because I feel like people aren’t understanding the obstacles that we had to deal with,” Emily explained. “I felt like it was a very odd season. It was short, but it was weird. We don’t normally film for two weeks and then shut down for six months and then have to self-film. That was bizarre…The fact that we even got 14 episodes and that you even got us on camera, it really was a huge feat.” 

Emily will even miss Kelly, who slammed former co-star Braunwyn on social media following the news of their dual firing. “Kelly and I got close over the last three years and we were really good friends, so it’s hard to see someone all the time in like a work situation and then that person isn’t there. That’ll be an adjustment,” Emily admitted.

Tommy Garcia/Bravo, Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

However, the attorney is eager to film season 16 with new stars, including returning cast member Heather Dubrow. “I’m excited about meeting Heather because we have some mutual friends and the only thing I’ve heard about her were good things,” Emily gushed. “I’m excited about their being new girls because I really feel like we need some fresh Orange County faces that have fabulous lives, husbands and careers.”

She’s also looking forward to becoming closer to co-star Gina Kirschenheiter. “We have such a fun, solid friendship,” she beamed. “When we get together, we just have a good time.”

Shannon Beador is also returning for another season.

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Emily is putting her new face forward after receiving a lower facelift (“I just have one chin now”) and an improved jawline.

“When I get all those comments from women that are like, ‘Oh my gosh. You didn’t need plastic surgery. You must have insecurity issues. You really need to work on your inside.’ It’s like, no, I don’t need to work on my inside,” Emily clapped back. “I need to work on my outside because I’m 45 years old, I gained 40 pounds, lost it, and now I have three chins and it bothers me so I did it for myself.” 

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Dr. Dubrow's Latest Botched Surgery Is Not for the Faint of Heart

Get all the details on the latest cases doctors Paul Nassif and Terry Dubrow faced on the June 15 episode of Botched.

Watch: Woman’s Butt Implant Makes Leg Go Numb

Ready to put the past behind her…but it’s a full court press for the Botched doctors! 

On tonight’s June 15 episode, doctors Paul Nassif and Terry Dubrow treat Takeema, a patient who was left with a basketball-sized dented derrière after getting a tummy tuck and Brazilian butt lift in Mexico. “I feel like I’m pulling a trailer behind me,” Tekeema explained of her supersized buttock implants. 

Her behind was so misshapen that Takeema’s friends called her cheeks “dunk’em, since they look like an uneven pair of giant basketballs.”

Takeema hoped Dr. Dubrow could replace her booty implants with fat from her thighs or arms, but Dubrow was adamant that there was another option. “The problem is you have this giant pocket,” he noted during the consultation. “You can’t just throw fat into a pocket.”

Instead, Dubrow suggested removing the implants, re-crafting Takeema’s bottom by rotating the fat down and tightening the skin with a buttock lift. He warned, “We can do the best we can knowing that it may be really disappointing.”

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Takeema was anticipating the worst: “This is the conversation I’ve been fearing all along, but I’m really hopeful Dr. Dubrow has some tricks up his sleeve,” she added. “I still want some biscuits and not a pancake.” 

It seemed a flat behind was the scariest outcome for Takeema undergoing surgery again. “I pray that God is going to guide your hands,” Takeema told Dr. Dubrow before being numbed. “It’s going to be a good thing.” 

E!

Dr. Dubrow started by making an incision along Takeema’s upper buttock to remove her implants, the bringing fat down to create volume before doing her butt lift. Dubrow also removed the dent on Takeema’s left cheek to “create a better appearing contour on the left.” But there were plenty of surprises once Dubrow went to start on Takeema’s butt. 

“It’s not very often we see things we’ve never seen before,” Dubrow explained when Takeema’s behind started gushing puss. To Dubrow, it was a “rush of yellow fluid” that could have been the result of Takeema’s previous surgeon trying to craft a Brazilian butt lift on top of the implants.

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Post-surgery, Takeema wasn’t too pleased at first. “It definitely has a different look,” she said in dismay. “If you see it with my leggings on, it looks different. I’m definitely worried that what happened in Mexico may have destroyed my backside forever. Am I really going to have to live with a flapjack?” 

Both doctors Nassif and Dubrow didn’t see what Takeema saw: In fact, her behind looked just fine! Dubrow assured Yakeema that her natural projection will kick in after recovery.

Sure enough, Takeema is happier than ever with her well-shaped (albeit smaller) rear end. “My butt is so natural and normal and it moves and it shakes,” she said with a smile. “I feel confident about myself.” To Takeema, it was “destiny” for Dubrow to be the surgeon to fix her “dunk’em” butt.

“Dr. Dubrow is the dunk’em MVP of surgery,” Takeema concluded.

E!

The Botched doctors also operated on Yesenia whose nose was permanently crushed after undergoing past surgeries to fix a “parrot” beak. Dr. Nassif even found an admirer in “plastic fantastic sugar baby” Hurricane Garrett, whose $2,000 per month addiction to lip injections was creating nerve damage.

“I can’t perform my sugar baby services,” he cried about losing sensation in his lips. Hurricane Garrett even said that Dr. Nassif was just his sugar daddy type!

See the shocking episode here, and binge past seasons of Botched on Peacock.

(E! and Peacock are both a part of the NBCUniversal family.)