Vicki Gunvalson holds a unique place in reality television history as an original cast member of “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” the very first installment of what would become one of the largest reality television franchises in the world. Known widely as the “OG of the OC,” Gunvalson built her public persona around both her outspoken personality and her genuine success as a businesswoman in the insurance industry. This article explores her full biography, career, and her role in the milestone 2026 series “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th.”
Early Life
Victoria Gunvalson, born Victoria L. Steinmetz, was born on March 27, 1962, in Mount Prospect, Illinois, a small suburb northwest of Chicago. She was raised in a family of five children, later growing up in the nearby towns of Palatine and Mount Prospect. Her father owned and operated a construction company, while her mother worked as a homemaker, providing Gunvalson with an early example of entrepreneurial drive that would later shape her professional life.
Gunvalson faced significant health challenges during her childhood. At just five years old, she was diagnosed with an inner ear tumor known as cholesteatoma, a condition that required multiple surgeries throughout her early years and ultimately resulted in the permanent loss of hearing in her right ear. She attended William Fremd High School before continuing her education at Harper College. Later in her life, tragedy struck her family again when her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of fifty nine, a loss that Gunvalson has said profoundly shaped her broader perspective on life and family. Her father passed away from the disease in 1991.
Building Coto Insurance
Following her first divorce, Gunvalson began working part time at her father’s construction company, but after his death, she made the decision to pivot into the health insurance industry. After obtaining her insurance license in California, she went on to found Coto Insurance and Financial Services in the 1990s, a firm based in Coto de Caza, California, specializing in life insurance, retirement planning, and broader financial advising services.
Coto Insurance became one of the most consistently successful business ventures among any cast member across the entire Real Housewives franchise, and Gunvalson has continued to lead the company for decades. She later expanded her business further by launching Coto University, an online training program designed to help develop new insurance agents entering the industry. As of recent years, Gunvalson has remained actively involved in the daily management of Coto Insurance alongside her son, Michael Wolfsmith, who now serves as Vice President of Life Insurance at the company and has become one of its top producing agents in his own right.
Original Cast Member of The Real Housewives of Orange County
Gunvalson was one of the five original cast members when “The Real Housewives of Orange County” premiered in 2006, marking the very beginning of what would become the entire Real Housewives franchise. She remained a full time cast member for the show’s first thirteen seasons before being shifted to a “Friend of the Housewives” role for season fourteen, a change attributed both to efforts to refresh the show’s dynamics and to reported concerns over her salary at the time. She departed the franchise entirely ahead of season fifteen in January 2020, closing out fourteen consecutive seasons as one of the show’s most prominent and outspoken figures.
Throughout her run on the show, Gunvalson’s storylines chronicled a wide range of personal milestones, including her marriage and eventual divorce from her second husband, Donn Gunvalson, in 2014, her relationships with her adult children, and the ongoing evolution of her insurance business. Her candid, no filter approach to sharing her life on camera helped establish many of the storytelling patterns that would go on to define the broader Real Housewives format across its many spin-off cities.
Following her departure from the main Orange County cast, Gunvalson made guest appearances during season seventeen and again in season eighteen of the original series, and she is expected to return for the show’s twentieth season as well, reflecting her enduring connection to the franchise she helped establish nearly two decades earlier.
Recognition and Later Career
Gunvalson’s contributions to the Real Housewives franchise were formally recognized at BravoCon, where host Andy Cohen presented her with what was described as a “Wifetime Achievement Award,” celebrating her significant and lasting impact on the reality television genre as a whole. She has also authored a book titled “More Than a Housewife,” sharing further insight into her life and career beyond what viewers have seen on screen.
Beyond her television and business work, Gunvalson has been recognized for her philanthropic efforts, receiving the United States Department of Defense’s Patriot Award in 2018 in acknowledgment of her support for military spouses and families.
Personal Life
Gunvalson has been married twice, first to Michael J. Wolfsmith from 1982 to 1991, and later to Donn Gunvalson from 1994 to 2014. She has two children, her son Michael, who now works alongside her at Coto Insurance, and her daughter Briana, who pursued a career in nursing and is married to a Marine, with the couple having two children together. Gunvalson has described her role as a mother as her most defining and meaningful accomplishment throughout her life, a sentiment she has expressed consistently across interviews over the years.
In her personal life following her second divorce, Gunvalson was in relationships with Brooks Ayers from 2012 to 2015 and with Steve Lodge from 2016 to 2021. In more recent years, she has continued to speak publicly about her evolving family relationships, including candid conversations about the physical distance between her adult children and the emotional impact of not seeing family members as often as she would like.
Latest News
Gunvalson is part of the core cast of “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th,” the milestone ninth season of the Ultimate Girls Trip spin-off series that premiered on Bravo on August 9, 2026, celebrating twenty years since the debut of the original Real Housewives franchise that she helped launch. She joins fellow core cast members Lisa Barlow, Porsha Williams, Kyle Richards, Luann de Lesseps, Teresa Giudice, and Gizelle Bryant on a multi-city journey that revisits key locations from the franchise’s history, including a stop in Orange County itself, before concluding at Bluestone Manor in the Berkshires.
Gunvalson attended the launch celebration for the new season in New York City on August 4, 2026, joining her fellow cast members for the star-studded event ahead of the premiere. Her participation in this milestone season carries particular significance given her status as one of the franchise’s five founding cast members, positioning her as a central figure in a season explicitly designed to honor the history of the Real Housewives brand. Separately, her business, Coto Insurance, has faced ongoing civil litigation in recent years involving allegations of financial elder abuse and negligence brought by a former client, a matter that remained ongoing as of the most recent reporting.
Why Vicki Gunvalson Remains the “OG of the OC”
As the last remaining original cast member connected to the very first season of the very first Real Housewives series, Gunvalson occupies a singular place in the franchise’s history. Her genuine, decades-long success in the insurance industry, combined with her willingness to document both the triumphs and challenges of her personal life, helped establish many of the storytelling conventions that have since defined the Real Housewives format across its many international and domestic spin-offs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Vicki Gunvalson’s birth name? She was born Victoria L. Steinmetz on March 27, 1962, in Mount Prospect, Illinois.
What business does Vicki Gunvalson own? She founded and continues to lead Coto Insurance and Financial Services, a firm specializing in life insurance, retirement planning, and financial advising.
Was Vicki Gunvalson an original cast member of The Real Housewives of Orange County? Yes. She was one of the five original cast members when the show premiered in 2006, marking the beginning of the entire Real Housewives franchise.
Why is Vicki Gunvalson called the “OG of the OC”? The nickname reflects her status as one of the franchise’s founding cast members and her long, fourteen-season run on the original Orange County series.
Does Vicki Gunvalson have children? Yes. She has two children, her son Michael, who works with her at Coto Insurance, and her daughter Briana, a nurse.
Has Vicki Gunvalson been married? Yes. She was married to Michael J. Wolfsmith from 1982 to 1991 and to Donn Gunvalson from 1994 to 2014.
What is Vicki Gunvalson doing in 2026? She is part of the core cast of “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th,” which premiered on Bravo on August 9, 2026.
Did Vicki Gunvalson write a book? Yes. She authored “More Than a Housewife,” sharing further details about her personal and professional life.
Vicki Gunvalson’s status as the last original cast member connected to the very first Real Housewives series gives her a distinctive place of honor within the broader Bravo universe. Her genuine, long standing success as a businesswoman, combined with her formative role in shaping the franchise’s storytelling style, continues to define her legacy nearly two decades after “The Real Housewives of Orange County” first premiered.