In a new interview with the LA Times, Lynne Curtin discusses her personal life and being on the Real Housewives of Orange County .
In what is a rather long interview, it’s pretty obvious Lynne continues to live on Lynne Planet. According to Lynne, she’s a tough disciplinarian for her daughters, Vicky was a doll to her when they first met (umm did she watch last season?) and though she had watched some of the previous seasons of the show, she didn’t recognize any of the housewives when she started filming.
Lynne does share some good news when she reveals her Cuff business has been booming. Judging from last night’s episode, one can only hope she’s saving up her money for rent and not spending it on $1000 jackets. She also discusses her husband Frank Curtin and the whole Gretchen intervention ordeal.
Excerpts from Lynne’s interview is below –
Hey, Lynne … what are you doing right now? Sounds like your driving…
I’m trying to get cuffs out. I have a lot of cuffs on my website that look kind of similar to the Saints symbol … the fleur de lis. I’m just on my way getting orders out right now cause the business is booming right now, especially with the Saints winning [the Super Bowl]. I just happen to have a flor de lis on my cuffs anyway, and a lot of people from Louisiana recognized the symbol and, coincidentally, with the team winning I have a lot of people ordering them right now.
Well, let’s rewind and talk about how you got yourself on the show.
I had one girlfriend who was doing my skin care; she knew somebody that worked for a store that was doing the wardrobe, and also, my other girlfriend had a daughter [Kendra Mayo from Laguna Beach] on an MTV show.
Wait. Did you watch the previous seasons?
Um, yeah. I did a bit, actually. Lauri [Waring] happened to be a really good friend of one of my really good friends. And I knew Lauri was having a good time on the show. That was part of the reason … I thought, “If Lauri is doing the show, I want to interview for it. That would be fun.” I didn’t know I was going to be replacing her at the time.
So before you joined the cast, was there someone you expected to click with, or someone you knew you’d have to watch out for?
Not in particular. Not until I got on the show and someone said we would be going out to dinner with everybody. … I had a heads-up about Vicki [Gunvalson]. I didn’t know all the characters by face that well, so I wasn’t sure who she was. I whispered over to Gretchen [Rossi], “Which one’s Vicki?” ‘Cause I’d only really remember a few of the episodes … like the one with Lauri and the trailer. Being a mom keeps you pretty busy. You can’t really follow every show. I was a little nervous the first time I saw Vicki ’cause I was like, “uh-oh. She’s going to be tough on me.” But she turned out to be a doll. This season, she’s been one of my closest friends on the show.
Is that how it really is? It’s seems like you guys don’t really hang out on a regular basis. When all of you are in a room, it’s usually a setup like the sleepover and cooking party …
Actually, we do see each other. I was invited to an event for Vicki. Or I get invited to an event for Tamra [Barney]. Like Tamra and I just talked. We’re going to take a spin class tomorrow. I saw Jeana [Keough] the other day at my gym.
I’m curious to know what it’s like being part of a reality show … do you watch each week? And what’s that like reliving some of those events?
I do watch. I’m like underneath the covers. I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, did I do that?” or “Did I say that?” Sometime I wish I would have thought before I said something. But I just try to let it all go. I’m just as real as I could possibly be. It’s all real. I’m a little ditzy, I admit it.
A lot of the readers of this blog have commented about the lack of boundaries you and your husband have in place. How do you respond to the criticisms you receive on how you discipline your daughters?
They don’t see everything. They see a little bit here, a little bit there; they don’t see what really goes down: the arguing, Frank getting upset, us taking away Raquel’s vehicle. You just see a little bit. You don’t see everything that transpires. I am tough. I’m strict. Alexa is home right now. She’s not grounded but, you know, she just got her license and she wants a car. Does she have a car? No. Raquel doesn’t have a car either right now. Neither one of my daughter’s have cars. I am tough.
And what about the whole Gretchen situation?
Oh, gosh. I just say let the parenting duties stick with the parents. That’s all I have to say. I don’t wish her any ill when she has kids. I was just saying, ‘You know what, Gretchen? Wait ’til you have kids, then come talk to me.” I wasn’t saying it to be mean or anything, I just wanted her to know that no one knows your kids like you do. I’m with them 24/7. And somebody who just spends maybe 25 minutes with them here or there is not going to be able to know my daughter and then tell me what to do about my daughter.
In this week’s episode, we see that Frank has kept you in the dark about finances. Want to clear that up?
What it was was a discrepancy over a deposit. It was an exorbitant deposit that Frank failed to tell me about. It was like an insurance binder that the woman wanted for our house. Since she knew we were on a show and filming, I think she was thinking we were rich and had all this money and thought, “Oh, why is she getting her face done?” I would get mail every day sent to her house from different doctors. … I think she was looking for a deposit in order for her to get surgeries on her face. I think she was angry that I was getting some surgery done. I really feel that … that’s what I think went down. The rent was paid every month on time. But, yes, Frank did fail to tell me that there was this huge, huge — more than you could imagine for any deposit. I could have put a down payment on a house. And he failed to tell me because … I don’t know what he was thinking was going to happen in the interim. That’s why I was so … I was kind of blindsided that day when I found that out. And my daughters called me and I was so sad that they had to go through that on camera.
Was it hard to have that all transpire on camera? To have it all exposed?
I don’t really care what anybody thinks. As long as I have my family behind me, that’s all that matter to me. I have good friends; my friends know me — they know what it’s all about. And you know what? I was just in Vegas for three days and I had more love and more support from strangers coming up to me. … It was a natural high. We couldn’t go 10 feet without people coming up to us and telling us how much they loved the show. Men were coming up! I can’t believe how many men watch the show. I felt like a celebrity. I sold two cuffs that night. My girlfriend and I sold them off our wrists.
So no plans to leave the show any time soon?
I’ll be doing it until in my walker. I love it. It’s fun. I have a good time. As long as the people like me, I’ll stay as long as they’ll have me.
