10 Things You Didn’t Know About New Real Housewives of Orange County Housewife Elizabeth Lyn Vargas

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What would a new season of any Housewives franchise be without some fresh blood to tip the scales and add new drama to the pre-existing crew? In that vein season 15 of RHOC welcomes the one and only Elizabeth Lyn Vargas to its ranks when new episodes kick off this week. Read on to learn everything you need to know about the newest personality as she sets off to cause ruckus in The OC.

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She’s a Missouri native

Like many people in California, Elizabeth wasn’t born on the coast. She’s actually from Missouri, but she moved to the OC after falling in love. Since then she hasn’t looked back, and has called the area home for more than two decades now.

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She goes way back with Kelly

It there’s one thing any new Housewife can anticipate on her first season, it’s plenty of drama. Luckily Elizabeth may already have a friend in her corner when things eventually go down. She and Kelly Dodd go way back to the Newport party circuit, and Kelly even introduces her on the series to the other ladies.

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Her divorce is going to be front and center this season

When viewers meet Elizabeth, her love life isn’t exactly living out its happily ever after. Quite the opposite actually, since she and her husband, Bernt Bodal, are going through a divorce after 20 years together. If anything that should mean the new personality is ready to mingle, but how her newly divorced ways play out with some of the other cast members remains to be seen.

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Actually, you may recognize her ex

Bernt Bodal isn’t new to the whole TV life. As the former CEO of America Seafoods the Norwegian businessman appeared on a 2012 episode of Undercover Boss. He is also a partner in Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, a former musician, and overall worth about $200 million. Knowing that, Elizabeth’s tagline, “I earned my money the old-fashioned way: marrying it, then making more,” seems pretty on-brand.

Elizabeth Vargas and her boyfriend in the RHOC trailer

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She’s got a new love in her life

Elizabeth seems to be moving on from her marriage just fine, thank you very much. And she’s moving on with someone named Jimmy, to be more specific about it. Fans first met Jimmy in the 15th season trailer, when Elizabeth revealed their intimate relationship doesn’t involve sex. If you have some follow-up questions, you’re not alone… apparently the strange setup will become a bit of a storyline this season.

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She’s a music exec

In case you were wondering how Elizabeth got some of her cash, it turns out she’s the CEO of an online music streaming platform called Edge Music Network. While the company seems successful enough on the series, Elizabeth has revealed since filming that her company was a failure. “It’s not quite a failure yet but it’s on its way,” she shared on Instagram stories while promising to pivot in a whole new direction.

Elizabeth Vargas sitting down and laughing on RHOC

Bravo

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During quarantine she also launched a vodka line

It’s no secret that alcohol sales were through the roof during quarantine, and it seems like Elizabeth wanted to be one of the latest personalities to capitalize on that craze. So she launched Vargas Vodka, a delightfully alliterative brand that she’s been encouraging her followers to imbibe on Instagram.

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8 / 10

This Housewife decided not to have children

While being a mom factors into many of the Housewives’ stories across all of the franchises, Elizabeth revealed early on in the previews that she decided kids just weren’t for her. “I chose jets and helicopters over a family,” she explains in the clip. Hands up if you can’t wait to see how Elizabeth’s new co-stars react to that one.

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She’s also a proud dog mom

So Elizabeth doesn’t have kids, but she’s a fur mom twice over. On the series we meet her main squeeze, AKA Coda. But nearly a month ago the Housewife also added to her crew when she rescued a husky named Mika. Judging by the updates on Instagram it took a while, but now Mika and Coda are finally learning to get along like one big happy pup family.

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She has big plans to help more dogs in the future

It’s pretty clear that Elizabeth is a huge dog lover—she has even spent the past year trying to get her own non-kill shelter off the ground in Orange County. The We Care Rescue Ranch isn’t up and running just yet, but she’s got a space, she’s been doing her research, and for now she’s collecting funds to help other rescues until her own funding allows her to properly expand.