Things got very real for this Housewife. Veteran Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson addressed her ex-boyfriend Brooks Ayers‘ cancer controversy on Wednesday, Nov. 11, a day after the City of Hope debunked his claim that he was treated there — and she’s less than pleased.
A fan tweeted at Gunvalson, who’s remained silent on her typically active social media channels since the news first broke on Nov. 10: “Why do u still talk to brooks , now that you know he lied to u and made you look like a fool ?”
“I don’t talk to him nor will I ever speak to him again,” Gunvalson, 53, replied. “This man is sick.”
After RHOC‘s final reunion special aired last week, Ayers attempted to clear his name in a follow-up interview with E! News. Gunvalson initially told Andy Cohen and her fellow OC Housewives, “My gut tells me he doesn’t have it.”
Ayers claimed to E! that he subsequently spoke to his ex-girlfriend. “She said no, she didn’t feel like she’s been duped,” he told the network. “And secondly, she does now believe that I have cancer.” Ayers also provided documents that showed his alleged cancer treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the City of Hope hospital in Duarte, Calif., with supposed bills amounting beyond $30,000.
On Tuesday, Nov. 10, a rep for the hospital confirmed to Us Weekly that no one by the name of “David Brooks Ayers” had ever been treated at its cancer treatment center. Ayers went on the record on Wednesday and apologized for lying about the documents.
It’s been a long and exhausting journey for Gunvalson, who left her former husband, Donn Gunvalson, for Ayers four years ago. At the time, Ayers claimed that he was dying from pancreatic cancer when, in fact, it was pancreatitis, as he confessed to Gunvalson’s daughter, Briana Culberson.
Meanwhile, in an emotional sit-down interview with Us Weekly in November 2014, the couple — who split for good this past August — appeared resilient and had every intention of weathering the storm ahead.
“Either it will tear you apart as a couple or it can bring you together,” Ayers told Us at the time of his health issues. “With us, without a doubt it’s brought us together.”