Lydia McLaughlin reveals if the RHOC fights are real and why they last forever

Real Housewives of Orange County season 12 has just begun and we’ve already got more than a few quintessential fights on the books.

The restaurant plate-smashing scene. The restaurant bathroom blow-up. The child’s birthday party clash. The women of Real Housewives of Orange County are already feuding fast and furiously and season 12 has only just begun. But given all we know about reality TV and the producers pulling strings behind the scenes, a totally valid question is just how many of those RHOC fights — and how much of the viciousness — is real?

According to Lydia McLaughlin, the former RHOC star who returned for the twelfth season, the answer is “100 percent.” Every single fight is real.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, McLaughlin explained that “there’s never a fake fight…if anything, the fights get worse when the cameras go down.”

She went on to admit that Shannon Beador is the wife with whom she has the most conflict this season. (We noticed.) Explaining that, she’s “not used to her type of personality” and that she just does not understand where Shannon is coming for or why she’s “constantly combative.”

Lydia also seemed to say that she doesn’t believe reconciliation is possible for the housewives. The women just met and McLaughlin basically ruled out the possibility of them ever becoming friends, saying:

"I think it’s really hard [to work things out]. If we do work things out… now we’re at the stage when we’re watching the beginning of [that conflict] again. I’ve already seen one scene where we’re yelling at each other when we thought that issue was resolved. But then we’re having to hash it out again on a public forum."

Perhaps part of that is the fault of Bravo and the nature of the show. Editing and airing of episodes revives arguments from months ago and confessionals add fuel to what may be a tamped out fire. Which Lydia admits readily:

"And then [Shannon] tweets something about me that hurts my feelings, so we’re back at square one. So I think it’s really hard… If you have a conflict with a girl, and you move on, you then have to relive it again when the world sees it. And then you have to relive it again at the reunion. So it’s pretty tough to overcome that, which is why I think after 10 years, Tamra and Vicky have such a hard time with each other. Imagine doing that cycle again and again for a decade. Yeah, that’s why they can’t stand each other.More from Champagne and ShadeGizelle Bryant shares her thoughts on her RHOP tagline for season 8Bachelor in Paradise: Aven Jones and Kylee Russell’s massive breakupKate Middleton ‘uninterested’ in friendship with Meghan MarkleThe Mummy 4: Unraveling Brendan Fraser’s Potential Return and the Franchise’s FutureAmanda Bynes is back and hosting a podcast"

Complicating matters, Lydia remarked that she couldn’t watch RHOC when she wasn’t on the show because it was too close to home, seeing her friends like that. (She could, however, watch Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and found it super entertaining.)

All of which is good for us, the viewers, but not quite as good for the women.

After all, we don’t necessarily love the idea that these women are creating lifelong enemies for our entertainment.

What do you think? Do you believe the RHOC fights are real?