Vicki Gunvalson learned about the death of her mother, Joanne Steinmetz, in an extremely emotional episode of "The Real Housewives of Orange County," which aired on Tuesday night. It was hard for her to relive this moment again, since it has been a few months since her mother passed.
The episode shows the reality star talking on the phone in the middle of Shannon Beador's party as she receives the devastating news, according to People.
"What do you mean? What happened? No!" Gunvalson cries while on the phone with her daughter. "Briana, I can't do this. Oh, my God. I don't want to believe this. How could she die? She wasn't sick at all....Damn it."
As she learns the heartbreaking news, Gunvalson is seen collapsing on the kitchen floor as she cries on the phone. Beador eventually walks in and asks what happened. "My mom just died," Gunvalson yells through tears. "How could she die? I just talked to her this morning."
Beador tells her she is "so sorry" as the rest of the housewives rush to her side to comfort her.
It's hard to watch the emotional scene as Gunvalson continues to cry that she just wants her mother back and that she needs to be with her. She eventually gets on the phone with her brother, Billy, and she tells him to try to wake her up, to which he responds that he had already tried. "I've lost my best friend," he sadly says.
"I wasn't ready to stop learning from my mom," Gunvalson continues. "I really don't know how I'm going to function. I need her in my life. I don't know why we have to die. I'll miss my mom's spunk. She had so much love for life. I don't want this to be real."
Her mother was 83, and although she passed away in February, this is the first time the episode aired for the public, and it was hard for her to have to relive this horrific moment. At the time, she revealed that her mother had died "unexpectedly" and "suddenly" in her home, according to Bravo. When she first found out, she posted a heartfelt Instagram announcing the death of her mom with a picture of the two.
"Tonight I received a phone call that is every person's worst nightmare," the caption read. "My amazing, beautiful and strong mother passed on and is now with the love of her life my father in heaven. I am who I am today because of her. An amazing cook, organized, bold personality and had a sense of style and fashion that I adored. I miss you so much mommy! My life will never be the same without you to give me advice and your wisdom. You were so healthy and so vibrant and so beautiful. I still need you. I love you MOM."
Bravo originally released the commercial for this season and episode on Mother's day of all days. The "RHOC" Season 10 Twitter account tweeted, "And they released this commercial on Mother's Day. This must be heart-wrenching for @vgunvalson. #RHOC"
"It's the most terrible thing to have to re-live again," she responded. "Especially on Mother's Day."
Gunvalson wrote all about hearing the news while taping the show in her blog, which she tweeted out last night. She then thanked her fans for all their love and support.
Watch her tell Andy all about the emotional day in the interview below.
A photo posted by Vicki Gunvalson (@vickigunvalson) on Feb 4, 2015 at 11:29pm PST
I wanted to take a second to thank each and every one of you for your kind words this evening. They mean the world to me! <3 — Vicki Gunvalson (@vgunvalson) July 7, 2015
