Emily Simpson Thought She’d Be Switching With Another ‘Real Housewives’ Star In ‘Wife Swap: Real Housewives Edition’ “Until Two Days” Before She Started Filming

Emily Simpson, known for eating turkey subs in saunas and drinking water out of dog bowls in The Real Housewives of Orange County, is adding more iconic moments to her reality TV repertoire. In Wife Swap: Real Housewives Edition, Simpson trades lives with a New Jersey mom, who, unlike Simpson, runs her entire household with very little help from her husband.

But before Simpson flew out to Park Ridge, New Jersey to temporarily move into Caley Svensson’s eclectic farmhouse, she thought she’d be switching lives with another fellow Real Housewives star.

“I don’t know if this is just me not listening very well or not asking enough questions, but my interpretation was that it was switching with another Housewife,” she told Decider over Zoom. “I think I thought that up until probably two days before I started filming the actual Wife Swap.”

While Simpson was a bit thrown off by what she actually signed up for, she ended up fitting right into the Svenssons’ lifestyle. The reality star, who grew up around animals in rural Ohio, was hardly fazed by the family pig that lived within their house, or the work that came along with running a farm. What did catch her off guard, however, was the family’s penchant for Crocs. “Having animals around me at all times doesn’t bother me. Crocs? Yes, that bothers me. That is offensive,” she joked.

Outside of Wife Swap, Simpson has also been busy with The Real Housewives of Orange County, which just aired its Season 19 finale last week. At the end of the episode, it was revealed that Tamra Judge had allegedly been leaking production information to bloggers.

“I felt like that was pretty clear and convincing evidence,” Simpson said, noting that the blogger who reached out with the information knew specific information about the season before it even aired. “It seems pretty foolproof to me.”

When we caught up with Simpson, she talked more about Wife Swap: Real Housewives Edition, what she could tease about the Real Housewives of Orange County Season 19 reunion, and who would be her dream guest on her Legally Brunette podcast. Check out the full interview below.

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DECIDER: Your episode of Wife Swap was so much fun. What made you decide to do this show?

EMILY SIMPSON: It’s funny. I feel like when I was initially asked to do it, I don’t know if this is just me not listening very well or not asking enough questions, but my interpretation was that it was switching with another Housewife. I think I thought that up until probably two days before I started filming the actual Wife Swap. I was like, “Wait, wait, what?” [I thought], “I’ll probably switch with Melissa Gorga or something. That would make sense. She comes here and she has to deal with Shane, and I have to go deal with Joe Gorga.” That’s good TV, right? That’s what I thought. And then when I realized, I was like, “Wait, I’m switching with someone and I don’t know who they are and I don’t know where I’m going? I don’t know who this man is?” I was like, “OK.” 

You got to go to this beautiful farmhouse in New Jersey. I thought it was so funny when you first walked in and you were way more accepting of the pig in the house than the Crocs. Can you explain that a little bit?

At the end of the day, I’m from Ohio. I grew up in the Midwest. We had horses and dogs and barn cats and the whole thing. So I’m very used to living with animals in my space. So that doesn’t bother me. Even now in Orange County, I have three dogs and two cats in the house. So having animals around me at all times doesn’t bother me. Crocs? Yes, that bothers me. That is offensive. 

You grew up riding horses in Ohio, so a lot of this farm-living wasn’t super new to you. But what was new to you was getting zero help from dad. You seemed to handle Erik really well, but were there any moments that you got annoyed on Caley’s behalf? 

As a wife and as a mother, I could understand Caley and why she was frustrated with him. Having three children and having three children at the age that they are, and they all have very different needs, it’s hard. It’s a lot of work to take care of those kids and to get them to school and to get lunches ready and to get them to all the activities and do all the things. I can imagine how frustrated she is because I have such great help with Shane. For me, that’s just normal. To be put into a situation where her normal is just having 100% of the responsibility, I was frustrated for her. So I can understand where she was coming from. 

Everyone loves your husband, Shane, whose sarcastic sense of humor has really become a staple. Was there ever any part of you that worried about how he would fare with another wife in the house? 

I do worry about that sometimes, because it took, like, three or four years for the audience to really embrace Shane. I think that’s normal because even in my relationships with friends, it’s taken years. I mean, now all my friends love him, but it takes a while. It’s a slow warmup with him. There are a lot of times where he really rides that fine line of sarcasm. Like, it could go either way. It’s like, is it funny or is he not funny? I was like, “I hope she’s not easily offended because if she’s easily offended, then he’s probably going to offend her.” But it seemed like they got along great. And so that was great. 

First of all, all of your kids are adorable. I loved to see Annabelle slowly warm up Caley. Did that surprise you? And how is your relationship with your daughter today?

My relationship with Annabelle, I think it’s great. I do realize that she’s at that 12-year-old, almost 13 age, so we butt heads a lot because she thinks that she should just raise herself and make all her own decisions. She tells me I’m lame and I’m cringe and I’m a boomer and all the things that she says. Yeah, it bothers me sometimes, but I just keep coming back. I think that’s really how you have to parent tweens. That’s what she is. I just keep coming back, keep showing up. Even though I keep getting abused, I still keep coming back every day. She actually said something the other day, which I took as a compliment. She was telling me about this kid at school and that he doesn’t really do well in school, and that he has some problems, and it’s because his mom isn’t really involved in his life. And then she said, “Not like you, who’s around me all the time.” Even though she said it like that, I took it as a huge compliment. I was like, “Oh. Thank you.”

Before you left New Jersey, you said you wanted to start putting more time and effort into your family. As we know, carpool only lasted about a week. But are there any other ways in which you’re trying to be more present for your family? 

Yeah, absolutely. I did take a lot away from Wife Swap, which was good, because sometimes I feel like you have to be thrown into a different environment to really see things more clearly. We really do make more of an effort to do things as a family. It’s so hard, though, because my boys are 10 and Annabel is 12, but it seems like more of like a 10-year age gap instead of a two-year, because my boys are still very young and kind of immature and she thinks she’s 20, so it’s really difficult. But we still force them to go to dinner together and try to eat together and try to talk more and just make her go to things she doesn’t want to go to and make them go to things they don’t want to go to. I think really, that’s what it’s all about, making kids do things they don’t want to do.

When you got home to Orange County, you and Caley had a really emotional heart-to-heart, and there was something about her marriage that she didn’t want to talk about, which I assumed was because of the cameras. Have you kept in touch with her since then? 

Yeah, actually, Caley and I, we DM a lot on Instagram. We text as well and she sent things to the kids, and I sent some things to her kids. She actually texted me this morning, which was amazing. She invited Shane and me and the kids to come to New Jersey to watch the premiere. I was so bummed because Shane and I and the boys are going to Cancun next week, so we’re actually going to be on vacation next week. But if we weren’t going to be on vacation, I would have jumped on that. I think that would have been amazing to be able to all come together, meet each other, the kids meet each other. So hopefully we’ll have another opportunity to make that happen. 

It seems like fans are gaining more appreciative understanding of each Real Housewife who has done this show. What do you hope fans take away about you after watching? 

I just think maybe Wife Swap shows a little more dynamic as to who I am as a mom and as a wife and as someone that’s very committed to my family. A lot of times with Housewives, I would say the majority is with the other women. That can be contentious and that can be dramatic. But I loved doing Wife Swap because it just got to focus on families and our relationships and marriage and our children. I hope that the viewers just take away that at the end of the day, I’m a mom first and I’m a wife first. That’s what’s truly in my heart, and that’s who I am. A lot of times, I think people just see you as a character on Housewives just arguing with other women, and I just hope that they see more of a full view of me as a mom and a wife.

I’d love to ask you a couple of quick questions about Real Housewives of Orange County. The finale airs this week and there is some shocking information revealed about Tamra allegedly leaking storylines to bloggers. What did you make of that whole situation?

I felt like that was pretty clear and convincing evidence. The fact that this guy, whoever he was, I know they disguised his voice … I mean, the information that he knew was so detailed. I mean, we’re talking dates, restaurants they went to, the fact that it was Tamra that told Gina about the screenshot with Gretchen. They knew that. They knew really detailed information about the content and the things going on. The only way someone could know that is if someone on the show told them that. It had to come from one of us. The fact that they’re saying it came from Tamra, I don’t know why we would dispute that it came from Tamra. It had to come from one of us, and they’re saying it’s Tamra. It seems pretty foolproof to me. 

So then where does that? Because I know you and Tamra have kind of grown closer over the last few years, especially. Where does that leave you? And, you know, with your friendship with her? 

Well, I don’t know exactly where our friendship is right now because I feel like she came into the reunion pissed at me, so I don’t really understand that. When they show that final scene of the reunion, she comes after me, which doesn’t make any sense because I’m not even a part of that. I wasn’t even there. I don’t even understand if that was misplaced anger or she was just lashing out and I was across from her. I have no idea what that was about. I don’t really know. I don’t know where our friendship is now. I feel like, during the season, I was fair. And I think that’s what you should be as a Housewife. I’m not one of those Housewives that is friends with Tamra, so I just always agree with Tamra. I feel like I was fair in every situation. If I thought Gretchen was out of line, I said Gretchen was out of line. If I felt Tamra was out of line, I said Tamra was out of line. I feel like there were a lot of times when it was one or the other. It wasn’t strictly always Tamra, and it wasn’t always Gretchen. It was both of them. I think all of us felt like we were just kind of caught in the middle, in the crossfire of those two. So my take away was I felt like I was being fair to both of them. 

I imagine the reunion was super intense, especially with Katie coming back and Tamra likely being in the hot seat with what we found out in the finale. What can you tease about what fans will see from the next few episodes?

The information about Gretchen and the screenshot and all of that, and then Gretchen obviously does her own research or forensics or whatever and brings that … For me, it’s interesting to see where that lands with the fans, and what they think, what they feel, what their take away is. This is the first time I’m really interested in seeing what their takeaway is. For me, there was never any smoking gun that just proved one way or the other. I can argue both sides. So at the end of the day, I still don’t know exactly. But I’ve known Gretchen for 10 years, and I think that she speaks well to the situation. For me, that was very convincing of her heart and what she actually feels, so I feel comfortable being friends with her and continuing a friendship. But it will be interesting to see what the fans think. 

You and Shane also have a podcast, Legally Brunette. What has been your favorite part of doing that with him? 

We’re a good team because I really do most of the research and I enjoy doing that. I’m such a nerd. I’m such a law nerd. I loved law school. This is a way for me to get back into that. Every time we’re going to do a new case, I have a week to research it, and I spend almost every day watching things, pulling legal documents, reading, and taking notes on my legal pad. I feel like I’m young and in law school again, so it’s fun. I enjoy the banter and I think that’s what people really enjoy about the podcast. I think it just has a natural flow because we’re both lawyers and we’ve been married for 17 years, so clearly we’re comfortable bantering with each other. We’ve been doing it for years and years and years. I think the people enjoy the podcast because not only are they getting the true crime element, but there’s a little bit of comedy because Shane’s always funny and he always has something sarcastic to say and you’re also getting a legal analysis. We try to go deeper and talk about the actual laws and what they mean and how they apply. It’s a little bit of storytelling with legal, with a little bit of husband and wife banter. So I think people really enjoy it. 

Do you guys have any dream guests that you would love to have on some day? 

This is funny because I was with Jenn Pedranti last night. We went to the Variety event at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and she actually asked me that same question on the way home. I said, “Yes, it would be Alan Jackson.” And she’s so funny. She was like, “Emily, why would you want a country singer on your legal podcast?” And I was like, “Jenn, you’re so Oklahoma!” I was like, “No, Alan Jackson represented Karen Read in the Karen Read trial.” I have so much respect for him. I think he’s so amazing. I would love to have him. Not the country singer. The attorney. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Wife Swap: Real Housewives Edition airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.