Vicki Gunvalson is an American reality television personality, who is best known for her starring role as a "housewife" in the Bravo series The Real Housewives of Orange County

The Real Housewives of Orange County

The Real Housewives of Orange County is a reality television program on the Bravo network. It is the first and seminal installation in the The Real Housewives of... series...

. Gunvalson, a resident of the exclusive Coto de Caza

Coto de Caza, California

Coto de Caza is a census-designated place and guard-gated private community in Orange County, California. The population was 14,866 at the 2010 census, up from 13,057 at the 2000 census....

 community, is the only woman to have been profiled throughout the series' run (so far six seasons).

Early life

Victoria Gunvalson was born on March 27, 1962 and lived in the Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 suburb Mount Prospect

Mount Prospect, Illinois

Mount Prospect is a village in Elk Grove and Wheeling Townships in Cook County, Illinois, about northwest of downtown Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 54,167.-Geography:...

, and the family later moved to Palatine

Palatine, Illinois

Palatine is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a northwestern residential suburb of Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 65,479, making it the sixth-largest community in Cook County and the 16th-largest in the state of Illinois at that time...

 in her freshman year of high school, she attended Fremd High School. Of the family's 5 children, she was the first biological child born 5 years after her parents adopted twin girls Kathy and Kim. Her sister Lisa followed 13 months later and then a boy, Bill, was born when Vicki was 5 years old. Her father owned a successful construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

 company, Steinmetz Acoustical, and her mother was a housewife

Housewife

Housewife is a term used to describe a married woman with household responsibilities who is not employed outside the home. Merriam Webster describes a housewife as a married woman who is in charge of her household...

.

Business

Vicki Gunvalson owns and runs Coto Insurance and Financial Services. She has stated that she realized the importance of insurance

Insurance

In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...

 when her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...

 at 59 years old.

She also has written books, including More than a Housewife and Internet Life Insurance Selling Made Easy.

First marriage

She married first husband Michael J. Wolfsmith at the age of 21 and together they had two children, Michael, who works with his mother at Coto Insurance, and Briana, a nurse. In a 2009 edition of Life and Style magazine she told how her first marriage was an abusive relationship, that Michael was an alcoholic

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

, was abusive verbally

Verbal abuse

Verbal abuse is best described as a negative defining statement told to you or about you; or by withholding any response thus defining the target as non-existant...

 and had many affairs

Infidelity

In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...

 during their marriage. The couple divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

d when Vicki was 29. Her ex-husband denies that he cheated on Vicki or abused her either emotionally or physically

Physical abuse

Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...

.

Second marriage

Her second marriage was to Donn Gunvalson in 1994. In 2009, the couple celebrated their 15th anniversary by renewing their wedding vows in Turks & Caicos

Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the Caribbean, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre.The Turks and...

, following a rough year where they had struggled as a couple. However, in October 2010 Vicki filed for divorce. The couple continued to live together while the details of the divorce were finalized.