I Can’t Believe Sutton Stracke Turned Her Back on Garcelle Beauvais in the RHOBH Reunion

Garcelle Beauvais announced late last month that she would be stepping away from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after five years on the show. The final reunion episode of Season 14 made it abundantly clear why she decided to leave. This reunion was rough for Garcelle, with criticism and coldness coming at her from all sides, and not even Sutton Stracke offered her any help. Since they both joined the cast in Season 10, Garcelle and Sutton have been inseparable, but at this year’s reunion, Sutton turned her back on her best friend.

Sutton has always been an entertaining member of the franchise, even when she’s in the wrong (which is pretty often). In Season 14, she found herself in hot water. Sutton had far more enemies than allies, and the way she handled conflict made her difficult to defend. And yet, Garcelle continued to be a supportive friend.

Sutton Struggled on this Season of ‘RHOBH’

This season, Sutton came off as quite petulant, and on more than one occasion, she weaponized her castmates’ hardships, took low blows, and then cowered whenever somebody fired back. To be clear, I absolutely love to see a Real Housewife carry herself this way on screen. I’m not watching reality television to see morally upstanding or remotely relatable people on their best behavior. But I hoped Sutton would appreciate having a friend on the show who sticks by her side even when she’s not at her best.

Sutton’s central storyline this season was an extremely tense feud with Dorit Kemsley amidst her taxing separation from her husband, Paul Kemsley. Fellow cast member Erika Jayne observed this season that Sutton has a pattern of kicking women when they’re at their lowest, and at the reunion, Sutton proved her right.

Garcelle Got Hung Out to Dry at the Reunion

Audience and cast members alike expected that Sutton would have a turbulent reunion, but it was Garcelle who found herself unexpectedly facing the fury of her castmates, while Sutton somehow made it through the reunion relatively unscathed. As a viewer, I was shocked to see this switch-up — it seemed a bit dissonant following a season in which Garcelle was involved in almost none of the conflict. Some of the problems people brought up with Garcelle felt out of nowhere, and others were years-old issues dug back up for unclear reasons. It was painful to watch the pile-on and worse to watch nobody stick up for her, especially Sutton.

I guess Sutton was too busy bracing for her own beatdown to be there for her friend. She couldn’t muster a single word of support for Garcelle when the other women relentlessly came after her. Had the shoe been on the other foot, there’s no question that Garcelle would have spoken up on her behalf and shut down Dorit and Erika’s bullying. But Sutton did nothing to help in the only moment Garcelle really needed it.

This lack of support from Sutton at the reunion mirrored the rest of the season; Sutton does not seem to value the friend she has in Garcelle. Throughout the season, even as she fought with them, Sutton appeared to chase after approval and friendship from other cast members, which she prioritized over her existing friendship with Garcelle. On this show (and the franchise at large), there is no better or more supportive friend than Garcelle. Perhaps next season, Sutton will realize what a superlative ally she had when Garcelle is gone and her feud with Dorit inevitably persists.

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After the Reunion, Sutton was Still Kicking

To make matters much worse, at the end of the reunion, host Andy Cohen asked each woman to share their most pleasant surprise of the season. Sutton said she loved getting along with Erika and how much fun they had together. The same Erika who spent the entire reunion insulting Garcelle, talking to her as though she were stupid, and attempting to tattle on her to Andy. This seemed to be the last straw for Garcelle, and understandably so.

I hate to say that Erika was right about Sutton, but this reunion proved that she was spot on. Garcelle was ceaselessly scolded throughout most of the reunion, Erika specifically repeatedly taking completely unnecessary and personal jabs. Garcelle was left to fend for herself, with no help from Sutton, and Sutton made it all the worse by aligning herself with Erika in the final moments. Once again, Sutton is kicking a woman at her lowest, and this time, it’s her closest friend. Garcelle deserved better.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is streaming on Peacock in the U.S.