During the eighth season of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Tamra Barney revealed that she had tried to kill herself years ago after her marriage to son Ryan’s dad ended. Well, Ryan’s dad isn’t happy about the news and claims she’s lying about the whole thing — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“Tamra is a liar, a cheater and a bad mother to our son, Ryan, and she seemed to enjoy constant drama in her life because it lead to attention,” Darren Vieth told Radar Online. “I couldn’t believe that she blamed our failed marriage for her first suicide attempt. Tamra usually never tells the entire story, and this time is no different.”
On the show, Tamra claimed that she tried to overdose using pills and a bottle of NyQuil after the stress of her divorce from Darren became too much to handle. Darren tells a different story.
According to him, Tamra was cheating on him early in their marriage and at one point, he caught her at the home of another man. “[A man] about twice my size answered the door. I told him I wanted to speak with my wife,” Darren states. “He told me, ‘Tough luck, she’s with me now.’ Tamra was standing behind the guy, snickering and laughing at me.”
A short time later, Tamra and the couple’s son, Ryan Vieth, moved out. All seemed to be going just fine until Tamra found out that her ex was dating someone new.
Tamra was allegedly so heartbroken over the news of her ex’s new love that she called him up, demanding for him to take her back — or else she’d take her life. “I tried to talk her out of it, but she said, ‘This is going to be my final goodbye to you,’ then hung up,” Darren Vieth explains, adding that he immediately called police, leading Tamra to be rushed to the hospital.
Following their divorce, Darren went on to remarry but within a week of his nuptials, his drama with Tamra continued when she dropped their son off at his home with a garbage bag, telling Darren, “You raise him.”
Ryan remained in sole custody of his father for several years until Tamra met and began dating Simon Barney. “In a heart-to-heart conversation, Simon told me he was going to be in Ryan’s life and would treat and raise him as his own,” Darren says. “I’m still friendly with Simon and will always be indebted to him for taking care of Ryan.”
In response to her ex’s statement, Tamra denies all claims telling Radar it’s “all trash.”
