Well, they don’t call it the Real House-friends of Orange County! After three seasons away, Lauri Peterson recently made a blazing return to the Bravo smash that kickstarted the entire housewives franchise for season eight. As a featured player among the core cast, Peterson quickly found herself in the middle of major drama when she revealed former pal Vicki Gunvalson‘s shocking past indiscretions during her marriage to ex-husband Donn — also claiming that Gunvalson’s current beau, Brooks Ayers, was secretly hooking up with a young porn star.

“My relationship is good with most of the women. I haven’t had any major issues with the exception of Vicki,” she told Us Weekly during a recent visit to our NYC offices. Still, Peterson was candid with Us that Gunvalson, Gretchen Rossi, Heather Dubrow, Alexis Bellino, Tamra Barney and Lydia McLaughlin aren’t exactly her bosom buddies. “I don’t know if I would qualify any of my relationships with any of the women [as] genuine friends,” she admitted. “I think we enjoy each other at times. I enjoy all of the women individually. I think that when you bring them into a group, that’s difficult. — there’s bound to be conflict and drama.”

And how! Gunvalson, who’s known Peterson for 12 years, absolutely flipped out during a recently aired girls’ ski trip, when she learned that Peterson had told Rossi that she’d once discovered her in bed with another man — and a woman — during her marriage to Donn. Years ago, “[Vicki] was very open with me about relationships that she was having with other men. I didn’t interject myself [at the time],” she explained.

Once Rossi told her that Gunvalson had attacked her for allegedly cheating on her late fiance Jeff, however, “I couldn’t stand for that,” Peterson said, moving her to reveal Gunvalson’s past indiscretions. “That was my boundary. To have somebody be doing something and then criticizing another person for the very same thing, I didn’t understand that.”

Watch Peterson defend herself in this sit-down — plus, find out whether she’ll return as a full-time cast member next season, how her once-troubled eldest son has turned his life around, and more!