Now cancer-free and proudly embracing the “2.0 version” of herself, Guerdy Abraira is done playing nice. The Real Housewives of Miami star stunned her castmates during Wednesday night’s (July 23) episode of the hit Bravo show when, amid her Celebration of Life party, she displayed receipts to prove her innocence against Julia Lemigova‘s claims that she had volunteered herself to go on a cruise in Martina Navratilova’s place nearly a year earlier, and subsequently make the entire trip about herself.

According to Abraira, the cruise in question took place before the Season 6 reunion, and Lemigova waited until cameras picked up for Season 7 to air her frustrations. Speaking to the idea that Lemigova was using their trip to carve out a storyline for herself, Abraira told Decider, “I don’t have to tap dance and explain myself because it’s clear as day what it looks like and the fans ain’t stupid.”

The most shocking moment this season, however, was when Lemigova drenched (or as Larsa Pippen would say, “baptized”) Abraira with her water at Marysol Patton‘s wedding celebration, while the other women sat idly by watching the chaos unfold. Unfortunately, their lax energy wasn’t the same when Abraira put Lemigova on blast at her own party. Patton, along with Alexia Nepola and Pippen, slammed her action as “distasteful” and stormed out of the event, further leading both fans and Abraira to feel a double standard among the group.

“The passion that you had at my party, you had not one ounce of it at yours when the water-throw happened,” Abraira said. “Now, all of a sudden, everyone’s awake and ready to go and have opinions and be the judge and the jury? We can’t move the goalposts every single time when it only applies to me.”

When Abraira stopped by our studio this week, she spoke more about her feud with Lemigova, feeling unsupported by some of the other women, and her upcoming memoir From Trauma to Trophies: And the Unforeseen Events That Redefined Me. Check out the full interview below.

DECIDER: I am so excited to have you here today, and so happy to see that you’re healthy and thriving. What have these last couple of years taught you about yourself, and what was your mindset going into this season?

GUERDY ABRAIRA: A lot was going on in the last two years. With the aftermath of cancer, I think people want to assume you’re cured and everything’s fine. That’s not the reality. The aftermath of cancer, as you saw a teaser of Russell and I going to therapy, it’s like, “What just happened? Our lives just exploded and now we’re just picking up the pieces.” There’s a lot that I don’t share on camera as far as the things that I do go through physically with my body, because I’m an estrogen receptor. The hot flashes, no one sees. All that stuff happens. But you have to look at the good in everything that you do. And that’s the Guerdy 2.0 version. This version of myself also comes with boundaries–big ones and non-negotiable ones. I don’t have to negotiate for my self-respect and dignity and my name. I’ve worked hard for this brand and my name as a person, and no one shall tear it apart. Thou shalt not pass.

Russell is a fan-favorite HouseHusband and it’s so nice to see how he’s been there for you during your cancer battle. How have you been able to lean on him? And what’s your secret to a long, happy marriage?

Keep it simple—kiss. That’s what we literally base our relationship on. It’s natural. It’s not like,”OK, don’t do this, and we’re gonna do that.” We’re best friends. If we’re not together, we’re on the phone talking like lovers in high school back in the ‘80s. It’s one of those things where I’m like, “What are you doing? Did you eat yet?” We just talk. I’m obsessed with him. I’m his No. 1 stalker and he’s mine. We still, knock on wood, love each other and want to be with each other, and I think that’s the No. 1 thing. Best friends/lovers.

I want to get into this week’s episode. You have your celebration party, and there are some mixed reactions. Can you talk a little bit about that? 

Again, this newer version of myself is not the people pleaser that I used to be. It’s a clear example of what happened with Julia and I that my kindness got taken advantage of. People think that you’re weak when you’re kind. So, me coming on a cruise to be there for you as you asked me to, and now it gets spinned into, “I volunteered,” when I just got back from the same cruise, it doesn’t track. The fact that some people in the group are just nodding like, “Yeah, that’s what happened. Look at her.” It’s just sad because I feel like I’m on The Truman Show. I’m like, “Hello, is this real? What’s happening?” I just want to tell my side of the truth, but when it falls on deaf ears, you have me doing something like what I did at my party. 

I want to set the record straight. This is me setting the boundaries and making it very clear that this is what we are going to do. We’re gonna be truthful. We’re not going to play these gaslighting games. The passion that you had at my party, you had not one ounce of it at yours when the water-throw happened. Now, all of a sudden, everyone’s awake and ready to go and have opinions and be the judge and the jury? We can’t move the goalposts every single time when it only applies to me. But when it benefits their narrative or their version of it, they get to say, “Oh, clutching pearls, how dare you?” Anything that happens at a wedding party without anyone stopping that person from behaving so unhinged, the question is why did that happen and why did no one do nothing? That’s the question. So let’s not divert to my stuff. Let’s just talk about your stuff. 

There’s been a lot of talk online about that double standard with you and the other women. They want you to forgive and forget, but maybe they’re not as quick to forgive or forget other things.

I’ve tracked the way I said I was going to track. I am not going to let anything be a mood killer for me. I try to move forward. So after the water toss, you see me sitting down with her, and I’m apologizing like, “Well, I guess whatever I did, I’m apologizing for it.” Julia only apologized for throwing the water, not for the big foundation lie she told about me. That’s huge. And then victimizing herself once, twice, and then making a pact with me that she set. “We’re gonna not talk about anything in front of the girls.” And what happens at the narcissist party? What she said she wasn’t gonna do, she gets to do. This is an example of someone just poking you, saying, “I can do this to you because I know you. You’re nice and you’re gonna forgive me after I’m done.” No one gets to play in my face anymore, no one. If you think that my party was so outrageous, get used to it. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. And it’s going to be under my terms, and I can do what I want at my party, which was a celebration of life. So anything that gets twisted into, “It was about the C-word!” The C-word is part of my life and testimony. So get used to hearing it, because it is what it is, but don’t twist it into something that it’s not. It was a party. And I said goodbye to my family, and did what I did at my after party. 

I want to get into everything going on this season. You genuinely seemed like you had no idea that Julia had an issue. Why do you think she held onto this for so long before bringing it up?

You want an exclusive? The cruise happened before the Season 6 reunion. If you see the Season 6 reunion, she has my back, she’s my friend, we have no issues. There was never a discussion about the cruise. What I showed on the board was the only discussion about the cruise issue. There is one issue with the cruise that made me say, “Hey, I didn’t like the way this happened on the cruise.” All I did was express my confusion over a situation that happened on the cruise. I clearly state, “I’m not mad at you, but this is how I feel.” And you waited until after the Season 6 reunion, almost a whole year, we pick up the cameras, and I am baffled for this to be what you come at me with. I’m just thinking, “Hey, I’m getting my groove back. I’m going to have so much fun this season.” I had no beef with none of the girls the entire hiatus that we were off the cameras. When I picked up and I’m watching the show like a fan, I’m literally like, “That’s what they were saying behind my back?” But then they were texting me like, “Hey, girl, how you doing?” Mind blown. There’s a lot to answer to, because why behave this way? Why choose to do what you guys do, or not do anything when things got bad at the wedding party? Now you want to start bending the rules and making it benefit you? It’s just weird. I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t answer for everybody. I just gotta take care of me. 

Some think she needed a storyline, and that’s why she decided to be angry with you.

The fans know what it’s giving, and that’s the thing about it. I don’t have to tap dance and explain myself because it’s clear as day what it looks like and the fans ain’t stupid.

Julia kind of posted a disclaimer for her behavior shortly after the season premiered. What were your thoughts on that?

I think that Julia was basing my reaction on what the old version of myself would do, which would be like, “You know what? Let me give grace. I’m going to wait till the reunion, so 17 episodes until I tell my truth.” And then I’m like, “Yeah, no, we’re not doing this anymore.” I had to look within and literally say to myself, “If you claim and talk about being this new version of yourself, why are you acting like the old version?” I had made some changes, and those come with boundaries, and people weren’t expecting me to say, “You cannot do this. This is not true. The Zoom call? I tried three times. I asked you for another number. The cruise, what? This is what happened.” Now, you get to see the whole truth because I individually ask people to listen to me and they would be like, “Yeah, you were both wrong. Julia’s really hurt about what you did.” The gaslighting has to stop. At my party, it was my turn to share in the celebration of life and also being able to share my testimony, which includes cancer. It’s a stigma that people don’t wanna talk about. It is what it is. I get to talk about my testimony, and then I go full circle and say, “On top of that, for us to start on a clean slate. I want to move forward, but we have to be truthful about some things. And here’s what we’re gonna talk about, and you can read.” But some people don’t know how to read all of a sudden and don’t know how to listen. They want to go walk into the conga line. So, bye-bye! Adieu. Adieu to you and you and you. 

I will say I was cheering you on when I saw the immediate clap back with the receipts and everything.

It’s not the person I want to be, but I have to protect my peace, and I’ve got to release what no longer serves me. I want to sleep at night and I’m tired of protecting other people. This was the time I was like, “Yeah, we’re going to clear that, because I want to be eternally stress free.” That is what it is. Truth hurts, I guess. A lot of people are spinning the truth into whatever they want, and it’s not going to work. 

I was surprised to hear Captain Sandy’s name brought up. Have you heard from her at all since the episode aired?

Oh, my gosh. Listen, Captain Sandy on the cruise — poor baby. She was asked to be an honoree for the grand opening of the ship or something. When I went back on the cruise because I was asked to go help a friend, I was part of the festivities. I met Captain Sandy, no big deal. There’s a lot that I’m going to save for the reunion, but the fact of the matter is, I was not privy to what would be happening. I was given a different version of that itinerary. When I came on the ship, I was told, “We have this party and you’re not invited and go over there, but thanks for coming to be with me.” It was just like the Twilight Zone. I was like, “What do I do with myself? Go to the cafeteria?” It’s just not nice. But [they] just spin it. And the lies behind it make me look like it was all about me, and I was like, “We’re not going to do this. We’re not.”

One of the funniest moments, in my opinion, was when you were trying to mediate between Larsa and Lisa in that throne-like chair. 

Do you know that I didn’t even know what I was sitting on? It didn’t occur to me. I was just kind of like,”Chair? Sit down.” And then I was maybe subconsciously like, you know what? No one stood up for me or helped me when that water was tossed, and degraded me and humiliated me on national TV, and [I was] feeling so low. What did I do to deserve this? I feel like subconsciously I was like, “I wish somebody would have stood up for me.” So, don’t let him win! Larsa, say sorry! Girl, I don’t know, why was I there? I have no idea, but maybe it was a way for me to release and be therapeutic. I didn’t even know it was going to be that funny until I watched it with Russell. I couldn’t believe it. 

You made the scene lighter, which is what I love about you on the show. You’ve dealt with so much, but you still find a way to make things positive. 

I’m not perfect. Do I talk over people sometimes? Yes. Do they all do it too? Yes. Am I loud? Yes. Are they loud? Yes. But all of a sudden it’s like, “Oh, you’re too much!” I’m like, “Did you look in the mirror this morning girl? Bye.” We all have to work on something, and obviously I’m working on it because I’m so nice.

A little birdie told me that you’re writing a memoir! Can you tell me about it?

She’s been working and keeping her head down for a long time. This is my baby. The way I wrote this book is actually quite interesting. Every week I have therapy, and every time I’m done with therapy, I write my notes about these revelations about me, and I’m like, “Oh, that’s why I do that.” I wrote his book week by week, session by session. I just poured my soul into it. I started writing it a little bit beforehand. But once the therapy session started coming, it was so easy to write. The traumas that I didn’t know I had from childhood that peak their heads into girlfriend groups and things like that, I’m like, “Wow.”

This is for anybody who feels like they don’t belong, anybody that’s been on the outs and anybody who doubts their worth and themselves to turn it around, which I call Guerdifying. I say, what do we do with this mess? Abracadabra. We turn it into a bad boss bitch who’s now using all these culture clashes and experiences into, now I’m the top planner in the world because I can sit with Brazilians, Russians, and anybody and sell you an amazing beautiful wedding. I can sit in rooms that were not meant for me to sit in. So this is that book. All these events, like cancer, that redefine me, like, “Oh my god, Guerdy 2.0, what are we doing? What do we do different from the past?” I don’t need hair. I have hot flashes every 20 minutes anyway. Screw the wigs. Just be comfortable in your imperfectness and your imperfections.

It’s now available on pre-order on Amazon, but the hardcover is coming out in November 2025, so hopefully by BravoCon it will be ready.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Real Housewives of Miami airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.