"There is so much real stuff that's going on," Judge tells People. "We are going through real-life things – it's not like we're arguing about like, 'Why you didn't invite me to a party?' or whatever. We don't have that this year. We have real-life stuff."
As for what that means for Judge?
"You get to see a little bit more about my life with my granddaughter," Judge says of her granddaughter Ava, who was diagnosed with a kidney condition when she was born last February. "I also touched a little bit on my situation with my oldest daughter [Sidney Barney], and I'm doing a documentary on parental alienation and how it affects children. So it gets kind of emotional ... I mean, I was so busy this year, and I wasn't drinking, so there are a lot of serious things going on with me."
"There's also me prepping and working out and competing, and the whole Muscle Mania contest," she adds, referencing her total body transformation and recent fitness competition win.
The season will also cover the scary four-wheeler accident a few of the women got into in April.
"It was pretty terrifying – watching it, I got chills," says Judge, who was behind the wheel at the time of the crash. "It was just one of those things where I went flying off a dune and landed wrong – and then we rolled."
"It was very traumatic," she adds. "I had gotten hit in the head so my bell had been rung and I didn't even know what happened. I was like: 'How did we fall?' It was all really fuzzy to me."
And of course, this season will also shine a light on Vicki Gunvalson's contentious relationship with her ex-boyfriend Brooks Ayers.
"Brooks isn't on the show, but there's definitely some talk about him," says Judge of Ayers, whose controversial cancer diagnosis created major drama after he admitted to forging medical records.
"I think the girls were more concerned with Vicki's involvement in the cancer lie and not so much about her relationship with Brooks," Judge says. "As far as I know, she's broken up with him and has moved on, but we never really know. We never really know with them!"
And last but not least, this season will also introduce RHOC rookie Kelly Dodd. While Judge can't say much about the newest Housewife, she promises things will get interesting.
"There's a new girl, and we're working around that – so that's always challenging," she says.
Photo Credit: Bravo