Kelly Dodd Broke Down Her Background After Shouting "I'm Black" at the 'RHOC' Reunion

Since she made her debut on The Real Housewives of Orange County in Season 11, Kelly Dodd has polarized viewers. Season after season, Kelly has proven that she's never one to back down from conflict, and she's often ready to say exactly what's on her mind.

In a teaser for the second part of the RHOC Season 15 reunion, Kelly can be heard saying, "I'm Black." The moment has yet to air in its entirety, but it's already gotten some fans in a tizzy online.

What is Kelly Dodd's ethnicity? She clarified some of her reunion remarks, and why she made the comment in the first place. 

Ahead of the second and final part of the Season 15 reunion, which is set to air on Jan. 27, a trailer was released. In it, Kelly can be heard exclaiming, "I'm Black!" in response to claims that Braunwyn Windham-Burke called her co-stars "racists" and "homophobes."

Kelly spoke exclusively with E! News about why Braunwyn's words rubbed her the wrong way. 

"So we have Braunwyn who is blond haired, blue eyes, as white as can be. She's always saying that I'm a racist or a homophobe and it really irritates me," she told the outlet. "So I did a 23andMe and I don't identify myself as a Black person, that was not my point. My point was I'm Black, Asian, Mexican, Spanish, I'm 30% Native American and I'm one percent Jewish. And I'm all races."

Since her first appearance on the show in Season 11, the Arizona native has discussed her family's Mexican roots. 

In "The Unmasking of Elizabeth Vargas" (Season 15, Episode 12), Kelly called her dad, Frank, to discuss her heritage after she was asked if she still had family in Mexico. 

"We go all the way back to the Revolutionary against the Spanish. We had an admiral — there was an admiral. My grandpa was born around 1870... my dad came here in 1910," Frank shared. "He came in a covered wagon."

One jaw-dropping moment for many viewers during Part 1 of the reunion was a tense exchange between Kelly and host Andy Cohen. 

When Andy asked Kelly about her controversial past words about the COVID-19 pandemic and her travels, she said that she often got messages herself about Andy's own social media. 

"I mean, the amount of messages that I get that you're uneducated, you're putting out misinformation, you're behaving like a moron," Kelly said during the reunion. "I get them too, saying that you're anti-American, that you put your political beliefs out there, that they don't want to watch a political show."

Afterwards, while speaking to E! News, Kelly explained that she wasn't calling Andy "anti-American" herself, but that she was trying to make a greater point about social media.

"My point with Andy was that you can always find negative comments on social media. Some people with zero posts and zero followers comment, but the vast majority of comments about me are positive," she said. 

The reality star said that people tend to get negative comments regardless of what their views are. 

"He was talking about how people were coming after me. People come at me and tell me bad things about him all the time, it doesn't mean it's gospel. We all get things that are negative comments. And my point was that just because people come to me and say he's anti-American doesn't mean he is..." she shared. 

"It's not that he's anti-American, I don't think he's anti-American at all," she clarified. "But I get people that DM me that say that, doesn't mean it's true. That's what I meant."

You can see the ladies break down the rest of Season 15 on the second part of the reunion.

The Real Housewives of Orange County airs on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.