"Real Housewives of Orange County" star Vicki Gunvalson's topless Instagram photo was inadvertent ... so she claims.

Vicki posted a photo Thursday AM, thanking Bravo TV for her Christmas Present -- a nice set of headphones.

In the Dept. of Obvious ... even a casual look at the pic reveals Vicki was naked when she pressed the red button. She, however, says she never saw her boobs before posting the photo.

Vicki tells us she was distracted, getting ready for work.

The question ... are you buying what she's selling?

The "Vanderpump Rules" cast is pulling in big ratings, but most of them are still drawing small paychecks … TMZ has learned.

Several sources connected to the show tell us anyone NOT named Lisa Vanderpump only made $5K for the WHOLE first season -- but when ratings soared they all went looking for raisies.

We're told the cast wanted 2 things: more money and first class seats on flights. Bravo budged on the cheddar ... handing them each roughly $3K/episode for Season 2, and $5K/episode for Season 3.

But while LV's sipping free booze in first -- everyone else will still be in the pretzel and peanut set. They're stuck in coach.

Much of the cast believes Bravo denied their flight upgrades because execs don't want them losing that working class charm. Most of 'em are bartenders and servers, after all.

Porsha Williams may have figured out a way to make millions of dollars ... and it's all because she got dumped by her sugar daddy.

We found out Porsha has been approached by SugarDaddyForMe.com, which offered to create a new website called PorshasSugarBabies.com, recruiting women like her who have their sights set on meeting really rich and mostly old dudes.

SugarDaddyForMe.com is the real deal, with 4.5 million members, so it would give Porsha a platform to create her own brand and keep 50% of the profits.

We broke the story ... the 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star got a reality check when her married mystery man pulled the plug on their relationship and also cut her off financially.

"Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Mama Joyce regrets her toxic relationship with her in-law Miss Sharon, but still ... she has no plans to go to the funeral.

Mama Joyce famously belittled her son-in-law Todd Tucker and his mom Sharon Tucker on the show ... claiming he was money hungry and Sharon was a prostitute.

But now Joyce tells TMZ she is sorry for attacking Sharon by repeating gossip (which turned out to be false) -- and wishes they'd patched things up before Miss Sharon died on Tuesday.

Silver lining? Kandi Burruss' mom says she wants to have a better relationship with Todd.

MJ added she won't attend the funeral out of respect for Miss Sharon's friends and family. She knows a lot of people would be pissed if she showed her face ... so instead she's going to send flowers.

Teresa Giudice can't even do bankruptcy right ... and she blames it on her lawyer whom she is now suing.

Teresa claims in her new lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- he was a slacker who never even met with her prior to filing bankruptcy docs.

She also says he was sloppy as hell, not bothering to list key assets such as her cars, her rental property income and various bank accounts.

Giudice claims he's the reason she got nailed with bankruptcy fraud and that's why she's going to prison for 15 months.

Teresa says it's a classic case of malpractice, and she wants minimum 5 mil. By the way ... if you see any stories later today saying she's suing for $15 mil ... that's wrong. She makes the same claim 3 times.

NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak will make each other squirm on live TV ... forced to come clean about some very personal issues.

Production sources tell us NeNe and Kim have agreed to play Andy Cohen's game, "Plead the 5th" ... where they're asked 3 questions and they can only plead the 5th to one.

Andy typically asks the questions, but this time the girls will grill each other.

Six years ago, NeNe openly talked about Kim having a sugar daddy and cheating on her man, triggering an iconic club house showdown ... after Kim called in to confront NeNe.

We're told NO questions are off-limits. That and a few drinks should make it interesting.

Kandi Burruss' mother-in-law, Sharon Tucker, died in NYC Tuesday ... after suffering a stroke one day earlier.

Todd Tucker immediately flew from ATL to NY after getting the news about his mother's stroke ... according to sources close to Kandi and her husband. Todd's mom frequently appeared on "Real Housewives of Atlanta" ... and went by Miss Sharon on the show.

She slipped into a coma overnight while hospitalized after the stroke. We're told Kandi and Todd were by her side when Miss Sharon died.

Porsha Williams derailed her own gravy train ... and now she has to ditch her $300,000 Rolls-Royce if she wants to keep living in the lap of luxury.

Sources close to Porsha tell TMZ ... the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star has been getting ridiculously expensive gifts -- like the Rolls -- from a mystery sugar daddy. But we're told the dude (who's married) got fed up with her posting pics of the swag, and cut her off.

Our sources say Porsha's selling the RR because she needs a quick cash injection. It's not that she's broke -- she's still pulling in 6-figures from "RHOA" -- but since the BF cash flow has dried up ... she's suddenly gotta pay for more stuff ... like meals.

Fired 'Housewives' star Aviva Drescher got paid $100K to star on another reality show ... then screwed over the manager who got her the gig -- at least that's how the pissed off manager sees it.

The ex-manager claims she booked Drescher and her husband, Reid, on "Marriage Bootcamp" and says the Dreschers promised her a 10% commission -- which amounted to $10K.

In a lawsuit, the ex-manager says Drescher slandered her in interviews ... by calling her "sleazy" and a "wannabe agent."

The ex-manager says she only got $2,500 of her commission, so she is suing for the balance ... and for damages to her reputation. We tried contacting the Dreschers ... but no response so far.

Tip for the ex-manager -- beware of flying limbs.

Jennifer Lawrence cozied up to one of the stars of her favorite show Saturday night in West Hollywood ... and TOTALLY fangirl'ed out.

The "Hunger Games" star hit up Pump with her friends and we're told Lisa Vanderpump hooked JLaw up with the best seat in the house ... and then snapped a pic with the group.

It's interesting ... When the actress walked in no one noticed her and she was seated in the less desirable outside area facing Santa Monica Blvd. When Vanderpump realized what was up, Jennifer was moved to Lisa's personal table.

Jennifer was drinking Pump-tinis and Lisa's Sangria.

Lawrence has confessed she LOVES reality TV ... and the Instagram video makes it clear ... in her head Vanderpump Rules.

The father of the late "Real Housewives" star Russell Armstrong will finally get photographic evidence to answer the question he's been asking for 3 years ... "Was my son murdered?"

The L.A. County Coroner has agreed to turn over pics, negatives, videos and X-rays to Louie Armstrong and his lawyers ... provided they keep the evidence under wraps.

The elder Armstrong has never believed his son took his own life. Russell was in financial straits -- owing a ton of money to business associates -- so when Armstrong was found hanging from an electrical cord Aug. 15, 2011, his dad immediately suspected foul play.

NeNe Leakes now says she might donate money to Detroit's schools after all ... but she sure as hell ain't gonna do it just because Kenya Moore did -- IF Kenya did at all.

We talked to the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star at LAX, and she defended the fact she hasn't paid up her end of the $20K deal she made with Kenya to support a charity of her choice.

Check out the clip ... NeNe rips off a list of questions she needs answered before she writes a check. But at a point, doesn't this start to feel like a giant stall tactic?

Kim Richards finally played her hand on the fate of her pit bull ... and it sounds like she's trying to keep it.

Kyle Richard's sis was at the Grove Saturday when our photog asked about her dog, which has now bitten 4 people ... most recently Kyle's 18-year-old daughter Alexia.

It takes a little reading between the lines, but it sounds like she's saying she sent the dog to a professional so it won't continue attacking people. That means when the trainer thinks the dog is socialized she'll take it back.

The question ... who would go to Kim's house hoping the dog had turned over a new leaf?

Once bit ...

Porsha Williams SAYS she's not fazed by her recent demotion on "Real Housewives of Atlanta"... but she sounds like she's lying.

Porsha was at LAX Thursday when she told our photog her dance card is filled with work now that she's no long a series regular, but watch the video ... it just doesn't ring true.

We broke the story ... Porsha was demoted back in October from main cast member to friend for being a pain in the ass.

Kyle Richards made it as clear as she can without saying anything ... she's none too pleased the dog that attacked her daughter has not been removed from her sister's home.

Kyle was chatty as she left Craig's in West Hollywood Wednesday night ... telling our photog her daughter Alexia will hopefully regain full movement of her hand after the attack by Kim Richards' pit bull.

But when our guy asked about keeping the dog in the family ... her tone immediately changed. It's not just what she says, but how she says it.