A Real Housewives of Orange County Catfight!

The claws are drawn in a she-said, she-said verbal smackdown between Tamra and Gretchen

Meow! Meow! Meow!

Tamra Barney (above, right) of The Real Housewives of Orange County has some fightin' words for the show's newest housewife, Gretchen Rossi (above, left).

Why?

Because Gretchen told me earlier this week that she and Tamra got into tiff during filming when Tamra allegedly made an insensitive remark about her fiancé, Jeff Beitzel. (At the time, Jeff was suffering from leukemia; he passed away in September.)

Tamra insists she did no such thing. "I have never made a statement about Jeff," she wrote me in an email. "I never met the man. May he RIP!"

Tamra goes even further to claim, "The only time we heard Gretchen speak of Jeff was when the cameras were turned ON."

Oy.

And there's more.

Tamra insists she worked hard to make Gretchen feel at home among the O.C. posse, but never promised to be her BFF. (Gretchen told me she felt betrayed by Tamra's Jeff comments because they had just talked like they were "best friends.")

"I told her from day one I was not here to be her friend," she wrote. "This is a working relationship...I might be judged harshly for my sharp tongue RIGHT NOW, but keep watching! I judge people on their actions and not their words."

Nope, Tamra's not done yet.

"Jeana [Keough] was right when she wrote on her blog [that] Gretchen should be on scripted TV, if you get what I mean," Barney continued. "This is reality TV and I give viewers my life, not bulls--t or what sounds good at the moment."

And besides, she added, "I really don’t care if she does not like me."

So there! See you in the schoolyard, kids!