What is Steve Lodge’s net worth?
Steve Lodge is a retired US Army veteran and a retired Santa Ana homicide detective who has a net with of $2 million. He’s also a small business owner, a grandfather, father, son, and husband, a one-time reality television character, and a man with several failed bids to become Governor of California.
That’s a lot to take on for a guy who should be settling in to enjoy his retirement years in peace.
But it looks like peace and quiet aren’t things this charismatic California native sees when he looks to his future.
While Steve Lodge’s engagement to a reality television star may have ended, fans’ and viewers’ interest in his life has not—so here’s what we’ve dug up on the man of many talents.
The Origin Story
Steven Albert Chavez Lodge was born on March 7, 1958, as the eldest of three sons—his younger brothers are Roger and Erick.
Steve’s parents were of German and Spanish descent, and they split up early in their children’s lives.
After her divorce from Arthur Hubert Chavez, Steve’s mom married Robert Eugene Lodge.
While Lodge wasn’t technically a part of Steve’s name as he was growing up, he had it legally changed to honor his stepfather—who he describes as a “great guy”—and also to maintain a link to his mom’s new last name.
Straight out of high school, Lodge was at a loss as to what he should do with his life.
He decided to join the US Army while he figured it out. For more than a decade, he would work his way up to the rank of Corporal.
When he retired from the US Army, Steve joined the Santa Ana police department, working as a homicide detective for the city of Santa Ana and receiving training in Criminal Justice Law.
In 1990, it was claimed that Lodge used “excessive force by throwing [the complainant] to the ground and beating him with a baton.”
The complainant, who had been pulled aside for jaywalking at the time the assault occurred, was awarded $612,000 by the city of Santa Ana.
He also worked as a Senior Public Policy Advisor to the City of Anaheim and as a director of public affairs for Hill International.
Wife & Kids
In 1986, Steve Lodge married his first wife, Karla.
The pair went on to have two children together—a daughter named Amanda and a son named James—before their marriage ended in divorce in 2005.
Steve, who describes himself as a very hands on father, would maintain shared custody of his children following the split and his second marriage to Tonya Compton in 2010.
Tonya and Steve didn’t have any children together, and their divorce was finalized in May 2014.
With two marriages behind him, Steve was about to attempt a third—and it would be the most high profile to date.
@Getty
Steve Lodge & Vicki Gunvalson got engaged
Steve Lodge was a retired police detective and twice divorced father of two when he met the blonde and bubbly Real Housewives of Orange County star, Vicki Gunvalson.
Gunvalson had recently come out of a relationship that cost her a few popularity points and stirred up controversy in the RHOC world—she and her former boyfriend, Brooks Ayers, had fabricated a story about him having cancer as a show storyline.
The pair met in early 2016 at a Boys & Girls Club charity event held in Lodge’s hometown of Anaheim.
They hit it off instantly, and before long, they were coupled up—and Lodge was appearing as a peripheral character on the hit Bravo television show that made Vicki a household name.
Love may have been in the air, but it took the couple another three years before they’d make things official.
They got engaged at Gunvalson’s home, where Gunvalson says the couple was “eating dinner in our pajamas” after a long day of work.
@Getty
According to the blonde entrepreneur—who launched Coto Insurance and Financial Services more than three decades ago—Lodge just said, “I want to ask you from the bottom of my heart if you’ll marry me.”
Vicki said yes—or more specifically, she said, “Absolutely, yes yes yes!”
The pair had a hard time scheduling a wedding around their blended family—trying to make time in their own schedules, plus those of their adult children Amanda, James, Briana, and Michael.
Factoring in the travel restrictions in place at the time, the pair postponed their 2020 wedding.
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Steve Lodge Moves On
Vicki Gunvalson attends “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” season 2 New York premiere – @Getty
In September of 2021, the pair split up, announcing their breakup just days after Lodge’s second bid for governor fell flat.
While Lodge would later attempt to claim that he and Gunvalson actually broke up in December of 2020, fans and RHOC viewers called Steve out on his claims.
It became clear that he had used Vicki’s spotlight as a platform for his campaign, and had even talked about his engagement at press appearances.
Now that his campaign had failed, though, Steve moved on quickly.
Within days he had moved out of Vicki’s home and in with his mother, and just months later, he was announcing his engagement to third-grade teacher Janis Carlson.
Steve Lodge and Janis Carlson married in April 2022.
Janis, who married the 63-year-old seven months after his highly publicized break up, was 37 years old when she became Lodge’s third wife.
Net Worth
So, how much is Steve Lodge worth?
Lodge earned most of his wealth from his career as a police officer in Orange County.
He also worked as a director of public affairs for Hill International.
Steve appeared in several episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Therefore, Steve Lodge has an estimated net worth of $2 million.
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I am Bulgarea Candin Stefan, and I founded FamousPeopleToday.com in 2018. I’m using my bachelor’s degree in economics and 9 years of experience in blogging to guide millions of people through the incredibly complex world of celebrity net worths.