She just came across as rather bitter, IMO.
I didn't think that at all. Susan was simply joking about the judges - face it, it's a running theme, we don't expect anyone else to preface their jokes about the judges with "actually, some of the time they've been OK".
I always feel we need to cut Tess some slack for the simple achievement of virtually carrying the show on her own in Brucie's later years, including having to be ever -alert to leap in when he fluffed, and evading his wandering hands.