Katie Ginella is opening up about the drama she faced with Gina Kirchenheiter and Heather Dubrow amid her debut season on The Real Housewives of Orange County.
While also addressing the ongoing tension between Shannon Beador, 60, and Alexis Bellino, 47, revealing her biggest regret of season 18, and looking ahead to season 19, Katie, 40, offered an update on where she stands with Gina, 40, and Heather, 55, and admitted that her experience on the Bravo reality series thus far has “been a lot.”
“It’s been a little daunting, but I got through it. I made it,” Katie told Decider. “My husband [Matt Ginella]’s been on TV for a really long time, so I think it was kind of natural for him. My daughter, being able to talk about her past a little bit, she’s told me has been really cathartic. So I think she’s really enjoyed it. And then our seven-year-old, Bandon, he loves seeing himself on TV. We don’t let him watch the episode. We just let him watch his little scene and he thinks he’s famous.”
Before signing on to appear on RHOC, Katie was dealt with advice from current housewives, including the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills‘ Sutton Stracke, 52.
“Sutton and Gina from my cast both told me to just be authentically who you are. Because then it’s easy and they’re completely right,” she shared. “If you just make your decisions and you say the things that you’re comfortable with and you’re never going to go wrong just being yourself.”
While Katie joined the show as a friend of Gina, they experienced drama amid filming after Katie brought up a rumor about Heather calling the paparazzi on herself — along with an underwhelming receipt.
“I did not see that coming. But, you know, I think that’s kind of how it goes with friendships. Sometimes you have peaks and valleys. And we went through a lot of peaks and valleys. But we’re seeing our way through it,” she explained.
Looking back at the moment she suggested Gina was using Heather for her real estate contacts, Katie said she didn’t realize the comment would come as such a shock.
“Why wouldn’t she want Heather’s help? Heather has a lot of friends that can buy a lot of big homes. And Gina’s growing her business,” Katie reasoned. “That’s not that shocking. And they’ve been friends for a long time. Longer than we have.”
Despite the hiccups they faced during production, Katie said she and Gina are “okay” at the moment, although they aren’t talking as much as they used to.
“We had a very frank conversation a couple of weeks ago that we were both going to talk a lot about each other, and there’s going to be a lot of hard times to watch, but that we’re okay,” she stated. “It’s weakened [our friendship] because you wouldn’t normally have these kinds of tiffs in a normal relationship. So I think it’s weakened it a little bit. But we’re making it.”
During a recent episode of RHOC, Heather hinted that Gina shared information about Katie that hadn’t yet been revealed. But, according to Katie, she’s not sure what Heather was getting at.
“I feel like I’ve been pretty open and honest even about not great things. So I’m really not sure what she’s referring to,” she noted.
Although Gina doesn’t feel that she and Heather need to be best friends, she does want her to know she’s sorry for the drama they’ve faced and is determined to stay cordial with her castmate.
“You’ll see that I try to make things really easy when we’re together. We can coexist really well,” she admitted. “We’re respectful to each other. And there are moments like when we go on our big cast trip, she’s so kind. We thought we were going to die on an airplane, and she was holding my hand. She can be very kind. And so I think that after now we kind of try to stay okay.”
Moving on to Shannon and Alexis, who is newly engaged to Shannon’s ex-boyfriend, John Janssen, 60, Katie reacted to Shannon turning down a conversation with Alexis at Heather’s event.
“I think it was really hard for her. Both of them are trying to get something different out of that whole situation. Alexis, kind of like I do, really wants to apologize for hurting and try to move on. But I think Shannon is hurt herself for a different reason,” Katie explained.
As for her biggest regret, Katie said, “I really wish I could have talked to [Heather] woman to woman about it. And I was like, ‘[Tamra Judge], why did you tell her?’ But it just worked out that way. She had to find out some way, I guess. But I really, looking back, wish her and I could have had that conversation together.”
Also during the interview, after saying that both Heather and Emily Simpson, 48, would be good on The Traitors, Katie teased the cast’s upcoming trip to London.
“There’s going to be a lot of things that come up. I’m really proud of [Jennifer Pedranti] and the way she handles herself and sticks up for herself on this trip. So I think you’ll see a lot of conflict and maybe come to a resolution,” she hinted.
Katie then admitted that when it comes to season 19, she’s not yet decided.
“I think I want to get through the rest of the season, watching and filming the reunion and then make a decision. I don’t know. I’m kind of 50/50 right now, and I’d like to honestly talk to my family about it, too, because it’s not just a commitment for me. It’s a commitment for my entire family,” she stated.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 airs Thursday at 9/8c on Bravo.
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