Gina Kirschenheiter is explaining why she told Jennifer Pedranti about the âformer fatty photoâ Tamra Judge shared of her, addressing the fear Heather Dubrow potentially has for Tamra, and reacting to Tamraâs temporary exit from The Real Housewives of Orange County.
As she also suggested she canât trust Katie Ginella, 41, clapped back at the backlash she and Emily Simpson, 49, received for their formaldehyde-dipped jokes about Gretchen Rossi, 46, and discussed moving back in with Travis Mullen amid his drama with ex-wife, Meghan Mullen, Gina, 41, said there was âno wayâ she wasnât going to tell Jennifer, 46, about the image Tamra, 57, shared.
âWe got to get it all out. Thatâs just a part of this ⊠[And] I think she does have a right to know whatâs being discussed about her behind her back,â Gina explained to Decider on August 8.
After Jennifer called Heather, 56, out for sticking up for Tamra and her actions, Gina said Heather has been scared of their castmate.
âI think Heather herself even admits that thereâs times that she is afraid of Tamra. I mean, are we going to sit here and pretend like Tamraâs not scary? Sheâs a little scary,â Gina noted. âBut I think that Tamra is the type of person thatâs very reactionary. And Tamra is the type of person that will tell you how it is directly in the moment. She gets very activated.â
âTamra â she admitted it, sheâs in therapy to work on this â she goes out of bounds. I think that does scare Heather ⊠thatâs something that Heather is just very uncomfortable with,â she continued.
In addition to scaring Gina and Heather, Tamra has also been at odds with Gretchen, who recently suggested she was playing victim amid Teddi Mellencampâs health crisis.
âI felt bad because the Teddi stuff is very real. Teddi is very ill,â Gina said in response. âWhen we were filming, she had just found out that she had brain cancer, and then she went into those surgeries, and it was not good. This is Tamraâs closest person to her in her life. Itâs her best friend ⊠It was really affecting her.â
During an off-camera moment, Gina recalled Tamra opening up about her heartache as she revealed the two of them had recently hung out together in New Orleans.
âThatâs why I apologized, because then I was like, âLetâs go to New Orleans!'â Gina explained. âI felt so bad. It really did trigger her. She has a right to be upset.â
As fans now know, it was in the midst of the ladiesâ trip to New Orleans that Tamra announced she was done with RHOC.Â
âI think Tamra was carrying a pretty heavy load this year, and I know nobody likes to give her a break. I get it. But she was. I think she just hit a wall, and she just couldnât do it,â Gina reasoned. âI do think she needed a break. Maybe she was kind of running away from some things, but sometimes thatâs what you have to do for your mental health. Protect your peace.â
Although Tamra did exit production amid season 19, she ultimately returned to filming.
âShe came back! Sheâs good at dramatics. So it was interesting. We found out with everyone else that she quit, on social media,â Gina explained. âWell, she texted me basically to go fuck myself. But she put it on Instagram. And we were like, âWhat?'â
Regarding fans rallying around Katie amid her drama with Shannon Beador, 61, and her ties to bloggers, Gina suggested there were things that went down âoff-cameraâ that viewers didnât know about.
â[There are] things that will become clearer as time goes on,â she teased.
Then, reflecting on her comment about reconsidering her own return if Katie is brought back to the cast, Gina explained her issue with her co-star.
âWomen come into this circumstance, and they think that they have to do certain things in order to survive. Thatâs really scary for us as a group of women who arenât necessarily doing that,â she stated. âI just donât know how you trust somebody thatâs already approached this in such a weird way and a threatening way.â
âMaybe she just got caught up in all of it. But itâs interesting that she says that. I donât know why she would want to be in this group anymore,â she added.
Moving on to her and Emilyâs comments about Gretchenâs appearance, Gina doubled down, saying that they were âfunny.â
âIâm not going to say it wasnât, because it was [and] I was so surprised by how much [backlash] we got,â she admitted. âWe were complimenting Gretchen. Thatâs just a real conversation between two friends joking it up. Why I like Gretchen is because you can have fun with Gretchen. I could say all of this to Gretchen, and she would laugh with us.â
Also during the interview, Gina was asked about her decision to move back in with Travis.
âAlthough I donât regret taking the time that I felt like I needed to kind of figure it out, Iâm actually really happy because now weâve come together and Iâm recommitted in a way that I feel fully, 100% committed to this situation in this circumstance. So it feels really good. And the kids are so happy,â she shared.
Then giving a nod to Travisâ ongoing legal battle with Meghan, Gina described it as âvery unnecessaryâ and âtotally heartbreaking.â
âItâs a real struggle that we have to endure,â she stated. âI got to a point where I had to start opening up about this. I donât think itâs right, and I think Iâm entitled to my perspective to speak about this. But then even me speaking about this now could have consequences back again on the kids. Iâm in this really weird, tough position. Itâs awful, honestly.â
âI would do anything to make it get better, but I just donât see that happening,â she concluded.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 19 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.