Gina Kirschenheiter is speaking out about Katie Ginella‘s behavior on the 19th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County, revealing that her secret recording of Shannon Beador has led the cast to feel “unsafe.”
After it was revealed that Katie, 41, had made an audio recording of Shannon, 61, amid a supposed meltdown and allegedly shared it with Jennifer Pedranti, 48, and Alexis Bellino, 48, although Katie insisted she only shared it with her husband, Matt Ginella, Gina, 41, questioned why Katie would have the instinct to do such a thing.
“It’s never bad enough to record anyone. It would never be my instinct. And I think the fact that that’s her instinct is what the problem is. When your instinct is [to] record? Problem! It’s just as simple as that, right?” Gina asked on the August 14 episode of Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea.
“With that said, I mean, I didn’t hear it, but I’m quite certain that Shannon probably was losing her sh*t. But she also was having, like, the worst year of her life,” she added.
As RHOC fans well know, Shannon was sued by her former boyfriend, John Janssen, 62, for a $75,000 facelift. And shortly thereafter, he became engaged to Alexis.
According to Gina, Katie’s “instinct to record” Shannon in what was reportedly a vulnerable moment was “icky” and “violating.”
“Don’t record it. Go into the next day of filming and tell Shannon,” she revealed of what she told Katie, adding that there would have been a “better trajectory” for Katie’s future on the show had she not made the recording.
Although Katie did apologize to Shannon, she’s currently on the outs with the majority of her co-stars, aside from Tamra Judge, 57.
“I just think her instinct is different than what the show really calls for,” Gina concluded.
While Katie was initially on good terms with Jennifer and Gretchen Rossi, 46, she recently called them out after they shared a “hurtful and inappropriate” video in which they appeared to be mocking Asians.
In response, Gretchen told Page Six, “The video we made was not directed at Katie and was not meant to be hateful. Once it was addressed to us that it could be taken offensively, we took it down immediately.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 19 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
