Former Real Housewives of Orange County couple Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley have accused Tamra Judge of leaking false stories about them to the press.
During an interview on the Knot Too Taboo podcast, Gretchen and Slade dished on their old OC reality TV days. Gretchen vented about how she was often targeted by press leaks.
Not only did she allege that Bravo was enabling of casting rumors and other show gossip being released, but said that her former costar Tamra was in cahoots with Bravo as “a regular source of trying to sell and leak information.”
Gretchen claimed that Tamra had a tight hold on several outlets. Gretchen wanted to do an interview to clear her name about allegedly false narratives that were being leaked about her. Gretchen accused Tamra of interfering with those interviews and receiving backup from Bravo.
“We were going to do an exclusive with one of the magazines and tell the real story because I had the receipts. And I think Bravo called, or their PR, and they basically threatened [them]. ‘ She goes, ‘They’re scared of you guys because they know you know the truth.’ It was shady,” Gretchen stated.
Slade also backed Gretchen’s accusation.
Gretchen is ‘cool’ with everyone from RHOC but Tamra
Gretchen revealed that despite the drama she had with other Housewives during her time on the show, Tamra is the only former cast member that she still is on bad terms with.
She explained that her list of friends spanned from current Orange County Housewives to Housewives who have left the franchise earlier on than she did.
“I have a lot of friends from the show. Even [Vicki Gunvalson] and I are cool,” she expressed. “[Gina Kirschenheiter], [Lauri Peterson], Ashley Zarin, Peggy Tanous… even Heather Dubrow. She’s reached out to me and congratulated me on the baby. I’m legit cool with everybody but Tamra.”
Would Gretchen ever return to Real Housewives of Orange County?
Casting leaks, like the ones Gretchen referred to, have been circulating that Emily Simpson, Kelly Dodd, Braunwayn-Windham Burke and Elizabeth have been fired and Bravo was looking for RHOC alum to replace them.
Bravo has reportedly asked both Tamra and Gretchen to return the show. Tamra is reportedly seriously considering the offer while Gretchen turned it down without much hesitation.
Gretchen affirmed that Bravo has been trying to get “some of her rich friends” and that she wouldn’t return to the show if Tamra was on it.
However, Gretchen stated that not just Tamra but the overall environment of the show was “toxic” and that she doesn’t want to re-enter it now that she has a child.
Gretchen left the show because of the supposedly false narratives that were created about her and it’s apparent she doesn’t want to return to the show in fear of more false rumors plaguing her.
“At that point… I think everybody in our lives [was] just so sick of [seeing] false narratives about us,” Gretchen explained. “The people that were really in our lives, our family, our parents, our friends, the people that really knew us and that knew that our relationship was real, [they] were just frustrated.”
It looks like fans won’t be seeing Gretchen or Slade on RHOC anytime soon.
The Real Housewives of Orange County is currently on hiatus on Bravo.