'RHOC' Alum Jo De La Rosa Claims Slade Smiley Paid For Her Role

Instagram | Jo De La Rosa

Jo De La Rosa wasn't paid to appear on the debut season of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" in 2006. In fact, according to a new interview, Jo actually nabbed her role on the Bravo reality series after her former fiance, Slade Smiley, agreed to pay the network for her role.

During an interview on the "Behind the Velvet Rope With David Yontef" podcast, Jo admitted that Slade, who is currently engaged to former cast member Gretchen Rossi, "bought" their way onto the show.

"He bought our way into being a part of a cast basically,” Jo explained, according to a report shared by All About the Real Housewives on January 29. "So it was actually Slade that got us on, and he was at a charity event, and I just knew that they were looking for like the fifth couple to cast."

According to Jo, producers of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" liked the dynamic between her and Slade due to the age gap between them. 

“I was so young, and he was older, and there was this weird… just interesting 15-year difference between us. They really liked that dynamic,” she dished. 

“And so Slade just came home one day and was like, ‘Hey, so decided to move forward on this.’ And I was like, ‘You’re going to have cameras, do what? Come into our house?’" Jo recalled. 

"You know, cause back then, reality was not a big thing. It was like 'Road Rules,' 'Laguna Beach' – there wasn’t like a lot of stuff.  It really was foreign. What a bunch of crew with cameras were going to be doing following you everywhere.”

As Jo explained, she initially believed that she and Slade had simply been chosen by producers of "The Real Housewives of Orange County." However, in the months that followed Slade's announcement about her role, she learned he had put money up to have the two of them included in season one.

“I later found out that Slade actually bought a charity event ticket, and that’s actually how we ended up on there. I just recently found this out, reading an article actually,” she stated.

As for what led Jo to leave "The Real Housewives of Orange County" cast, she told host David that her role on the show no longer made sense after she and Slade called off their engagement. 

“Slade and I broke up. And so I really felt like the black sheep living in Orange County," she admitted. "I was always the girl that was rocking black nail polish and ripped jeans. Like I was a little more edgy and like, I just, I never really felt like I fit into like suburb life.”