'Real Housewives Of Orange Country': Gretchen Rossi Calls Show 'Inauthentic'

Twitter | Gretchen Rossi

Gretchen Rossi may not have tuned into the 15th season of "The Real Housewives of Orange County," but during an appearance on the Friday, April 23, episode of the “Getting Real with the Housewives” podcast, she admitted to being in the loop with certain storylines of the show.

“You have to be living under a rock to not have a clue what’s going on,” Rossi explained, via Us Weekly.

According to Rossi, she believes the most recent season of the show, which began airing in 2020, featured cast members who aren't relatable.

“Unfortunately, I think there was just a couple of characters on the show that had so much going on in their lives that everyone was just like, ‘Wait, what?’ There’s no relatability,” Rossi shared.

During "The Real Housewives of Orange County" season 15, cast member Braunwyn Windham-Burke came out as an alcoholic during the premiere episode and in the weeks that followed, she confirmed she is not only a lesbian, but also seeing another woman, and continuing to live as a married couple with husband Sean Burke.

“It felt very inauthentic because like one day she’s straight, one day she’s lesbian. You know what I mean? Like it was just kind of confusing. At least that’s what I’m gathering from what a lot of people have told me when I’m out talking to them or what you see in the comments,” Rossi explained. 

While Windham-Burke split from her former girlfriend earlier this year, she was recently tied to Fernanda Rocha, who had previously appeared alongside Tamra Judge on "The Real Housewives of Orange County."

Years after exiting the "Real Housewives of Orange County" after spending five seasons on the Bravo reality show, Rossi said that she was happy to have rid herself of the stressful environment she was often in during filming. 

“The actual day in and day out toxic environment and the stress of like, you know, ‘What somebody’s going to make up about you this week? … What lie are they going to tell about you? … What crap are they talking about you that you didn’t know that they were talking about you?’” she recalled.

Looking back, Rossi added, “I am so grateful to no longer have that in my life.”

Since moving on from her role on "The Real Housewives of Orange County," Rossi has welcomed a daughter with fiancé Slade Smiley, who she initially became engaged to during season eight. 

As for the remaining members of the show, they are expected to begin production on the upcoming episodes of season 16 at some point in the coming months. However, an exact start date for filming has not yet been shared.