Gina Kirschenheiter Reveals Her RHOC Salary for First Season

Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo

Gina Kirschenheiter addressed the idea of a reality tv union, said her children “don’t get paid” or “protected,” talks “residuals” and revealed what she earned during her first season.

The Real Housewives of Orange County star has been open about her life struggles on the show, including her past legal issues and divorce. Recently, Gina clapped back at host Andy Cohen for suggesting she owned the cheapest house within the cast.

Speaking on the “Trading Secrets” podcast, via Reality Tea, Gina said her children “don’t get paid and … don’t get protected” for filming on the show.

When asked about the idea of a reality TV union, the star expressed, “We could use some protection and some security; some residuals would be nice.”

Gina went on to say, “A little control. Protection for my children. That is something that I am very big on. When children become child actors, they have to open up a bank account that’s protected. The parents cannot spend that money.”

She explained, “Realty children have to get a work release … So they’re working. But they don’t get paid and they don’t get protected. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

The 39-year-old shared that she puts money away for the children when they film for the show, because appearing on camera is not something they always want.

She also addressed the absence of job security.

“Even though we are paid well,” said Gina, via the same outlet, “we don’t have job security.”

The star admitted, however, that her pay wasn’t so high during her first season. “I’ll just be honest with you. I think my first year, the take-home after the bonuses and everything, it was under $100,000 … [And] my first season, I think that with the reunion there [were] at least 20 [episodes].”

She went on to say, “[Your paycheck] roughly doubles every year … Look, I’ll cash my checks as long as they want to sign them, but I really focus on a lot of baskets, projects I can do outside of the show.”

Gina then stated, “The show is hard mentally … so to be able to work on other projects is healthy for me mentally.”