*Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Blurbers!*
Gina Kirschenheiter recently attended a group dinner with her Real Housewives of Orange County castmates. And, while appearing on Melissa Gorga‘s podcast last week, she opened up about the “awkward” event.
While also sharing her thoughts on Alexis Bellino, 47, joining the cast for season 18, Gina, 39, spoke to the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 44, about the cast dinner, which was arranged by Heather Dubrow, 54, noting that when it came to the seating arrangements, there was a clear divide.
“We were all actually able to meet up for a holiday dinner. The full cast from last year,” Gina revealed on the December 14 episode of On Display With Melissa Gorga. “It was a couple of weeks ago.”
Although Heather didn’t end season 17 on the best of terms with the RHOC cast, Gina said she gives her co-star a lot of credit for keeping the ladies united — “no matter what.”
“Even during the time when it was like everybody was mad at Heather, Heather is so good at always being like, f*ck it, I’m still going to be the connector,” Gina explained. “She’s always putting us on like a group text even if it’s super awkward for some people and they aren’t talking, and she’s like okay girls, why don’t we get together for the holidays, I think we should have a holiday dinner. And I love her for that, but also it feels like sometimes maybe we shouldn’t all get together.”
Looking back at their group meal, Gina admitted that there were two separate groups.
“It’s good that we were all sitting at a table, but I’ll be honest, it was literally like there were two different dinners going on,” she shared. “It felt like it was me, [Tamra Judge], [Emily Simpson], and Heather at one table. And then [Taylor Armstrong], [Jennifer Pedranti], and [Shannon Beador] at the other table. It was very awkward. It was like awkward as f**k.”
Despite the dinner being uncomfortable, Gina said group meals are something she and her RHOC castmates should make a habit of doing.
“It’s such a nice thing, it’s in the right spirit… It’s very professional,” she noted. “It is something we should be doing. We should have some level of camaraderie about our own franchise.”
As for Alexis, who went public with her romance with John Janssen, the ex-boyfriend of Shannon, 59, earlier this month, Gina confirmed they’ve only met once.
“I had never met her, and then I think just at just like BravoCon… then at that after party that was happening… I met her and said hi to her, but I never interacted with her beyond that,” she revealed.
And while Alexis has been facing rumors of a RHOC return for months, Gina said she hasn’t heard anything official quite yet.
“I don’t know anything that’s happening, but I have a feeling we’re going to see her for this season,” she teased.
Filming is expected to begin on The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 sometime in early 2024.
