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Credit: Instagram, Bravo
Katie Ginella believes the many feuds she found herself in on The Real Housewives of Orange County may have been the result of jealousy.
As she suspected her castmates turned on her due to how beloved she was after her debut season last year, Katie, 41, admitted to feeling isolated throughout production as she confirmed that her daughter, Kaili Ginella, had been approached by Next Gen LA producers and compared what she endured during season 19 to the lonliness she felt as an Asian American child.
“I think these women were looking for anything to point out that I’ve done wrong,” Katie told Us Weekly on July 31. “I think I was really well received [in my first season]. I’m so thankful for everybody being so kind, and I think that was like, ‘OK, well, we’re going to point out things she did wrong if she’s so well received.’”
After a messy feud with Emily Simpson, 49, regarding things her children allegedly said about Heather Dubrow, 56, and some paparazzi pic drama with Heather, Katie found herself at odds with Shannon Beador, 61, after it was revealed that she’d taken an audio clip of her mid-meltdown prior to filming on season 19 (Shannon recently denied the meltdown altogether).
“I felt very alone on an island,” Katie admitted. “I felt very outed, and it’s a very familiar feeling for me, so it was very difficult.”
According to Katie, the treatment she received from her castmates sent her back to her childhood.
“Being the new person, being the first Asian American on Housewives, being the first Korean American and adoptee, that puts me in a different category, I think,” she explained. “I also grew up in a predominantly white community as the only Asian American, so this is just a very familiar feeling.”
Although Katie questioned her return to the show, she admittedly decided to go back to prove to herself that she could handle it.
“I’m just going to keep pushing through,” she declared. “I’ve learned more about myself in the last two years of doing this than my entire 41 years of existence, so it’s been really helpful.”
As for Kaili’s potential role on Next Gen LA, Katie said she and her husband, Matt Ginella, were supportive of the idea in a separate interview.
“She actually really wants to do it,” Katie told Decider. “She was approached by a casting company that also casts for Next Gen. She mentioned it to me, and my husband and I were like, ‘You should do it if they ask you to do it.’ She’d be great.”
“I would love to see it,” she added.
Whille Landon Barker, 21, and Alabama Barker, 19, reportedly declined an invitation to join the potential spinoff, many others have been approached, including Kyle Richards‘ daughters, Alexia Umansky, 29, and Sophia Umansky, 25, Camille Grammer‘s daughter, Mason Grammer, 23, Adrienne Maloof‘s sons, Gavin Nassif, 22, and twins Christian and Colin Nassif, 19, Heather Dubrow‘s son Nick Dubrow, 21, Larsa Pippen‘s son, Preston Pippen, 23, and Cynthia Bailey‘s daughter, Noelle Robinson, 25.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 19 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
