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Credit: Instagram
Gretchen Rossi is speaking out amid claims that Slade Smiley was the person behind the distorted male voice heard at the end of the finale episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
After the unidentified person accused Tamra Judge, 58, of leaking stories about the show, Gretchen, 47, addressed the rumors in a comment after Zack Peter, of the No Filter with Zack Peter podcast, alleged that it was “1,000 percent true” that Tamra had been in touch with podcasters and bloggers throughout season 19, and had leaked information about what was going down behind the scenes.
“I can say that with full conviction. I’ve known about this since at least July,” Zack began in a video shared to Instagram on October 31.
According to Zack, he believed the finale phone call and the DMs that preceded it likely came from a producer.
“This happens in reality TV a lot, where producers will get info and they’ll leak it through like a DM or through like an anonymous Q&A question or something, and it’s to push the storyline forward. It happens in reality TV all the time,” he explained.
Whatever the case, Zack said he can “guarantee” that “Tamra’s absolutely been leaking things for months.”
“She’s been reaching out to podcasters, she’s been telling them not to have Gretchen on their show, not to interview Gretchen because, ‘Just wait. At the finale, Gretchen’s gonna be exposed. There are these homophobic posts, and Gretchen’s been ‘liking’ them.’ I can probably name at least five people that have gotten this info from Tamra over the last several months,” he stated. “She’s absolutely been planting seeds all summer long.”
Zack then criticized Teddi Mellencamp, 44, for dragging Scheana Shay, 40, into the storyline by suggesting she was involved in the passing on of the rumor regarding the supposed drugging and hospitalization of Gretchen.
“She knew exactly what she was doing by throwing Scheana Shay’s name into the mix because the Bravo fans already hate Scheana that it was just a greater adversary for them to direct their heat onto, and they got their pitchforks, and the fans loved it, and they came for Scheana’s neck,” he suspected.
Following the sharing of the post, someone suggested that the voice heard on the finale was that of Slade.
“They all leak stuff to the bloggers. In all the franchises. However the difference with Tamra is when every podcaster or a blogger interviews her she straight up comes out and says what she has to say boldly … We see it in the replays. Why would she ‘leak’ things that she says out right? Even on their Two Ts in a Pod. Gretchen and Slade clearly set this up and that voice sounds like Slade,” they alleged.
But Gretchen denied it, suggesting there is proof to the contrary.
“It’s not Slade [and] all the cast [and] production can verify that,” Gretchen replied.
Another fan said that while they didn’t believe that Gretchen had “liked” the homophobic and anti-abortion rights posts, they didn’t understand how the screenshots could’ve been manufactured.
“If you watch they said they found the original posts and they were not showing Gretchen liking them, I think it gets exposed at the reunion that the [screenshots] had been faked,” someone replied.
And after seeing the second fan’s comment, Gretchen confirmed, “Yep.”
Then, after Scheana reacted to Zack’s video with a series of clapping emojis, someone else asked, “So are bloggers going to be the main topic on every housewives show now?”
“It’s a fabricated post, I didn’t like that … and that is NOT Slade on that phone call,” Gretchen insisted.
Another IG user asked why Tamra was getting heat for “leaking” Gretchen’s supposedly “liked” posts when it was Gretchen who reportedly “liked” them.
“Because as we spoke about this morning, those posts are old. Tamra has known about them for a long time but strategically waited until the finale to use them against Gretchen. Tamra’s circle is surround by MAGA people. But suddenly she takes issue with it, to jab at Gretchen? And then leak it MONTHS before airing?” Zack shared.
Meanwhile, in another video shared on Instagram by Bravo OMG, Gretchen was seen with a Trump hat in a years-old video as she held her daughter, Skylar Gray, now 6.
“Go Trump, go! I got a Trump hat!” Gretchen declared.
Then, after Slade warned her of a Biden hat, she added, “No, burn that one!”
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 19 reunion begins next Thursday, November 6, at 8/7c on Bravo.
