As The Real Housewives of Orange County prepares to begin production on its historic 20th season, the landmark Bravo series that changed popular culture as we know it, the cast is solidifying, and Gretchen Rossi will not be joining the ensemble, Variety has learned.
Season 20 is expected to begin filming soon, and apart from Rossi, the rest of the season 19 cast is expected to remain in place, with one exception. On January 9, Katie Ginella posted on Instagram to announce that she had been fired, writing, “After two seasons as a cast member of RHOC, the network has decided to move forward with Season 20 without me.” Ginella’s dismissal was not unexpected. This comes after a disastrous season in which she was exposed for a number of lies, including illegally recording castmate Shannon Beador last season and being accused of disseminating information about the show and cast to Bravo content creators. After spectacularly failing an on-camera lie detector test, Ginella more or less stopped filming, apparently at the insistence of the producers. Ginella was the first Asian American woman to appear on “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”
Rossi made a much-hyped return to The Real Housewives of Orange County as a “friend” of the cast brought in to serve as a foil to archenemy Tamra Judge. Rossi was a full-time cast member from season 4 to season 8 and was constantly at odds with the judges. The situation worsened as the two continued to feud off camera for several years after Rossi left the show. Their animosity continued to develop throughout season 19, but Judge, who had a terrible season and left the show several times during filming for personal reasons, gained the upper hand in the finale. That’s when her ship, Gina Kirschenheiter, brought up an infamous Twitter thread from 2023 that lined up screenshots of Rossi favoring transphobic, anti-abortion, and anti-vaccine posts on social media. Rossi’s reaction when the subject was suddenly brought up at the cast’s final dinner in Amsterdam was strange, giving the impression that he was in a fugue state — and denying that he had liked the post, which was not the case. During the show’s reunion episode, she tried to turn the tables even more by saying she hired a cyber analyst and tied something on social media (which wasn’t clear) to Judge, but she didn’t provide any specific receipts on Instagram during or after the reunion, and her claims didn’t stick.
And Judge returns for season 20 despite her actions in the previous season. She was saved thanks to the story possibilities offered by reuniting the now-separated “Tres Amigas”, made up of Judge, Beador, and Vicki Gunvalson. It’s fitting that Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen offered “O.C. OG” Gunvalson an orange onstage at BravoCon in November, making her the first cast member of Season 20, and it seems like the ever-present trio of former best friends in various states of conflict will have to be allowed to play out their psychological drama in front of the cameras.
As for the rest of the cast, despite speculation in the Bravosphere about a larger overhaul, the remaining season 19 group is expected to return, with (newly engaged) Kirschenheiter, Emily Simpson, Heather Dubrow, and Jennifer Pedrati all returning for Bravo’s milestone season 20.
