Gretchen Rossi will not return for ‘RHOC’ season 20, Tamra Judge Will
As “The Real Housewives of Orange County” prepares to begin production on its history-making 20th season – a milestone for the Bravo franchise that changed popular culture as we know it – the cast is starting to take shape, and Gretchen Rossi will not be in the ensemble, Variety has learned.
Season 20 will begin filming soon, and aside from Rossi, the rest of the 19th season cast is expected to remain intact, minus one other: Katie Ginella will appear on January 9 posted on Instagram to say she had been fired, writing, “After two seasons as a cast member on RHOC, the network has decided to move forward with season 20 without me.” Ginella’s ouster wasn’t unexpected, after a disastrous season in which she was caught in a number of lies — about making an illegal recording of fellow castmate Shannon Beador last season, and after being accused of spreading information about the show and its cast to Bravo content creators. After blatantly 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 be cast on “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”
Rossi had returned to “The Real Housewives of Orange County” with some fanfare, as a “friend” of the cast, after being brought in as a foil for her nemesis Tamra Judge. Rossi was a full-time cast member from seasons 4 through 8 and had always clashed with Judge: a situation that worsened in Rossi’s years off the show, as they continued to feud off camera. Their animosity continued to play out throughout season 19, but Judge — who had a horrible season for personal reasons and quit the show several times while she was filmed — gained the upper hand in the finale when her ship Gina Kirschenheiter infamous Twitter thread from 2023 that cataloged screenshots of Rossi liking transphobic, anti-abortion, and anti-vaccination posts on social media. Rossi’s reaction to the sudden introduction of this topic at the cast’s final dinner in Amsterdam was bizarre, and she gave the impression that she was in a fugue state – somewhat denying that she liked the messages, but not really. During the show’s reunion episodes, she argued more and tried to turn the tables on Judge by saying she hired a cyber analyst who linked something on social media (it wasn’t clear) to Judge, but she produced no tangible receipts either during the reunion or later on Instagram, and her accusations didn’t stick.
And Judge returns for season 20, despite her behavior from the previous season: She’s saved because of the storyline potential that comes from reuniting the now-splintered “tres amigas,” which consisted of Judge, Beador, and Vicki Gunvalson. Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen presented Gunvalson, the “OG of the OC,” with an orange on stage at BravoCon in November, fittingly making her the first cast member of season 20. It seems that the trio of former best friends – who always live in different conflict situations – should be able to perform their psychodramas in front of the camera.
As for the rest of the cast, despite speculation in the Bravosphere of a bigger overhaul, the remaining group from season 19 will be back, with (a newly engaged) Kirschenheiter, Emily Simpson, Heather Dubrow, and Jennifer Pedranti all returning for Bravo’s milestone 20th season.
