Tamra Judge says she found Real Housewives of Orange County co-star Gina Kirschenheiter’s behavior during Season 17 “confusing.” When new castmate Jennifer Pedranti shared she’d had an “emotional affair” with her boyfriend Ryan Boyajian while she was still married, Gina lost her cool and left the conversation in tears. Gina’s ex-husband Matthew Kirschenheiter cheated on her during their marriage, and it’s still a sensitive subject for her.
During a recent episode of the Two Ts in a Pod podcast, co-host Teddi Mellencamp asked if Tamra thought Gina’s reaction was “a little over the top.”
“Yeah I do,” the former CUT Fitness owner said. She believes Gina now has a friendly relationship with Matt and was surprised to see her get so upset. Tammy Sue should know better. You can have a “cordial” relationship with someone and still be hurt about the way they treated you in the past.
Gina is friendly with her ex-husband
“I was confused when I filmed it,” Tamra continued. “The entire cast was kind of like, ‘huh?’ Even Heather [Dubrow] was like ‘What are you doing?’”
Tamra went on to explain that Gina “hangs out with her ex, she hangs out with her ex-husband’s girlfriend. They do TikToks together.”
The Vena CBD owner also brought up that Gina’s trying to help Matt get his criminal record cleared, for the sake of their three children. In April 2021, Matt pleaded guilty to two felony counts of domestic violence after allegedly physically assaulting Gina in 2019.
Referring to the real estate agent’s efforts to get Matt’s record cleared, Tamra added, “To me, that just doesn’t add up. So yeah, it is confusing to me. I can’t discredit her feelings … but [it’s] a little confusing to me, and the viewers as well.”
Feelings not fully processed
Gina now realizes that she has yet to fully “process everything from [her] past.” While not actually mentioning Jennifer by name, she admitted, “There were other people on the show [this season] that their situations were kind of triggering for me.”
“This was a learning lesson for me,” the mom of three continued. “Just because you moved [on] and you are in a positive space, that doesn’t mean that you … are fully healed.”
In addition, Gina said Tamra told her that Jennifer’s story of her relationship with Ryan had “inconsistencies.”
“Anybody who makes very poor decisions that result in hurting themselves and their own families probably has a strange relationship with the truth,” Gina commented. Good point.
Even so, Gina doesn’t believe the mom of five had any responsibility to “justify” her actions to her castmates in Season 17. In hindsight, she wishes she’d encouraged her co-stars to stop grilling the yoga instructor.
“Unfortunately, I was so naturally triggered by it,” Gina acknowledged. “Because I was on the other side of her situation, I just couldn’t be that person for her. In fact, I think I definitely made it worse.”
Real Housewives of Orange County continues Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo and on Peacock the following day.
TELL US – WERE YOU SURPRISED BY GINA’S REACTION TO JENNIFER’S RELATIONSHIP? DO YOU AGREE WITH TAMRA THAT IT WAS “OVER THE TOP?”
