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Heather McDonald
Heather McDonald has got the Juicy Scoop. When you're on the road, when you're on the go.
Gretchen Rossi
Juicy Scoop is the show to know.
Heather McDonald
She talks Hollywood tales, her real life Mr. Sigmund, serial data and cereal sister. You'll be addicted and addicted fast to the number one tabloid real life podcast. Listen in, listen up. Hannah McDonald, juicy scoop. Hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop. All right, let's get into what has been going on. All right, Lil Nas was had quite a weekend on Ventura Boulevard in the Valley and he was arrested and charged with four felonies. I guess he did resist arrest and possibly touched an officer. That's where those come from. And also I think public like nudity. This is what happened. My understanding is he was strutting up and down Ventura Boulevard in some adorable white cowboy boots and just white underwear. But the body's banging. And as someone who has lived close to Ventura Boulevard and especially in the last five years, I would not have batted an eye. That's another day in the life of living in Los Angeles of someone talking to themselves, strutting, or, I mean, that's an outfit that you'd wear to Burning man, quite honestly, which is right around the corner. And still my worst nightmare. Please don't ever invite me. And there was just a big wind sandstorm that happened. And I'll never understand the appeal. But anyway, he's walking down and you know, it's a hot summer night, the Valley gets hot. What's the problem here? But I guess somebody thought the underwear, like, counted as nudity or that he didn't seem well, so they called the cops. Honestly, I don't know anyone that would have called the cops that lives in the Valley that would have seen someone like this. Unless you might have known he was Lil Nas. Then by the time the cops comes, there's footage of he got rid of the underwear. But still, again, not something you haven't seen if you've lived in Los Angeles for the last five years of someone just buck naked, going to the bathroom, whatever. But he wasn't doing any of that. He was just walking, just having fun, talking about who's coming to the party or something. So after Lil Nas was arrested, they did keep him in prison or jail. Over the weekend he had a hearing. He's out now. And originally they thought he was high. I don't really know what happened personally. When I saw the video, I didn't think he was acting that crazy. But then again, I told you what my experience has been with people on Ventura Boulevard. So I hope he's okay. It's giving a little Britney Spears. It's giving, you know, just wanting to be dancing and free on the streets. So hopefully he's okay. That's. There's that Britney of the Valley is appearing to have a boyfriend that showed up at an event with her. And he too is a father of a couple kids. And in one of some post, apparently his wife commented, this is coming from the Vanderpump Rules party. They have a big Instagram account where they cover everything Vanderpump. And the son is who reported that she was seen talking to this guy. And, you know, he looks cute, some tattoos, you know, age appropriate for her. And his wife, who kind of is similar in looks to Britney, commented like he's still married and everything. But the story is that he has been. He and his wife have been separated for seven, at least seven months. We know Britney and Jax have been separated for over a year. It does take a while to get a divorce, so I don't think it's really that juicy that people can date other people while they're going headed towards divorce. And also they discovered that several of Brittany's good friends who are cast members are following him. So it tells me that he is well liked. I think Sheena and Kristen Doute followed him. So, you know, this is what will be exciting if we're going to follow these people and what their life is in the valley, raising young kids, co parenting, being separated, you're going to date other people. So. So we'll see if he makes an appearance on the show. Some sad news, but not unexpected in the case that I covered last week about this couple who claim to have had their child kidnapped outside of a big five in Yucaipa. If you recall right off the bat, from the moment we saw their press conference, everyone was very suspicious of this couple with their story. The mother claimed that she was changing her 7 month old son in the backseat of her car when someone said hola and punched her and she fell to the floor. She said floor, not ground, which I thought was interesting. And when she came to, the baby was gone. And in this particular dark part of the parking lot, which happened at 8pm There were no surveillance cameras so no one could see if this happened or not or if anybody was there. They didn't issue an Amber Alert. They found out that the dad had a previous record of child abuse on another child where there was brain damage ensued. How this guy is even out after something like that with other children is truly shocking. Sadly, the son looked like he had some type of special needs. They have not found him. They didn't. She, the wife didn't want to take the mother didn't want to take a lie detector test. And they have been arrested. Both of them have been arrested. And the latest as of this recording is the father was seen with police in a field. We are assuming that maybe he was showing them where the body might be. Very sadly. So, you know, all of our suspicions were correct right off the bat that this just none of it made sense. And I want to do a follow up on that.
Gretchen Rossi
Okay.
Heather McDonald
Real Housewives of OC I will be including after I talk about this, my interview with Gretchen and Slade, first time they came on the show. We did record it. I did, I did give a preview of it to my Patreon people and it's been very well received. If you didn't hear it there, you can hear it now. And what makes it really juicy and interesting, if you're not following this season of Real Housewife OC or this @ all. You're gonna wanna listen to this interview because when I cover housewife stuff, I always try to do it in a way that you don't need to be really watching the show because it's very relatable. And this involves a very long history between Gretchen and Tamara Judge. They have been. She first came on the show in season four or I think, Yeah, I think it was four. And Tamara had been on for a season prior to that. I'm not exactly sure. But right from the start, it seemed like Tamara kind of had it out for Gretchen. And Gretchen naively thought that Tamara would be a friend to her. And we get into the history of how the show started with her now life partner and father of her child, Slade. How the show actually began when Slade was on with a previous girlfriend. It's very juicy. But what Gretchen wanted to do on the show was really explain what has happened this season, which is this newer cast member, she's only been on two seasons, Katie went to a blog, they call them bloggers, podcasters, meme accounts, whatever, and asked her to have lunch. This woman named Kiki, and at that lunch or dinner spilled all the juice that she had collected from her castmates. Katie brought it like a silver platter. This is all my opinion. Kiki then went and told other people that do what we do, whether they're legit journalists, authors, podcasters. I think the line is really blurry. And I don't think anybody that talks to someone and is told not to tell, if they go and tell. I don't think that makes you a, you know, a journalist or someone of high integrity, whatever. It's all Bravo stuff. I mean, we're not. This isn't a criminal case. So the fans are making it seem like it. And Gretchen is on trial. So Gretchen really wanted to clear the air. What happened? Basically what happened was 17 years ago on the show or whatever. It was a long time ago. Gretchen was new to the show and she was engaged to an older man named Jeff, who she gets into that in the interview of how they met and what their love affair was like, who had cancer, he has since passed. They presented her as the gold digging young harlot, whatever, on the show. And Tamara really was trying to, I think, get that out there when she says, did you go to Bass Lake? You went to Bass Lake? Like, Gretchen can never have one day off or do anything fun while her fiance is suffering with cancer. And it was like. But I can't remember what came first. Or what. But they have this infamous night and Tamara has a dinner party and now we're seeing the scenes, everyone's putting up the scenes again of this night, which if this aired today, you would be hands down canceled. I mean, basically Tamara says, we are going to get Gretchen wasted, naked wasted. And I have my 22 year old son Ryan, bartending. And the producers show us footage throughout the night of them plowing tequila shots into Gretchen in which she says, I've been at the hospital for, you know, this amount of time. You know, this is so. It's like she's probably sleep deprived. She probably hasn't been out or had fun in a while. And there's cameras and you know, she's getting all this attention and drinks are being sent given to her at this small dinner party at Tamara's house. Lynn Curtin, a cast member, says to her, you know, slow down. Like, you know, you need to drink some water. Gina Kino is like, what the hell is going on here? Looking at the producers like, what the fuck is happening? Gretchen's getting more drunk. Ryan, the 22 year old son, is, you know, coming around and really, really flirting with her. And she's kind of slurring her words and then he follows her into the bathroom and they have the whole exchange. We hear it because they've got their mics on. Gretchen says no to his advances numerous times. It's really quite shocking. Numerous, numerous times. And she's like, you're cute, you're attractive, but I have a very nice fiance. And no, don't try, stop. And he's like, just one more kiss, just one more kiss. I mean, so predatory. I mean, no way, if this was happening today, would producers not go right in there and take her out. But this is a long time ago. Also in the episode then we see that Lynn, Kurt and her husband say, we will take Gretchen home. And Tamara says, I offered her a cab or to stay at my house and she'd rather stay at my house. So she. And then Gretchen says in a conf. I mean, Tamara says in a confessional, gretchen stayed at my house. I think that's really important. Cut to all these years later, Gretchen and Katie off camera have a meal with Jen and Ryan. And I'm sure in discussing and catching up on her history with the castmates, she tells the many stories that she believes has happened with Tamara and maybe the other housewives. And this story gets told. Katie then goes and meets with this, this girl Kiki. Now I have heard personally from like 10 to 12 other people that Katie has also DMed people like this, that anybody that has Bravo in their Medium account, Katie has gotten ahold of you, either talked to you on the phone, met with you in person, DM'd you, sent you articles, or all of the above. I don't know why Katie thought this was a great idea, but I think she just wanted to get anybody in the Bravo universe on her side because she was so pissed that Emily and Heather brought up the fact that she did not have legal custody of her children on the last reunion, which I do think was a pretty low blow by their part. So in sharing all the scoop at lunch, she tells Kiki, allegedly, that Gretchen was so wasted that night that she had to go to the hospital the next day. Then that story gets relayed. Then Kiki goes and tells a couple other people, and then those couple other people tell Tamara that this story's going around, and. And now it's that Gretchen said that she was roofied and went to the hospital. Cut to Tamara, sits on it for weeks. Now they're filming, and Tamara brings it up to Gretchen. Why? I don't know. Does nobody have a subscription to Peacock? Does nobody want to rewatch what you did on the shows in the past? Real Housewives of O.C. girls? You guys have filmed each other. You tried to plow drinks into Kelly Dodd in Ireland. You have made up horrible lies about many people, including Kelly and the train you've made. I mean, you've all been part of awful rumors and things. You've done awful things. This, I think, being one of the worst ones, because it involves your son being quite predatory. Like, in this, I believe Tamra was real. Ghisane Maxwell. Ish. Okay, I'm gonna say it. This is my opinion. That's what I'm saying. I don't know why she would want to bring it up. I don't know having this knowledge, why it infuriated her enough to want to expose this when Tamara has also been one of those people that's talked to all of us, myself included, years and years back behind the scenes, over and over, like so many people. You know, in sharing information, she was doing what Katie was doing before anybody was doing it. Okay, so all of it is there. And then Gretchen says, you know, no, like, this is not. I don't. Never said that. I never said roofie. Like, what are you talking about? So then the show airs on Thursday, and it gets brought up, and Gretchen says, I don't. I mean, did I go to the hospital? I don't know, I should have gone to the hospital, something like that. And she explains the state she was in when she stated that in the car. Because that's where the discrepancy comes. That's why I'm glad that she did my interview, which we taped at the end of last week. And why then when I listened back and I watched it, why? I think it's really important that you look at it a different in the way of what does it matter if she went to the hospital or she didn't go to the hospital? I believe, Gretchen, that she never said about the hospital. She probably. She may have said, yeah, it was pretty bad. Whatever. It was never a story to be repeated to anybody for an article in a, you know, newspaper or a podcast or whatever. It was a girlfriend venting to another girlfriend at a dinner. And it was really a case of, I think, miscommunicated, telephone, exaggerated things. And even if she did say it, in my opinion, who the fuck cares? Like what? This was a horrible thing that happened. She was probably hungover for three days. However, she spent the night at Tamra's. So Tamara knows, and she knows that she didn't go to the hospital. So why would she have said it, and why would she have made that up? And again, the bigger picture is what went down all those years ago. And, I mean, there's so much history there, which I will get into on this week's Patreon of that I know about my involvement of when I was really close to all the girls years ago, when I was the only one doing this, and I did have the scoop, and guess what? I didn't fucking tell. I didn't go tell 12 other people, because there weren't 12 other people doing this, let alone 120 people, which is probably the amount of people that Katie has spoken to. So Katie denies it. Gretchen's trying to clear the air. And, you know, I just want. There were some. A lot of comments about what you're gonna hear in this interview. And one was that I asked, why are you and Slade not married? And she said, well, you know, we put it off many years ago because we wanted not to get married until all Americans could get married. And people were writing, oh, that's convenient. Now, you say that, Gretchen, as if she didn't really mean it when she sat on my couch. Well, in 2013, there was an article written in which Gretchen Rossi says, I'm 100% behind gay marriage. And she says, right here, I'm 100% behind gay Marriage. The Orange county housewife firmly tells Star Plus, I have so many wonderful friends in the community. Some have been with their partners for over 20 years. It would be great if they could get married and show the world their love and commitment in the same way that straight couples can. She said that in 2013. So I'm just saying this is not for show. And also, you know, she, I remember she threw the Tupperware party with a very famous drag queen that is just the greatest Tupperware person here. Quesadilla in 2010. If you know, you know, like, very fun. So, like, way, I'm just saying these things can be strewed a certain way. And I do believe that it's just gotten really dark in that I feel that, you know, Tamara has had it out for her and has been putting out things and I think it's been very obvious. And again, that is my opinion as somebody who not only has interacted with these people for 20 years behind the scenes, but also has watched the episodes, remembers it, and is watching the new dynamics of social media and how it drives a storyline. So with that being said, I want you guys to listen to this interview. I think you'll really like it. I think you'll have a different perspective. And with all that being said, it's a juicy season. It's a juicy season. It's got us all talking. So who for all the players involved. Touche. 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Like the ones taking over Booktok. We're talking about about authors like Devney Perry and Sarah J. Maas. Plus you can get into classic Regency favorites like Pride and Prejudice or all the really steamy stuff. I mean, imagine a dalliance with a duke or a sexy billionaire. You can find a book boyfriend in the city on a hockey rink or find love in another realm with dragons. When it comes to what romance you're into, you can't be pinned down. So here's your invitation to have it all. Get your first great love story for free when you sign up for a free 30 day trial at audible.com hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop. I'm very excited because I've got a super juicy one for you today. Reality royalty, Gretchen Rossi, Slade Smiley, Real Housewives of oc. Parents to Skylar Gray, most famous little child. Beautifully, beautifully dressed. Always, always coordinated. Your Instagram is really fun to follow and I love I. I don't know if you've ever referred to, but I started something years ago when I started following you that you are always going to these fancy parties and I call them the Cupcake. The Cupcake ladies.
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, the cupcake ladies. Because of Casey being cupcake.
Heather McDonald
No, I didn't even know that she was a cupcake.
Gretchen Rossi
That's hilarious.
Heather McDonald
I thought that you guys looked like pretty cupcakes all the time. So funny because it was always like, oh, we're doing a Tiffany theme. Oh we're doing a pink and diamonds theme. And I was just always like why are these girls not on the show? And then you Just said they're too nice.
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, you know what? They. They've all been asked. They all have been asked to do the show, and they really are. They. They're like the nicest humans ever, and they just would never want to be involved in that kind of crazy drama. Yeah, yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Like, it's just not going to go away. Film housewives or go to Saint Tropez.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah, exactly.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
They're like, go to Saint Tropez.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
Speaking of which. And then we're going to get into the juice. But when, like, how much preparatory time do you have to go to these fancy parties? And does anybody eat at them at these fancy lunches?
Gretchen Rossi
Okay, I'll give you a juicy scoop. So we definitely eat, but we always have, like, this big fancy cake, and everyone's like, who's the cake for? Well, the cake is mainly fake, except for the very top piece that's just a small piece because the other two layers are just faux to like, make the cake look, like, really big and pretty so that it's, like, cute for our theme. But the top part is the only part of the cake that's, like, edible. Isn't that funny?
Heather McDonald
And you do eat the cake.
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, we do, yeah.
Heather McDonald
You do eat the cake.
Gretchen Rossi
We definitely do.
Heather McDonald
Yes.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah. Yeah.
Heather McDonald
And so. But how much has it ever happened that one of the cupcake girls is having a competing fancy lady luncheon party in Newport? And. Or do we all know?
Gretchen Rossi
Because most of our. Most of our friend groups are like. Cause that group that is together is like one group. So we all friends are very well coordinated. And then. And then if there's another. Yeah. And we're all friends, so when there's a party, we're all planning a party because we basically. There's 12 girls in the group, so there's basically 12 parties throughout the year. How hard would it get me.
Heather McDonald
Would it be to get me invited just to one cupcake party?
Gretchen Rossi
So you're not allowed to be in invited because they cut off anybody else being allowed to be in the group of God.
Heather McDonald
Because really, actually, because so many times when I've asked to be invited to something, people are always like, oh, my God, absolutely. And then I like, never hear from them. I love that you're like, no, we've kind of.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
I only know when the parties are coming because sometimes the guys call me going, right, there's another party. Cigars and have a whiskey in the corner.
Heather McDonald
Like, what are you going to do?
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah, exactly. You know, and you do have to prep because there's always A theme. So you have to get like the look for it and then you have to. We have to call the cake people and we get the flower hours. Listen, we're all about just celebrating life and making things special for our girlfriends. And we just have a really fun time at these parties and it's an excuse to like, get dressed up, be with your girlfriends and just have a nice lunch.
Heather McDonald
How much time, honestly, is spent on the Instagram shoots? Just as you're there, you're all having. We're there. Have a good Instagram following at least.
Gretchen Rossi
Probably the first 15 minutes.
Heather McDonald
We'll.
Gretchen Rossi
We'll take pictures.
Heather McDonald
You try to get that out of the way.
Gretchen Rossi
We get it out of the way. So then the rest of the time we can enjoy ourselves.
Heather McDonald
Thank you. This was riveting. Honestly. I have been talking about the cupcake ladies well oiled machine years.
Gretchen Rossi
Yes, it is a well oiled machine.
Heather McDonald
So, Slade, you entered the world of real Housewives of O.C. first.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
First. Did you tell Vicki Gunmelson that?
Heather McDonald
Oh, my God, that's right.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
First and first spinoff first.
Heather McDonald
And that was where you and Joe. Right. Were gonna have a dating show.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Yeah. You don't know the story.
Heather McDonald
I know the story and I remember.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
You know why it happened?
Heather McDonald
Why?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Because I was offered the Bachelor.
Heather McDonald
Really? So wait, tell me how that came about. So you're so. For people that are like, you know, newbies to the world of the O.C. it was a totally different show back then. Yeah. You were at a charity event with Scott Dunlop and he was like. And you. And it was like, who wants to be on a pilot or something. And you. What was the story?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
So Scott and I had already talked.
Heather McDonald
And he's the creator of the show.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Yeah, he's the creator of the series. He came out of the Groundlings, you know, very funny kind of dry humor guy. Yeah, I was doing some light acting. I was doing some commercial work and I moved into the neighborhood. So I was a couple houses up from him and a mutual neighbor introduced us and he said, you should know Slade. He does some stuff, you know, up in la and he's. I'm doing this show. Like, you should be part of the show. It's gonna be really funny. We're gonna do our own version of Curb youb Enthusiasm.
Gretchen Rossi
That's how it was sold to you.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Yeah, that's how it's sold to me. It's all comedy.
Heather McDonald
That's my favorite thing of how housewife shows were sold to people.
Gretchen Rossi
Right.
Heather McDonald
Which is what it was.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
It was no it was different.
Heather McDonald
It was really different.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
If you saw the first trailer, like with the original trailer, it's really funny.
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
It was always about the families and they. They had characters.
Heather McDonald
They had.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
The guy who was the 70 and 7. He made $70,000 every seven minutes.
Heather McDonald
Who was that?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Well, he would. He would send in.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah. But it wasn't meant to be a reality show.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
No, it was a comedy.
Gretchen Rossi
That's what.
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
This was 1,000 to be. So there were characters.
Gretchen Rossi
Life. It was like a character.
Heather McDonald
I remember being at the grocery store.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
And seeing like a star or magazine or something. And then. And then promoting the real houses of Orange county holding an orange. And my first thought was, what a brilliant idea. This is a parody of Desperate Housewives holding an apple.
Gretchen Rossi
Yes.
Heather McDonald
And I was like. I was a fan of reality shows even back in the day. So I was like, from mtv, the first one, the Real World. So I was like, oh, I cannot wait to watch the show. What a smart idea.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
But that is the brilliance, I want to say, of NBC and Bravo.
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Because it was originally designed to be this unscripted comedy. It was our version of Kirby Enthusiasm. So the concept was exceedingly wealthy people in the largest gated community in the United States. Highly dysfunctional. So you had a character. You had the guy who's 70 and 7. Seven $70,000 every seven minutes. And he'd be in his backyard and you go, what a great day. I just made 70k. You know, it was really slapsticky kind of funny. There was a kid called the Boomerang. Every time his parents kicked him out, he'd come back again.
Heather McDonald
This is what was pitched to you? Cause I don't remember these parts.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
This is the actual trailer. Oh, this was the trailer pitched to the network. So we filmed for three and a half months doing satire, doing a lot of setup, a lot of comedic stuff.
Heather McDonald
So that's where we see, like, her and the Joe and the French maid costume and things like that. Yeah, exactly.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
So for the first three months of.
Gretchen Rossi
Production and when you did, like, that weird scene where you were, like, doing exercise and you're like, I got it going on, like, those were designed to be slapstick.
Heather McDonald
Right.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
But what happened is, three months into production, the network came back and said, look, we've been really thinking about this and we want to change format. We want to call it a docusope. So we want to film you in a documentary style, but be soap opera esque in the stories that we tell. And this whole reality genre is kind of blowing up so we've decided we want to be the answer to the afternoon soap opera. So now we're going to focus on the women. The husbands and kids will kind of be ancillary, and we're going to do all this. However, we don't want to lose the three months of footage. We're still going to use it. So you can imagine now what you were doing with satire. I mean, I'm on the golf course with my assistant, right? I tee off and I'm like, megan, grab my balls.
Heather McDonald
You know, Right?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
It's designed to be slapstick. Or my clients are coming to me and they're saying, hey, dude, like, you really suck at golf. You're like, yeah, but I'm rich.
Heather McDonald
You know, saying these obnoxious things because they're playing like you're playing.
Gretchen Rossi
A new.
Heather McDonald
Douchebag that's three months into it. A Hummer, too.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Well, I had a hummer and I was looking to get one. That's right, Orange County.
Gretchen Rossi
And by the way, when I watched the show, because I had known him because he was a title rep and I was selling real estate, when I watched the show, I was like, who the hell's this guy? Like, that's not who I know. Like, in my day to day life, like, why is he being so douchey on tv? But it's because of this whole story that I didn't know.
Heather McDonald
So it comes out and it's like a slow hit. Because I'll tell you, when I was at Chelsea lately, I was like. I was doing imitations of Vicki and they're like, what are you talking about? I'm like, I'm telling you, like, we have to start talking, watching this show. And then finally, not until New Jersey did we do a parody, the first parody ever of Housewives I wrote, which was a parody of their reunion because we had Teresa. Right?
Gretchen Rossi
I remember that and all that.
Heather McDonald
I remember slutty Danielle with the legs. I remember that Chelsea was Dean Amanzo.
Gretchen Rossi
And.
Heather McDonald
And a guy played my friend. Who? Brad Wallach, who is naturally a redhead. He looked gorgeous as Caroline Manzo. Like, it was hilarious. It was all so funny. Chris Franjola was Andy. Like, it was really great.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah, that's right. So then.
Heather McDonald
So then once it starts, get getting going. You and Joe break up.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Yep.
Heather McDonald
But they come to you to say, would. Would you be interested in being the Bachelor?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Yes. They come to me and say, well, Joe and I break up. Scott Dunlap says to me, I want you part of the show. Can you take Lori on A date.
Heather McDonald
Oh.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And I go, yeah, I'll take Laurie on a date. She's awesome. I'm single. She's single. She's a great lady. So we go out and we hang out all. Suddenly, it's like, oh, he's chasing housewives, right?
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
It's like, no, we're friends. We're working together. We're both single. I take the girl on a date.
Gretchen Rossi
She was cute.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
We're friends with Lori and George today.
Heather McDonald
She's great.
Gretchen Rossi
I mean, yeah.
Heather McDonald
I always remember when she got George and Vicky and she gets that car and Vicki's like, the jealousy was seeping jealousy. But you also want to be happy with your friend. But you're so like that. Like those real moments of, like, he's the best guy.
Gretchen Rossi
And then, of course, Laurie did get.
Heather McDonald
The best guy in the.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
You know, they're so meant to be together. They're such a great.
Gretchen Rossi
They're a great couple. Yeah.
Heather McDonald
Okay, sorry. Go on.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
So that happens.
Heather McDonald
Do that little date thing.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And then I was offered an opportunity to go do the Bachelor.
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And so I go back to the network and I said, I'm going to take this opportunity. They go, no, you're not. I go, what do you mean? You're contracted to NBC. You can't go do abc. I'm like, this is not cool. And they go, look, we'll develop something around this concept. And the idea was to become the real Bachelorette, okay? And so that's when they pulled Joel before, that was. Joe was already dating and she was off, and we'd been separated for a minute. We were still doing some work together because I would help produce her record album. She wanted to sing and all these things, but she was off doing her own thing. So that's what they decided to do. Here's the concept. Joe's gonna be the real Bachelorette. The guys live in your house, and they're gonna try to work with you to win her over. So that's how that happened.
Heather McDonald
And then the end of the twist is.
Gretchen Rossi
Can you sit up and put that up?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
A little change.
Gretchen Rossi
I know him well enough. He's gonna look and go, I look so fat. I know he's gonna do that. I know he's gonna say that. So I'm trying to help.
Heather McDonald
There you go. I like the pillows for that reason. Okay, so wait, question. Okay, yes, I remember that. And I remember at the end and the twist was, I'm going to be one of the final guys, Right?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
It was so talking about the guy that got kicked Out.
Gretchen Rossi
No, she came and you said yes.
Heather McDonald
There was a twist. Like, I don't remember. It was fake watching it, but it was like, at the end. Twist was if. If I want to be. I want to be in the running.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Oh, I want to be in the running.
Heather McDonald
Yeah. At the end. Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
That was definitely someone other than me suggesting that.
Heather McDonald
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Gretchen Rossi
So.
Heather McDonald
So that show has a one and done situation.
Amazon Prime Narrator
Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
They wanted.
Heather McDonald
They.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
They came back and asked to do season two. Actually did pretty well with other people.
Heather McDonald
Or you guys.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Again, Joe wouldn't cooperate. It was supposed to be my turn.
Heather McDonald
Oh, and then she was gonna find.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
You to cooperate because she had already run off with whoever she was doing at that time.
Heather McDonald
Sure. She regrets that one. So just because. Why not? You could have put her in a different thing. That she's a very nice person. Okay, so then when do they approach you to join the season?
Gretchen Rossi
It's his fault.
Heather McDonald
Okay, tell the story.
Gretchen Rossi
So then they were looking for somebody to replace Joe and Slade. And I'm at season two. Season four. Season four, because they left season two, and then they did their spinoff, and then they had come to him and said, we're looking for somebody that's similar to, like, you and Joe. Like, a younger couple or younger, like, you know, person like that. And so. And so we're at a mutual birthday party, a friend of ours, and him and Joe were there, and he starts talking to me about doing the show. And I was like, oh, hell no. I'm like, absolutely not. Like, I have no interest in the show. And he's like, well, just think about it. You know, producers want to talk to you. And I was just like, no, no. Well, he gives them my number, and they start calling me. And I was just like, I'm not interested in doing this now at that time.
Heather McDonald
Are you dating your.
Gretchen Rossi
I'm with Jeff.
Heather McDonald
Because she's dating Jeff.
Gretchen Rossi
I'm with Jeff. And so I was just.
Heather McDonald
Were you engaged yet?
Gretchen Rossi
Gosh, this is so many years ago. Was I engaged yet? I don't remember so many years ago. I mean, this is what. And what was it like when you're.
Heather McDonald
Dating someone so much older?
Gretchen Rossi
You know, it's weird because it just kind of organically happened. Like, it happened over a period of time when I was. When we. Because I sold him a house. So that's how I met him originally. And I didn't realize until much later that he was, like, smitten with me and wanted to, like, take me out on a date. Like, he would make comments and Stuff because then I ended up helping him, like, decorate the house. Cause I've done that for a lot of clients. And so I didn't really get it till much later. But honestly, we ended up falling in love. And I didn't. I didn't see the age difference. I just didn't like, how much was it? It was, I think 23 years.
Heather McDonald
Okay.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah. So. But he was just such an incredible, amazing man. Like, you know, my parents and I, we would travel with him. Like, he was just a great, great human. So I never really saw it that way. But looking back, I mean, I was clearly naive, you know, saying yes to the show and getting on.
Heather McDonald
And like, I say, they must have seen this beautiful girl with this older guy. It's such a classic Newport story. It's like, oh, we got it. We got a good one.
Gretchen Rossi
And. And here's the worst part. So the very first scene they do with us. And of course they don't show like, exactly what the. But we're in Michigan and I'm filming with Jeff in Michigan. And they say, oh, let's go to the jewelry store that Jeff is part owners in and go around the jewelry store and show all the pieces that you like in a store. But they forget to tell the audience that Jeff is part owner in the jewelry store. So it looks like I'm walking around the jewelry store going, I love this and I love this and I love this. And I'm like, I watched the first episode, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm such an idiot. Like, why didn't I know that they were like gonna set me up to look like this? So that was hard because, you know, I had been a very successful real EST agent for many years on my own. I was in the top 7% internationally for Coldwell Banker. Like, I did well for myself. And I think that's part of the reason that Jeff liked me because he's so used to women, like, being like, oh, Jeff, you have all this money. And I was like, I don't need your money. I can take care of myself.
Heather McDonald
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Amazon Prime Narrator
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Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Perfect playlist for the next show, or.
Amazon Prime Narrator
Getting new gear delivered fast, prime helps.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Make it it all happen and maybe.
Amazon Prime Narrator
Even delivers a few laughs along the way. So whether comedy, drama, or just the.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Perfect new joke book is the Vibe.
Amazon Prime Narrator
Remember, Prime is there for it. I do it all on Prime. Whatever you're into, it's on Prime. From streaming to shopping, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime to get more out of whatever you're into. Amazon.comprime so.
Gretchen Rossi
So yeah, I walked right into it, you know, not even realizing that it was gonna make me look like that. So.
Heather McDonald
So when you join the first time, right off the bat, we do see there's a, there's a blonde butting of heads. Butting of blonde heads between you and Tamara. And jokingly she says, you know, before you get in the car, hang on to your daddy's girls, you know, like you're a husband stealer or whatever. Right. And did you, you came in just so like, hey, you know, like not understanding what's going on. Did. Do you think it started there? Because I know there were times when you, throughout the seasons, you guys did have a come to Jesus and got to hang out.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
What do you think it was from the very start why there was this thing with her appearing to be against you?
Gretchen Rossi
You know, here's the thing. I wish I knew because I, you know, back then I didn't understand it. So many after being able to, you know, look back and see what was happening and everybody at the time was like, she's so jealous of you. And I felt like it was conceited to be like, oh, she was jealous of me. You know what I mean? Because it just felt weird saying stuff like that. But looking back, I feel like she was always like, I'm the hottest housewife. I'm, you know, this, that. And then I come in and then it's like somebody's stealing a little bit of that limelight from her getting, you know, look at this cute girl who's this person? And I just, that she just didn't like that. Like she didn't like anybody coming in and taking over any of that. Reign for her. And she just. And then she was so. And then the audience really started liking me. So then it was like she was just determined to be like, she's this horrible human being, and she's this and she's that. And I was just like, wow.
Heather McDonald
Also, back then, we didn't have the access of knowing truly who the audience was rooting for anything, because there wasn't, like, social media. Barely even a reunion the first couple years. And there wasn't podcasts, and there weren't, you know, like, sometimes you guys would do those blog things, and then you'd have to do that, like a homework assignment.
Gretchen Rossi
Right.
Heather McDonald
And then. So it wasn't really kind of a different thing, but there was that scene where Gina Kino goes, oh, well, Gretchen, you know, is another cute blonde, and da, da, da. And she kind of calls it on it. I didn't really think about it, but it's true. You know, it was like you had Vicki and Gina, who were kind of similar of age and, you know, attractive, but not of the same. You know, I think, like, level of just, like, being done. And so that is very interesting. So then we have you on the show for how many years were you on it for?
Gretchen Rossi
I did the show for half a decade. So what is that, five seasons? Yeah.
Heather McDonald
And between your fiance passing and dating Slade, you stayed on the show the whole time, or did you leave in between? I can't remember.
Gretchen Rossi
No, I stayed on the show. Yeah.
Heather McDonald
And then. So how does your romance begin then, with Slade?
Gretchen Rossi
So Slade and I had known each other for 10 years, and so we were just good friends for many years. Cause, like I said, he was a title rep and he owned a title business. And then I was a real estate agent. So we had known each other for several years and been really good friends. And then after, when Jeff was really sick, and then after Jeff passed away, he was, like, one of the only people in my life that called and checked on me all the time. Cause, I mean, he was going through it with his own son, so it's like he just knew what it was like to always be in a hospital and be drained and tired and dealing with all of the stuff that you have to do is, you know, dealing with somebody that's sick. And so he would just check in on me all the time. And I remember, especially after Jeff passed away, he would check in on me, and then he would be calling me and talking to me about all the girls he would be dating to try and just, like, he'd have to date Five women to figure, feel like he was dating the person that he wanted, because, like, he just could not find anybody that he really liked or whatever. And so we would talk about this, and then he would call me and be like, can my girlfriend come down and stay at your house? And I'm like, sure. Like, that was the relationship that we had. Cause his girlfriend was coming down, she was a model, she needed a place to stay. And I was like, absolutely. So we had this relationship for nine months, and then I was going to, like, my first business meeting since Jeff had passed, and it was with Min, and I felt a little vulnerable still. So I called him, and I was like, hey, would you mind coming and being kind of like the male presence to, like, represent me in this meeting?
Heather McDonald
Is this when you were doing, like, your makeup and bags and stuff?
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, gosh. I don't even remember what the meeting was, probably.
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And it was just before that.
Gretchen Rossi
And so maybe. And so I walked into this meeting, and he walked through the door, and I just. I remember literally going, huh. I don't ever remember him being that cute. Like, it was like, this really weird aha Moment. And I think because in timing in life, when you, you know, I'm no longer with somebody and he's no longer with somebody, he walks in. I was just like, huh. Like, this is weird. And then in the meeting, the guys that were in the meeting were like, is there something going on between you two? Because it was, like, so obvious that we were, like, giddy and, like, flirting with each other and, like, all this stuff. And then that night, we went.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Scheduled, right? Yeah, they wanted to reschedule.
Gretchen Rossi
They were like, okay, well, let's, like, just have a second meeting or whatever. We were giddy.
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Gretchen Rossi
And so then we went to dinner that night, and literally, I feel like we haven't spent a day apart since then. Like, we just. I don't know, it was just weird. It would just, like. And four days later, we went to Vegas. And on that ride, that drive to Vegas, we literally said we felt like we could tell each other we loved each other. It was so weird. And then we didn't tell each other we loved each other till, like, a month later. But we both said in that moment, and when we were driving to Vegas, we felt like.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
We felt like we wanted to say it.
Gretchen Rossi
We knew we were gonna be together for the rest of our lives. Like, we knew it in that moment.
Heather McDonald
So then when you come, you're filming the show, and now it's like, oh, my gosh, Gretchen's. Dating Slade.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
How was that, like, reaction, you know, because this certainly is a story. Isn't a story I have ever heard before. Didn't know.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Well, we tried. I said no initially to go back on it.
Gretchen Rossi
He said he didn't want to go back on. And then at the time, it was Kathleen French. And Kathleen French calls me, and I remember this so, like, distinctly, she calls me and she goes, out of anybody, why Slade Smiley? Like, you could have Richard Branson.
Heather McDonald
And I was like, what?
Gretchen Rossi
I was like, what are you talking about?
Heather McDonald
The airline?
Gretchen Rossi
And I was like, I don't know. Like, I don't. I don't. I'm sorry. That, like, I. I happen to fall in love with Slade Smiley. And it was to me, at the time, I remember thinking it was such an odd question because it's like. Cause I fell in love with him, and it was like they wanted me to have somebody that was richer, older. What? I don't know. It was really.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
I think it also had to do with the fact that when we did the spinoff show, I was in those development meetings. I worked with production pretty closely on that because I'm technically almost hosting hosting these guys. And so as things are happening and transpiring in that reality, I'm working directly with production to keep story moving. So you kind of step behind the wall a little bit when you're working closer with production than you are just being someone who's out front in a reality position. And so to go back on this show, but yet have worked with them in a different capacity.
Gretchen Rossi
That's interesting.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Is a different relationship. It becomes very different.
Heather McDonald
Right?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
But so then you guys are on the show for how many seasons together before you take the big break?
Gretchen Rossi
5, 6, 7, 8?
Heather McDonald
So four seasons, and everyone now is aware of what season was the naked wasted?
Gretchen Rossi
Was that four?
Heather McDonald
Four.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
That's when I think the wasted thing happens. I talked about it on the previous show and that, you know, of course someone wouldn't do that today, you know, because it's not okay to get someone that drunk and all that kind of stuff. So now we jump to the show and the latest episode.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
So why do you. You say. You claim. No, I never said roofied. Katie said that. That you told her on a night out that you were so drunk that night that you believe.
Gretchen Rossi
Right.
Heather McDonald
That you're roofing, meaning somebody slipped some roofing means somebody slipped something in your drink. It doesn't mean I fed you too many shots of tequila. It means something. A drug that's not legal. Was slipped in someone's drink so that they lose all control. Right, so you're shocked by that when Tamara reveals that to you. And now in this latest episode, you're in the car, explain what happened and what was going on.
Gretchen Rossi
Yes, so. So what happened was when Tamara tells me that story, I'm obviously blindsided. I'm just like, wait, what? Like my brain is trying to comprehend what Tamara just told me that supposedly Katie said. I said, and my brain starts going back. Cause you gotta remember this is months and months prior. Like back in September, October, that we.
Heather McDonald
Went is when you guys chatted, is.
Gretchen Rossi
When we went to dinner. Me and Katie, Jen, Ryan and Matt, we all went to dinner and there was, it was a three hour dinner. So there was a lot of conversation that was happening that night. And Matt and Katie had asked, like, what my experience had been with Tamara. The boys are down at one end kind of talking about their stuff. The girls are at this end talking about one thing. And so then it was just like any other conversation I would have with you, I would have with anybody. You know what? My experience with her has not been great. Like, there's been a lot of things over the years. She tried to give me naked wasted at one point and she was like, naked wasted? What's that? And I explained to her what naked wasted was. She tried to get me drunk. Da, da, da. And I was like, yeah. And I was so sick, I probably should have gone to the hospital the next day. That was the gist of what happened that night. So when all of a sudden I'm hearing now months and months and months later that Katie is telling some blogger that I said that I got roofied by Tamara. I'm just like, wait, what? I'm like, I. Like I couldn't even comprehend what she was telling me in that moment. So then, then we're in the car and you can see in the scene where I. I look very tired, I'm exhausted, we've been filming for two days straight. I just get, you know, blindsided by this information. And she says, so did you ever tell Katie that you went to the hospital and you see me like, wait.
Heather McDonald
Who asked that again?
Gretchen Rossi
Tamara? And so you see me in the car kind of being like, I mean, like. Cause I'm trying to remember what happened months prior. I'm like, I mean, did I tell K? I'm trying to think of like, what was said that night. And clearly I misspeak in that moment. Just like all of us on this show.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
But I could See in your face, like you were exhausted. And almost, like, if you look at the scene, it's like she's almost experiencing, again, the horror of being that embarrassed and, you know, being taken advantage of. I could just see her.
Gretchen Rossi
Well, it's like I was having PTSD from it. It's, like, weird. Like, I get. You can see that I'm, like, really distraught, just going.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And she was mumbling. Yeah, she was mumbling. Like, she was thinking through. Like she was mumbling going back to that moment in time. And they. You know, they put the words up on the screen. I don't think what she said was clear.
Gretchen Rossi
I can barely hear what you're telling me.
Heather McDonald
This because I'm a big, true crime person.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
And my sister is a criminal defense attorney. It's like, reminding me of when. When someone, like, inadvertently, like, confesses to a crime because you're being like, you know, have another cup of coffee. Let me talk to you now.
Gretchen Rossi
You're fine.
Heather McDonald
I was there.
Gretchen Rossi
No, I totally get what you're saying, but, like, that's not what it was. I mean, and even when I saw the episode, I was like, wait, what?
Heather McDonald
And so you said. So then you do say, Yes, I think I said about going to the hospital.
Gretchen Rossi
Yes.
Heather McDonald
Okay.
Gretchen Rossi
And so then. So then. And then it, like, cuts to me saying, no, I never went to the hospital. So I'm sure people are gonna, like, be like, well, that doesn't match up. Well, the. Right. Cause the way that it shows, it's not matching up. But my point is, is that I misspoke in that. That car ride. Right. And. And, you know, I mean, Tamara's misspoke about autism, she said. And she misspoke about the FBI allegations. You know what I mean? So it's like, we all have misspoke at some point on this show.
Heather McDonald
This is a reality show, too. Like, you should be. If you're truly doing your job as a reality star. You're living in the moment. You're, you know, you're talking. And we've seen it happen on other shows with the Valley and everyone hating Janet because she says something, you know, that seems extreme about another cast member. But at the same time, in her defense, I'm like, well, if you're. This isn't a trial. You're living in real life. It shouldn't be taken as a oath. You did not put your hand on a Bible. This isn't. You weren't prepped by an attorney before you took the stand. Like, you're literally living. You're Living your life and you're trying to figure out.
Gretchen Rossi
Trying to figure out what's going. And so I'm like, like, I mean, did I tell her? Like I was trying to think of what was talked about that night because it had been so long ago. So then. And what's even weirder is then months later, so we go to this dinner in September and September, October, and then months later in February, Katie calls Jen and Ryan says, what was said that night at dinner? So I'm like, nothing's matching up to me here on the stories that Katie's telling because she calls them.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
So where.
Heather McDonald
Wait, when was February? Was that while you were in New Orleans? Where the.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
No, no, this is a four month gap between the time that the dinner took place to when all of a sudden, I think we were traveling. Jen and Ryan were traveling. They get a call from Katie and Katie says, hey, what was said that night at dinner about naked wasted? And they're like, what are you talking about? Why are you calling us?
Gretchen Rossi
Right? Why are you calling and asking us? Let's call Gretchen Slade. And they can tell you what else Jen and Ryan.
Heather McDonald
Okay, Y.
Gretchen Rossi
So then she.
Heather McDonald
So then they're like, we don't.
Gretchen Rossi
They call. They call. Well, it's not even that they don't remember. They're like, that's not our story to tell. So like, why are you even asking this?
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Gretchen Rossi
And so then they called Slade. We're in Las Vegas at the time. I'm in the bathroom. I'm kind of overhearing like this conversation, but I can't really hear it because I'm in the bathroom getting ready. And Slade's like, why is she asking about naked wasted? Like, why is she even asking that? And then, yeah, he could hear somebody in the background. And so he's like, who's she even talking to? And then she hangs up the phone. And she's like, nevermind.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
She didn't realize that Ryan three wayed me in on the call. Cause Ryan's like, I don't even know what you're talking about. If you have a question about this, you should just be talking to Gretchen Slade. Gretchen Slade, let's just call him. And he three wayed me in. And the minute she heard us on the phone call, she hangs up.
Gretchen Rossi
She was just like, okay, nevermind. And then like hangs up. And so both him and I are like, that's so weird. So then fast forward to us in New Orleans. And I'm like, and how much time.
Heather McDonald
Is between February and filming in New Orleans?
Gretchen Rossi
Well, so technically we were. We started filming, but I think New Orleans was, like, in March, maybe.
Heather McDonald
Okay, right after.
Gretchen Rossi
And so. And so. And so I'm. I'm just, like, so confused about why she even asked this.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Whatever the reason she's setting this up for you is because, you know, in the episode, she's adamant that she knows what was said. And she lays out all these specific details.
Gretchen Rossi
She says, Gretchen. And what's even weirder is, so we're in New Orleans, and Katie is swearing that she did not tell Kiki this fake story. She's like, I swear I did not tell Kiki this story. I swear I did not. I did not. And she's, like, adamant. And so I'm believing my friend Katie. And as like, an idiot defending my friend Katie, saying, my friend Katie's telling me she didn't say this. So who am I going to believe? The person that's lied and said all these things about me for years, Tamara or my friend Katie. So then all of a sudden, I'm watching this episode and she's like, I'm no longer protecting Gretchen. I'm telling the truth. Gretchen and Slade have been out spinning this story to everybody, and I'm like, protecting me from what? Your lies? Because I have not gone out and told anybody this. And the point is, is that had I told anybody this story, it would have already been out. Somebody would have put it out forever ago. And if I actually thought that, I would have been the first person to put it out. Do you know what I mean? Because this was 17 years ago.
Heather McDonald
Right? I mean, if we're gonna follow with what Tamara says her beef is with you is where she says, you've talked about me for years, then why wouldn't. You're right. Why wouldn't. You brought up this, which there's video evidence of pretty bad behavior. Not illegal, but, you know, trying to get your friend pretty drunk on camera, regardless of if something was to happen or not. You're just not making that girl look that good. I remember seeing it actually on OC with Kelly Dodd. There was this episode when they were in Ireland, and Kelly was like, no, I'm good. And then Shannon gets up and goes, make sure her drink is a double or something.
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, yeah. You know, I.
Heather McDonald
A little of that. And it's like, still.
Gretchen Rossi
But I don't think that's actually what happened because I heard that story differently. But you did.
Heather McDonald
Okay, well, I'm talking about we saying Kelly.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Heather McDonald
With the audience there was like, well, why are you Trying to get me. So. So I'm just saying it's not great to do to anybody, cameras or not. Right, but you're right. If you really had that kind of, like, visceral reaction where you really, you know, felt like something, I would have been yelling.
Gretchen Rossi
I would have been yelling that 17 years ago. And by the way, I'm not trying to protect Tamara from anything.
Heather McDonald
You know what I mean?
Gretchen Rossi
So, like, why would I. When Katie says I'm. I'm no longer defending Gretchen and Slade or protecting them anymore. I'm, like, protecting us from what your lies and think what happened is.
Heather McDonald
Yes. Why don't you stay with. Because it's like, I've had, like, five theories. It's very hard. But meaning.
Gretchen Rossi
I think what happened from Katie's point of view is that while she was in New Orleans, I think she started to realize that the women were onto her, that she was out telling bloggers the story.
Heather McDonald
Got it.
Gretchen Rossi
And in particular, Kiki, because they kept saying, no, we know Kiki said, you said this. Right? And so I think when she got home, she all of a sudden started realizing, like, oh, shit, I'm gonna get busted for this. I need to come up with a plan B as to why I went out and like, told people this story. And people have come out even beyond Kiki saying, oh, she told me the story too. Other bloggers since then, since the show's been airing. So I'm like, clearly, she's the one that's out doing this. I'm not the one that's out trying to spin some story. And. And really, from. From Tamara's point of view, she should be mad at Katie. Cause Katie's the one that's out trying to, like, spin the story. If I wanted to have that, that a story like that out there, if it was a true story, I would have said that 17 years ago. And I certainly am not going to be protecting Tamara over that. I'm going to be telling everybody that. And every single one of those cast members who have known me for years has said, I've known Gretchen for years. I. She's said a lot of shit about Tamara. She's never once said this. Jyn was present at that dinner. And she said, Gretchen definitely did not say that. She said she felt so sick, she should have probably gone to the hospital.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
The reporter she was trying to leak to investigate to called around.
Gretchen Rossi
Yes.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
We've never heard that before. No one's ever said that. And because it was never real, they just decided not to do the story.
Gretchen Rossi
They're like, we're not even gonna post the story, because it's not even a legit story. So then Katie and now Matt are doubling down, and now Matt's. Katie's husband is claiming that Slade called him in New Orleans and said, protect Gretchen. Hold the line. And I'm like, what are they talking about? And you should tell that story because you're the one that called Matt.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Pretty disappointed in Matt, obviously, because I did call him. We had just had a conversation about you shouldn't be going and speaking to bloggers or media. Like, it's not a good look. Obviously, it's against your contracts. You shouldn't be doing it. We just had that talk. So when I get the phone call from her that I'm being told that Katie is. Has done this, I called Matt. I go, matt, like, not cool. Like, is your wife actually out there doing this? We just had this talk. I swear she didn't do it. She did not say that to Kiki. And I said, well, I don't want to hear a month from now that she actually did it, because that's been her track record where she denies, denies, denies. And then all of a sudden, she flips and there's an admission. And that's exactly what's happened, is that she now is changing her story after.
Heather McDonald
Denying it on camera because she denied the filming. Shannon Beador, right? Or did she not deny that? I can't remember.
Gretchen Rossi
There's, like, five things I know, but that's the problem. And, see, this is what the audience doesn't see. That's what you see on camera. Just these five things on camera. There's so much going on behind the scenes that people are unaware of. Of all the things that all of us as cast members are catching her in.
Heather McDonald
Weird lies, putting the dots together, and.
Gretchen Rossi
We'Re all going, something is weird about this. Something's up with this. And then every time we turn around, like, every day, we wake up to some new story that Katie's out in the press spinning, and we're like, what? What's gonna be next?
Heather McDonald
I mean, honestly, I always say that Real Housewives sometimes remind me of when I'd read Shakespeare in high school, but I was too dumb to read it, so I'd get the Cliff Notes. And it. It's a lot of. And then this person whispered in this ear and the deception, and then, da, da, da, da. And because of this misinformation, this person then did this. And, like, it's like a great. Or a Shakespearean tragedy. Like, it is kind of like a weird.
Gretchen Rossi
Like a game of telephone sort of thing.
Heather McDonald
Yeah, Game of telephone. And.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
But that's such a good analogy because I have to tell you. And I've told her this too. I, like, I feel like I'm suffering a bit of a loss because I really enjoyed Katie and Max really did, too. They were very cool people. We enjoyed hanging out with them. And it's just something that we never expected. Even though the rest of the cast was trying to warn us, this is who she is. We're like, no, we've never experienced that.
Gretchen Rossi
That.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And I know Gretchen went out of her way to really defend her because she's like, she's never been that person to me.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah. Now she's become that person telling me, gretchen, like, you need to be careful. Like, this is what she does. And I was like, no. Like, I did not want to believe it. I did not want to believe it.
Heather McDonald
What I don't understand is one of the things I have been very interested since I'm doing this podcast are stories where people have lies, elaborate lies, whether it's lying about cancer, crooks, and Vicki lying. But there's, like, the cancer scam story of this girl. And there was one that was a writer on Grey's Anatomy. And I'm always really fascinated, like, when someone starts something, I always am, like, when do you realize it's gone too far and now you don't know how to backtrack?
Gretchen Rossi
But I think that's what happened. That's what you kind of see happen, at least for me, as being Katie's friend, because. And what's even weirder for me is that in this episode, like, I'm still in New Orleans, but she's on camera saying, oh, this is what really happened. And I'm like, wait. I'm like, it's like, it's not the same timing of what happened for me when I'm watching.
Heather McDonald
What do you think the motivation was? Or do you think that she found herself exaggerating?
Gretchen Rossi
That's what I'm from.
Heather McDonald
Someone for attention, to get them interested, to reel them in.
Gretchen Rossi
No, I think that she. I think twofold. I think, okay, so we. I don't wanna say who. Who she did this with, but there's cast members that she would call and be like, oh, my God. I have this sort, like, every morning. Like, oh, my God, this story, this story, this story. I think she's online reading stories all day long, talking to all these bloggers, gathering all this information. And I think that partially what's happening is she's taking part truth of what.
Heather McDonald
Was talked about, what she read on Reddit or.
Gretchen Rossi
I think she's combining the two. Whether it's knowingly or not.
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Gretchen Rossi
I think she's combining two different stories together. And then when she's sitting in front of somebody, because at this time she wasn't like, didn't hate Tamara. But let's be honest, when we were at dinner with her, she wasn't like praising Tamara either. So it's like, I don't know if she's just sitting in front of these bloggers going, Tamara's not a good person. And she's mixing up part of what I said with other things that she's reading on Reddit or people. Because if you go and look at any of the things that we're talking about. Naked, wasted. I mean, the comments are not kind. They're like, Tamara's trying to sexually harass him. Da, da, da. So I don't know. She's reading comments on there that Gretchen probably was drugged roofing. I don't know. You know what I mean?
Heather McDonald
Where it came from. Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
She got caught over embellishing.
Gretchen Rossi
Well, that's what I think.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And I think to Heather's point, she was probably looking for the attention that I've got some piece of information. I want to facilitate a relationship with.
Heather McDonald
This media person and get this person on my side. I think she probably in studying housewives in the last last couple years, realize there's, especially with New Jersey where people actually, I. I don't know if they're in the payroll or what, but there was certain people that would obviously be very pro Teresa or very pro Melissa, and that's all they would. They weren't. They were unbiased, you know, and so. Or they. Sorry, they were very biased. They were very biased. They weren't unbiased. And so I think maybe in her being the new girl, she was like, let me befriend these people. So in reporting on the show and, and talking about the show and this does happen when you're friendly with some of the housewives. I've been there too.
Gretchen Rossi
You.
Heather McDonald
You are a little bit like. Well, in covering it, I'm not gonna, I'm gonna be a little biased, you know, whatever. So I think that might have been her goal of just like, let me collect as many people as I can. And. And when you go to some of these people. Cause there were so many that she. They are maybe newer to this space and they're like, I'm really good friends with a housewife. Like, it's very, very exciting, you know, versus someone like me where I'm like, okay, I've been doing this for 10 years. I was Chelsea lately before, like, I've known everybody for years, and I'm like, yeah, you wanna come on the show? Great. If you wanna go on someone else's, doesn't change my life, you know, whatever. But to someone like that, that's like a jewel to be like, oh, my God. And. And then their friends are, like, a little envious, you know, all that. So I think that kind of was her thing. And then in doing. And then doing it, she didn't expect that.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
The research being done, though. Yeah, that was gonna come back and it was gonna get to Tamara that someone was out investigating the stories.
Gretchen Rossi
She also didn't expect that a lot of these bloggers or these people were gonna come out and call Katie out on her lies. And that's what's happened. Like, I mean, you know, is there outing even just yesterday, another thing came out that somebody's like, oh, she's been in this story in the press, and it's like, every time we're turning around, there's some new blogger. Like, even the thing that happened with Tamara, that blogger came out and said, katie is straight up lying. Like, this did happen. She did call me. So it's like, that's the part that's frustrating is the audience thinks we're all just ganging up on Katie and all going against Katie. But it's like she has strategically done this to each and every cast member, and she's out spinning these really horrific stories about each cast member. And she's done it, too, to every single one of us. Gina, Emily, Heather, Tamara, Shannon, now me. I'm just like, what the heck? Like, why is she doing this?
Heather McDonald
And I kind of think that the intention wasn't all bad. I think she got, you know, little girl who cried wolf. Like, I think it got where she was just here and there and, oh, isn't this some juicy scoop? And isn't this as you. And then when she realizes, oh, shit.
Gretchen Rossi
I'm getting caught for this.
Heather McDonald
This exaggerated story is getting out of hand.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
Going to be on camera and is causing major problems between two, you know, major cast members. And I'm at the center of it, so I just can deny that I said it. And then when she couldn't, you know, and now we get someone reputable being like, no, that's what you said. And, like, I'm not even on the cast with Kiki and, like, so. So, yeah, I don't think she sat down and was like, all right.
Gretchen Rossi
No, I do.
Heather McDonald
I destroy the women in this.
Gretchen Rossi
I don't agree with that. I do agree with that. I think that she, like, is just out talking and, like, saying stuff that she maybe heard or like I said, that got mixed up between something she thought she heard and then also something she read. And then, unfortunately, because of that, and then when she realized she's getting, like, the girls are onto her, like, you're not gonna get out of this one. I think that's when she was like, oh, crap, I gotta come up with another reason. And then all of a sudden, she. She switched the blame to. Slade and I are, like, secretly, like, plotting and planning. And by the way, why did Slade get pulled into that? Like, that's so weird.
Heather McDonald
And what did she say about you and Slade?
Gretchen Rossi
She. That was the whole thing about her going, oh, he called Matt, tried to, like. And I'm like, what are you talking about?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
That is not said that you and I were out trying to get this story.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah. That we've been out telling all these people.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
All these people. So what she's trying to do, like.
Gretchen Rossi
I've never told anybody.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Lied.
Heather McDonald
Yeah. Like, why do you want to even reflect that? Like, not a great night, Tamra. Right, Exactly.
Gretchen Rossi
And again, like I said, if that was a real story, I would have said that 17 years ago. I'm not trying to protect Tamara from a story like that.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
You understand what her plan was? The plan is, is that if she's denying that she said it to Kiki. So she's trying to convince everyone that you and I are putting the story out. So Kiki heard it somewhere else. Kiki's lying.
Gretchen Rossi
Right, right, right.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
That's what she's trying to do. But here's the point. How in the world would Kiki know that Katie knew anything about it? She could have named anyone. If that was the case, of course it came from Katie. And this is actually something we should clear up right now, because we've known you for a very, very long time. You know, a lot of people in this business. Have you ever heard one time that myself or Gretchen have called and tried to put out a story?
Gretchen Rossi
No.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Have I ever? In the 20 years I've known you?
Heather McDonald
No. No.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
This is the first time we've been on your show.
Heather McDonald
Right?
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah. And you've never, ever heard me say, oh, Tamara tried to ruin somebody.
Heather McDonald
We've never talked about naked, wasted, ever. I, like, forgot. But that's my point.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Answer honestly, like, have you ever heard that?
Heather McDonald
No.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And we've been accused of that. When we left the network last time.
Gretchen Rossi
We were accused of that by Tamara. That was her biggest thing. She's out leaking stories. Gretchen and Slater leaking stories.
Heather McDonald
What story were you accused of leaking back?
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, no. Tamara said I leak every stories.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Oh, no, Tamara said that we were leaking stories.
Gretchen Rossi
She told that to the network back in the day.
Heather McDonald
I thought. I remember as just a viewer, that it was just kind of like somehow it bothered them that the other cast members that you guys did your whole engagement thing on the roof.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah. Yeah. By the way, that was the story that I found out later from a. What was it called? They were like, with what magazine? Life and Style or Us.
Heather McDonald
I forget.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
From the west coast bureau chief. Actually, from the west coast bureau chief.
Gretchen Rossi
This is years later, they're like, you know, Tamara's the one that came to us and, like, leaked that story about it was a fake engagement and all this. And I was like, really? Wow. So it's just so frustrating to me that, like, I was accused of all of this stuff, and she's the one that was out doing it. And then when you told me that she is already out leaking stories for.
Heather McDonald
This season, you know, I want to say I remember it, and I thought it was really pretty.
Gretchen Rossi
The engagement. Will you.
Heather McDonald
How did it go? Marry me.
Gretchen Rossi
It was something like you said. The time is now. The time is now.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Get it on itunes.
Heather McDonald
Okay.
Gretchen Rossi
You can get it on itunes still. Yeah.
Heather McDonald
And you have your radio show and you play and you do cry.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Yeah, I did. They got me.
Heather McDonald
I got them good.
Gretchen Rossi
I got them good.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Here's some more juice on that story. Is that that I had attempted to plan a proposal for her, I think, on two different occasions.
Gretchen Rossi
And she found out I intercepted the phone because something came up on his phone from production and said, let's talk about the ring. And I was like, what? And we have the same passcodes on our phones. And so I open up and I'm like, is this guy trying to propose to me? And I was having issues from my previous marriage. Meaning still some struggles from that.
Heather McDonald
Cause you were married and divorced before you're engaged to Jeff?
Gretchen Rossi
Yes, yes. And so, you know, and I talked about it on the show. Like, there was some financial things that I found out about my ex that I didn't know until in the marriage and whatnot. So I just had a lot of, like, anxiety around being back in a situation that had financial issues. And we talked about Openly on the show. At that time, he was going through some financial issues. So I was just like, I don't know if I'm ready to be married yet until you get these things worked out, you know? So when I found that out, I was just like, wait, what? You're trying to, like, propose to me?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And so, oh, yeah, she messed up.
Gretchen Rossi
So I messed up. I messed up twice. And then. I mean, I intercept intercepted twice. And then that season, sadly, Grayson got really sick, and he was flown to New York, and he was on life support, and he just had bad issues from the surgery that he had had. And I just remember, you know, being told by the doctors, like, you need to say your goodbyes. Like, it was horrible. And I just remember in sitting in that hospital room with him, and I was like, you know what? What? Like, life's too short. Like, I can't let my past, like, affect me moving forward with this man. You know, I love him. He loves me. This is ridiculous. And that's why I wrote the song. The time is now. Like, the times now. Like, let's. Let's do this. Let's not wait anymore.
Heather McDonald
So you have been engaged for, like, 10 years.
Gretchen Rossi
How long has it been?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
It might be more.
Gretchen Rossi
It might be more. And at this point, we've been together 16 years.
Heather McDonald
At this point. You have a beautiful daughter. You've guys been together 16 years, engaged for 10, or whatever is. You have a double ring. You have a big diamond with, like, a. A very big band. So we're married.
Gretchen Rossi
I mean, it seems.
Heather McDonald
What is the reason? Is it. Is it still financial, or is it because you're like, it's gone so well. We're going to do a. You know, what's the couple? Goldie Han and Kurt Russell.
Gretchen Rossi
I always say that. I've always referenced that because we did.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Have a date on calendar. I ended up booking a film, and we postponed because I went to Mexico for a month on that project. And then we came back and we had conversations about trying to replant it. And at that time, we said, we really want to have a baby, because.
Gretchen Rossi
I was like, 37 or something at that time.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
So we were going through ivf. My fault to go through the ivf.
Gretchen Rossi
And IVF is very expensive.
Heather McDonald
I know.
Gretchen Rossi
And we went through five rounds of it. So I decided rather than putting all this money into a big wedding, I wanted to put it into the ivf. Time was ticking, and so we put it in the ivf. And then after Skylar, we had Skylar. Obviously, you're in mommy Mode.
Heather McDonald
And you don't.
Gretchen Rossi
You feel like crap for two years, you know, getting through the newborn stage and all that. And it really wasn't until just recently this year being back on the show and everybody asking everybody, like, are you gonna get married? Are you gonna get married? And we're like, yeah. I mean, now would be a good time. Cause I finally feel good. Skylar's of an age where, like, you know, she could be in it. She could be in it. So. So it's never been about not getting married. And honestly, we're fine with it being like this, too. So, like, it could go either way. I mean, we're not sitting around right now, like, let's plan our wedding. You know what I mean? But if. If. If something comes up where we're like, you know what? Let's go do.
Heather McDonald
The time is now.
Gretchen Rossi
The time is now. Let's go do a wedding, then we're not opposed to that either. And back in the day, like, even.
Heather McDonald
On the show, coming back on the show, were they like, would we. Would you guys ever consider doing a wedding on the show?
Gretchen Rossi
I mean, we've been asked, like, you.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Know, we've been asked a couple different times if we would do it.
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Gretchen Rossi
About just, like, wedding stuff. But, like, like, even back in the day, like, I was on the show, and I remember his mom asking about us getting married, and we're like, we're not going to get married until all of our friends within the LGBTQ+ community can get married. And, like, that was, like, our stance for a while, too. It's like, you know, we feel like everybody should be able to be married if they're in love, you know, so. So there was just. I don't know, it's just interesting because I don't. I don't think we look at each other as. Not. We call each other husband and wife. We've been together 16 years. We have a child together. So I know. Don't. I don't feel like a marriage license is going to make us feel like we're any more married or not.
Heather McDonald
I mean, honestly, you guys are like a version of Spencer and Heidi, too, because everyone made fun of them. Everyone thought, I know, everybody loves them. They were like, the villains. And now people are like, oh, my God. This is like the. They've been together, like, the long years.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
He's, you know, great husband and dad. They're super committed down.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Gavin Newsom.
Heather McDonald
Yeah. Oh, my God.
Gretchen Rossi
He.
Heather McDonald
Yeah. And he's, you know, you know, really being a voice for everybody that Lost something in the fire as well as just like the ultimate hype man. Husband.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
And you know, and I remember that early on when we were hanging out before iPhones were so good, Slade would bring a big fucking huge camera around.
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, yes, he would. He literally would. He was so sweet. Because I liked the photos not on the camera because they were ugly back then. The cameras are so much better now. But I would ask him to bring the big camera because we look better on the pictures.
Heather McDonald
I know. I remember we all went to dinner one night. I think Mastro's ironic, funny. And I think, yeah, it was like.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Courtney six's birthday or something.
Gretchen Rossi
Yes.
Heather McDonald
And we actually came from Heather debrow's book party.
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, how funny.
Heather McDonald
With Carrie. That's so fun. That was one of those, no offense, people do it, but it was like the book wasn't out. It was one of those things like, let's promote the book, which you should do anyway. Pre orders are important before whatever. So I went to the book party and that was fun. And that's, you know, and I didn't know that was, I think, during the cancer Brooks thing. And I remember Vicki's like, they're so mean to me. You have no idea what's going on. I don't know what the Brooks cancer thing, you know, so I'm like, what's going on? Then we go meet you guys for dinner.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
Slade has this good camera.
Gretchen Rossi
Camera.
Heather McDonald
Yeah, it was.
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, my God, that's hilarious.
Heather McDonald
Yeah. There was the other time we went to a Christmas, like a three Christmas parties in la.
Gretchen Rossi
I know we've been to a lot of events over the years, you know, always fun. And it is.
Heather McDonald
It is one of those things that. Yeah. When you. When you see, like, oh, my God, you know, you were from there from the beginning and you had these other girlfriends. How did you feel when you saw Joe come to the party with Tamara?
Gretchen Rossi
You know, the thing that's. That was interesting about that scene is I really didn't care about Joe because as far as Joe, like, that's so old history. I don't care whatever. Her and I had had a talk at BravoCon and I thought we were all good and everything was fine. The part that rubbed me the wrong way is it was obviously Tamara trying to cause issues. And the thing that frustrates me is Tamara's out, you know, impressed, saying, oh, Gretchen's so stuck in the past. She's just all about the past. She can't let anything go to. But yet she walks through the Door with the past. I'm like, who is. Who's holding onto the past here? You know? Like, it just. It obviously was to get my go, which it didn't. And that's why I said in the episode, like, you're getting rusty here, because this isn't even getting my go. And the truth is, too, is Joe had been asking and trying to get on the show. And so it was like, come on, Joe. Like, really? You're gonna walk in with my arch nemesis? Like, of all the people, like, and you can't blame.
Heather McDonald
If Joe wants to get back on the show, you can't be in the mix. So it's like, I'm not mad about.
Gretchen Rossi
That, but it's like, the fact that. But again. And her. And I actually kind of got in a fight about that because she was like, you called me desperate on a podcast. And I go, well, I feel like you are desperate. Like, you're literally. Call production. I didn't have to call production. They called me. I said no three times. Like, you're calling trying to get on the show, and I'm not. Like, you're calling all the housewives, trying to hang out with them when you're not even friends with them. You're walking in the door with Tamara. Like, why are you trying so hard? I didn't have to even try. Like, so we got in a fight, actually, on camera. They didn't show it.
Heather McDonald
So why this time did you say yes at this point in your life?
Gretchen Rossi
I think there was a lot. There was a lot that went into the decision. I mean, obviously, it was months of. Of negotiations and talking through it. And even when Alex Baskin first called me, I was just like, yeah, I don't know. And he's like, listen. He's like, just take the meeting with the execs when they're in town. They're in town a couple weeks from now. Just take the meeting. Just hear what they have to say. So I was like, okay, you know, I'll do that. I'll hear him out. So. And it was funny because every time I would say no, Alex would just be like, okay, okay, I respect that. But then, like, two days later, he'd.
Heather McDonald
Be calling me again.
Gretchen Rossi
I was like, gosh, you. And the third time that he called me, I was like, you really want me back on the show? I was like, what is up? And so. And so, really, when it came down to it, I think I just said to Slade, look, if there's any time to come back to the show now, probably would be the optimal time because I had organic, real relationships with girls in the cast. I had become friendly with Katie. I had been friends with Jen now for a couple years. He'd known Ryan for 20 years because they both worked back in the. The real estate business.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Who's the nicest guy, by the way?
Gretchen Rossi
The nicest guy?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Literally 20 years. He was my rep at Countrywide Mortgage. I've known him forever.
Gretchen Rossi
Shannon and I reconnected at an event and so her and I were back, you know, talking and being good. I've known Heather for years. I've known Emily for years. The only one I actually really didn't know was Gina. And like. But we would always, like, comment on each other's Instagram. We're supportive. So I was like, you know what? If there was a time to come back, it probably would be now where I actually have real organic friendships with these girls. And so. And that's really why I came on. Everyone's like, oh, you came on to like, do this thing with Tamara. I'm like, no, I actually really didn't. As a matter of fact, I had that specific talk with Alex of like, I don't want to come on and just have this, like, full out thing with Tamara. Like, that's not my intent. And he's like, that's not our intent either. We just have to see where it goes. And unfortunately, that's where it goes because. And this is the thing, this is another thing that really, like, want to address about what's being said in the press. What frustrates me is I didn't come back with a vengeance for Tamara. I didn't any of this. But everybody has to understand when Tamara starts repeating the same patterns as she always does and starts saying the same things and starts playing the like, feel sorry for me, feel bad for me, of course it's going to trigger me. Of course it's going to make me bring things up. And she's been doing the same thing for the last 15 years. So it wasn't even just about me anymore. She had done it to Jen, she had done it to Ryan, she had done it to Shannon, she had done it to her friend Heather. She had done it again and again and again and again to everyone. So it was like I just was simply stating that I was like, you don't learn. You don't learn your lesson. You literally make up lies and then you get to a point where you get sued for your lies and you still do it. Like, you still go on and talk shit about People.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
She thinks she's so clever, by the way. Show's all her. They're always talking about me. Yes, because you're doing the most stupid, egregious things on the show. Of course we're talking about you. You don't think we see the pattern?
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
You don't think we see that your first husband called you out for cheating on him, you got caught cheating on Simon, then you were with Eddie. Then there's articles that come out about you having a fling while you're with Eddie. But you're gonna point your finger at Jen and go, oh, you're the cheater. You're the cheater. You know, oh, you're the deadbeat dad. Well, your kids are the ones that came out and said you were the monster mom.
Gretchen Rossi
Not your kid.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Not mine, yours. So there's this deflection. Every time she points her finger, it's probably because she herself is doing something behind the scenes. Oh, you're the ones leaking stories.
Gretchen Rossi
But then she wants to say, anytime there's a microphone in front of me, I'm talking about her. Yes, because people ask me about all the stuff that you've done to me over the years, so I'm gonna respond to the questions I'm getting asked.
Heather McDonald
Speaking of which, the Jen fat photo thing, I will say was kind of funny. Just in that she's just like, like, major shit's going down. And Jen's like, and if we're just being honest, can I ask about the fat photos? I thought, pretty funny. Yeah, I thought it's pretty funny.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
The delivery of that was funny.
Heather McDonald
And she. She is very. I think she's really likable.
Gretchen Rossi
Oh, she's the best.
Heather McDonald
She is nice to look at. She is very attractive.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
And, you know, it's funny because, you know, it's like, oh, my God, she wanted to be me. She started to working, working out. She got hair extension. She got lip filler. I'm like, well, that's every woman. Not just in Newport, but every woman. Like, you get divorced, you have a fucking glow up.
Gretchen Rossi
But by the way, you know, by the way, it's the most narcissistic thing to say. And Tamara has said that about everybody, by the way. She said Lizzie wanted to be here. She said I wanted to be.
Heather McDonald
Now it's Jen.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
You're obsessed with her. Lizzie's obsessed with her.
Gretchen Rossi
All obsessed with her. I want to be Tamra. Newsflash. Nobody wants to be you, Tamara. Like, nobody wants to be you. It's ridiculous that she even makes Those claims. And it really is such a narcissistic thing to say.
Heather McDonald
And, you know, the audience in the comments at least doesn't really seem to be very sympathetic to blaming poor, cruel behavior on a friend suffering.
Gretchen Rossi
Don't even start on this.
Heather McDonald
And people brought up, you know, well, Kyle's been Teddy's friend for many. The point that Teddy lived with her after they separated, she and her husband. And Kyle's never, you know, done anything, you know, tried to. We don't know. We also don't know because we are there filming now, so we don't know what Teddy's going. Kyle's going through. But I'm just saying with that. And, you know, I saw in an interview, this is my recollection that Tamara even was saying things about her podcast partner, like. Like, you know, it's really sad. She can't remember things. She can't. She doesn't remember. She said, when do you start filming? And I'm like, you know, Teddy, we already finished, you know, wrapping up. And I remember watching that and thinking to myself, wow, if I had a podcast with someone in which you have to be sharp and remember things and whatever, Even if the story was true, I don't think I would share it. Why would you share about your partner possibly having trouble grasping at words?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
She's planning a takeover. She's planning a take.
Gretchen Rossi
Well, who knows?
Heather McDonald
I don't know. But I just thought, that's interesting. That could be not bright or it.
Gretchen Rossi
Could be or, like, strategic or whatever. They're not kind to do your friend.
Heather McDonald
Because she is still doing the show. And when I see it, it seems like she's, you know, keeping up her work as far as talking about these shows and everything, Teddy and still doing everything that she's to do. And everybody obviously wants her to recover and succeed as a mom.
Gretchen Rossi
See, and that's the thing. I don't think anybody didn't have compassion for what Tamra was. And I hate to even say what Tamra was going through, because really, it's what Teddy's going through. It's not what Tamara's going through. Tamara happens to be a good friend of Teddy's, and I understand that it could affect her, but I'm sorry. When Jeff was going through cancer, I wasn't an asshole. When his son died, he wasn't an asshole. Like, it doesn't give you free rein to still be an asshole and be a bad person. And then. And that's the point that everyone is angry about online. It's like, she always has an excuse for her behavior. It's like, oh, I was horrible to Shannon because I'm on the spectrum. Oh, I was mad to you. I mean, you even see it on one episode with me. Oh, I was treating you that way because I was in a bad marriage with Simon. Oh, I was this Because Eddie had a heart thing. Oh, I was. All this stuff. She always has an excuse.
Heather McDonald
And Simon suffered going through cancer, too.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
And here's the thing.
Gretchen Rossi
All those things might be true, that those people are going through those things. Nobody's doubting that any of that is true. It's that she uses all of those things as excuses for her behavior. And that's why I went out and made that post. And I just said, look, at the end of the day, like, because she was like, oh, God forbid you ever have to go through what I've gone through and deal with the pain and depression I'm going through. I'm like, I. I. What are you talking about? Like, I am. I know exactly what that feels like. My P.S. like, do you remember my fiance died? His can't. His son died. Like, how dare you say something like that? You know, like, that is so.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Don't you see the pattern? You see the pattern, right? Well, the pattern to me is like, reputation management. The minute she gets called out again for her behavior, oh, I'm going to go get baptized now. So I don't just go get baptized. I'm going to find an empty swimming pool of my buddy's. Listing at a hotel.
Heather McDonald
No, it was at a listing. No, it was at a hotel. Why didn't they do it at someone's house?
Gretchen Rossi
It was at the end. I thought it was.
Heather McDonald
It was. It was at. Where is that? Yeah, and it's just like.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Because the local pastors all say, like.
Heather McDonald
You see, like, the. The chair, you know, for handicapped people to get down in. And then, like, I saw, like, the five feet, the three feet, and it was kind of a gloomy day. And I was like, I don't know. I think I would have had it someone's. I think I would have gone into Vicky's grotto, but whatever.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
But we've had people in that circle. Well, she did it because she said that no one would challenge her faith and that now all of a sudden, she's renewed and she's a new person because it's about it.
Gretchen Rossi
I actually was told that she said that she wanted to do that because all of the Christians are sheep and they'll just believe anything. I was like. And it was One of her close friends. But anyways. But the point is, is that, you know, and like, even the season, she's like, oh, you're talking about the past. Tamara, you are literally in therapy talking about your past and about all the things that caused you trauma. So I'm not allowed to talk about the things that caused me. Tr. You just happen to be one of the people that caused me a lot of trauma. So why are you allowed to talk about your past? But I'm not.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
I'm just out of line talking about the connection. You're not the only one she causes trauma to. Causes trauma to everyone.
Heather McDonald
That's part of the problem. I really wonder. Yeah, it's, you know, it is very interesting, you know, in the history of the show. When it first started, it was just, you know, following families and. And really, like, getting a peek inside of their home, which I understand why it Value why it has become more than that, because we. We can look at on our phone on lots of different families in their home now. So it's like we do need to see the interaction between the women. And. And even though it's changed, I'm still intrigued. I'm never going to stop watching your show. Like, I'm very intrigued just because I, you know, I've watched all these years, know all you guys, but. But it was the moment, in my opinion, that she chose to throw the drink that changed the trajectory. And I think that. I don't know if that happened before. Give me another juicy scoop, history person. But I don't know if that happened before or after the flip of the table.
Gretchen Rossi
I think it happened before.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
I think it was before.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah, yeah.
Heather McDonald
And then the flip of the table. And then it was like, okay, now this is our women's version of like, football or whatever. And, you know, and we.
Gretchen Rossi
We can ump the ante almost.
Heather McDonald
Yeah. Like that kind of a thing.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah.
Heather McDonald
And so, you know, you wonder like, what. What is the real motivation? Or when you, like, step out of it and you. You've done it for so long. When I think, because some of you have been. Not you consistently, you've been on a lot of years, but you had this big chunk. But when I think of like a Jax Taylor, a Tamara, when. And it's like almost coming on a third of your life, you know, that you bet on the. Like, I do think it gets to a place where you're not thinking about real life anymore. Like, it's almost like. That's why I think it's really a fat. That's why I think it's, like, a fascinating study besides being entertaining. And I'm not making excuses for anyone. I just think it, like, in talking about it, I do think it's kind of.
Gretchen Rossi
Well, and what's. What's frustrating to me as, you know, just as a viewer and also a cast member that was on half a decade, is that, you know, I constantly see people like Tamara out in the press going, oh, I'm just, you know, what else would you get if I didn't do this and I'm the villain? And then she's said, even on watch what happens life, she's like, oh, well, I just did that just for tv. And it's like, to me, it's insulting to me when I'm coming on there and really giving, like, my real life and really just being me. And I'm not trying to, like, up the ante for something, you know, like even that scene, like, with. With Shannon this season, like, that wasn't me, like, plotting and planning behind this.
Heather McDonald
Scene came to your head of like, well, honestly, like, if you're going to say filming someone is illegal, well, so is getting a dui. And I still chose to be friends with you, which was like.
Gretchen Rossi
And you did the way I was.
Heather McDonald
You know, it wasn't like.
Gretchen Rossi
And it wasn't a great thing to say because I love Shannon, she's my friend. But, like, at the end of the day, it was a real authentic moment. And so for me, I would like that, you know, these reality shows actually still be that. And so it's hard when you're filming with people that are just like, oh, I just gotta give, you know, this whole, like, thing. And it's like they're willing to say and do anything for this moment. And it's like, I think we can actually have a lot of moments without trying to, like, have this moment or, like, make shit up about people's lives. That's the problem that just sometimes it. For me, you're taking it too far.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Those people are profiting off the hardship of others, right? Manufacturing things that wreck lives, get them canceled, get them fired, wreck marriages. And they're profiting.
Heather McDonald
And we don't want. As the audience, we don't want that. You know, I love the show. I think it's juicy.
Gretchen Rossi
It is juicy. This season keeps getting better. It's pretty juicy, by the way.
Heather McDonald
And every season has a different thing. Sometimes there's a great cast, and it's really just funny, silly shit. Sometimes someone breaks up with their husband and the girls gather around. And sometimes it's this, too. And that's what makes it really good reality tv. And I'm glad that you guys are back. I'm glad you guys finally came here.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah, right. And you guys gotta stay tuned for next week. Cause it's even like, that's a whole thing again. Like, I think that we're. Cause we go through the lie detector test, so I think it's gonna be a whole nother round of, like, wait, what? Like, the story just keeps changing every single week. And even us as cast members were, like, trying to follow the story. Cause we're like, wait, what happened? Now this is happening. And I think that's what's fun about this. This season in particular is, I think, you know, a lot of seasons have, like, a linear story all throughout the season. And I think every single week, there's, like, a new story going on. So I think it's really, like, living it.
Heather McDonald
Yeah. So obviously it's on Bravo. It airs every Thursday night at 9pm Also on Peacock, the greatest invention ever, in my opinion. Peacock, you can watch it the next day. And there's sometimes extended seats. There's the after show. I think that's on Bravo too. But I like the after shows. And of course, follow Gretchen Rossi now. Do you not. You probably don't have. You don't have Instagram, do you?
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Not really.
Gretchen Rossi
I mean, he does, but he doesn't.
Heather McDonald
Really, like, post Gretchen Rossi, you have, you know, whatever. Two million people following. What?
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah, it's just Gretchen Rossi.
Heather McDonald
Just Gretchen Rossi. And, you know, and your Instagram was really fun and really fun to watch and great. And you, you know, give great tips and all that.
Gretchen Rossi
Thank you. I have fun. I love all my fun.
Heather McDonald
Thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate it.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
Thanks for having us. We'll see you in another 20 years.
Heather McDonald
Yeah.
Gretchen Rossi
Yeah, exactly.
Heather McDonald
Well, you guys, there's so much more juicy stuff coming on. I've got another great interview coming later on this week that you will die over with Real Housewives of Miami. And she reveals stuff that you wouldn't believe.
Gretchen Rossi
Leave.
Heather McDonald
All of this is leading up to the greatest night ever, which will be November 14, the Friday of Bravocon in Las Vegas. Tickets are getting up there, so there are still some left. Get them for your friends. Come see my show. As you know, I do not hold anything back. I'm saving so much juice. Brandi and Julie will be there along with special guests. So I hope you get that@heathermcdallin.net and that's also where you can join my Patreon and everything else. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTubes as well. All is there@heathermcdallin.net mom and Dad I'm growing at an alarming rate and clothes.
Gretchen Rossi
You buy me this year will be.
Heather McDonald
Very small very soon. But at least your wallet doesn't have.
Gretchen Rossi
To be my fashion victim with low.
Heather McDonald
Prices for school at Amazon.
Gretchen Rossi
Hope that helps Amazon spend less.
Heather McDonald
Smile more Support for this podcast and.
Amazon Prime Narrator 2 / Slade Smiley
The following message comes from America's Navy.
Heather McDonald
The Navy offers new graduates hands on training and experience in careers like computer science, aviation and medicine, plus education and sign on bonuses. Parents help your grads start their career today@navy.com.
Date: August 26, 2025
Host: Heather McDonald
Guests: Gretchen Rossi & Slade Smiley (Real Housewives of Orange County alum)
In this rich and highly entertaining episode of Juicy Scoop, Heather McDonald dives deep into current pop culture scandals and Bravo drama. The first segment covers Lil Nas X's surprising arrest in LA, followed by a quick checkpoint on Valley dating rumors and a grim true crime update.
The show’s focus then shifts to the Real Housewives of Orange County (RHOC), with an in-depth, laugh-out-loud interview featuring Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley. The trio dissect the origins of RHOC, the infamous "Naked Wasted" party, evolving housewife alliances, and rumors that have dominated social media. Gretchen particularly addresses a season-long controversy involving castmate Katie, Tamra Judge, and accusations of gossip and betrayal.
Expect plenty of exclusive behind-the-scenes reality TV insight, self-aware humor, and memorable storytelling—plus Heather’s signature “juicy” take on all things Bravo.
“As someone who has lived close to Ventura Boulevard… I would not have batted an eye. That’s another day in the life of LA.” —Heather (02:25)
(24:54–96:57)
“There’s basically 12 girls in the group, so there’s 12 parties throughout the year. It’s a well-oiled machine.” —Gretchen (26:42)
“We filmed for three months doing satire, a lot of comedic stuff…Then they decided to make it a ‘docusoap’—soap opera style.” —Slade (29:13)
“They forget to tell the audience that Jeff is part owner in the jewelry store. …I watched the first episode, and I was like, oh my gosh, I’m such an idiot!” —Gretchen (38:46)
“Everybody at the time said, ‘She’s so jealous of you’… I felt weird saying that, but looking back, I think she just didn’t like someone stealing the limelight.” —Gretchen (44:24)
“He was one of the only people in my life that called and checked on me all the time.” —Gretchen (47:47)
Gretchen disputes rumors that she ever claimed she was “roofied” at Tamra’s party, blaming miscommunication and exaggerated telephone-style storytelling.
“I was so sick, I probably should have gone to the hospital the next day. That was the gist…” —Gretchen (52:05) “If I actually thought that, I would have been the first person to put it out. This was 17 years ago!” —Gretchen (58:01)
Slade observes Gretchen’s visible distress recollecting the night, highlighting the real emotional toll:
“It’s like she’s almost experiencing again the horror of being that embarrassed and…taken advantage of.” —Slade (53:52)
“She got caught over-embellishing… I think to Heather's point, she was probably looking for the attention that I've got some piece of information.” —Slade (67:06)
“It’s like a great Shakespearean tragedy…or a game of telephone.” —Heather (64:13)
“She always has an excuse for her behavior…when Jeff was going through cancer, I wasn’t an asshole. When [Slade’s] son died, he wasn’t an asshole.” —Gretchen (89:06)
“I do think it gets to a place where you’re not thinking about real life anymore…it’s a fascinating study besides being entertaining.” —Heather (92:46)
“I've always referenced that because we did…have a date on calendar. I ended up booking a film, and we postponed…then we decided to do IVF…And at that time, we said, we really want to have a baby.” —Gretchen (76:32–76:57) “We're not going to get married until all of our friends within the LGBTQ+ community can get married.” —Gretchen (78:00)
"If there's any time to come back…it probably would be now where I actually have real organic friendships." —Gretchen (83:14)
“If this aired today, you would be hands-down canceled…So predatory. No way would producers not go right in there and take her out. But this is a long time ago.” —Heather (08:22–08:53)
“It really is such a narcissistic thing to say. And Tamra has said that about everybody… Newsflash. Nobody wants to be you, Tamra.” —Gretchen (86:29)
“Even though it’s changed, I’m still intrigued. I’m never going to stop watching…when it first started, it was just following families…now, we need to see the interaction between the women.” —Heather (91:36)
This episode is a treasure trove for Bravo fans and pop culture aficionados alike: you get humor, vulnerability, nostalgia, and a masterclass in modern reality TV dynamics. Heather, Gretchen, and Slade cut through the Bravo rumor mill, question the strategic storytelling behind the Housewives machine, and ultimately reveal the very human side of “unscripted” drama.
Stay tuned for next week… because on Real Housewives of Orange County (Bravo/Peacock), the lies, alliances, and juicy scoops are far from over!