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Credit: Todd Williamson/Bravo
The Real Housewives of Orange County cast discussed Gina Kirschenheiter‘s spending habits, specifically her $12,000 stylist, after Thursday’s new episode of season 20.
As Gina, 42, revealed whether she regretted spending so much, admitted to feeling insulted by her co-stars’ criticisms, and addressed the suggestion that money had changed her, Heather Dubrow, 57, Tamra Judge, 59, Vicki Gunvalson, 64, and Shannon Beador, 62, shared their thoughts on Gina’s finances.
“I told her that was so insane,” Heather recalled on the October 22 episode of the RHOC: After Show. “She said that they styled four things for her: the after-party for the Oscars, their photoshoot for the magazine, the gallery shoot, and there was one other event … and she didn’t get any of the dresses.”
“So my question is, how much money did you make out of going to all those events?” Tamra replied, as Heather and Emily Simpson, 50, confirmed Gina made “nothing.”
“Look, I can spend whatever I want, but I still have a price in my head for what’s reasonable. What I thought was crazy about it, because I’ve been in that situation before sometimes and was horrified by what something cost, but why don’t you ask how much it’s going to cost?” Heather wondered.
Then, after Vicki admitted she was more worried about Shannon, who confessed that she probably “[had] paid $12,000 for a stylist,” Tamra suggested Gina should be saving and investing.
“Don’t wear it on your body unless you’re at a level that is way up here, not right here,” she advised.
Looking back, Gina said that while she “looked great” at the events she was styled for, she did learn a lesson.
“It’s our fault. We were trying to just make things easier on ourselves,” she explained of her and Emily, who also footed the large bill. “The events that she styled us for, we looked insanely amazing, but also, was it a lesson learned? Absolutely … Would I engage in that again? No. Probably not.”
Still, Gina insisted she would “never make a mistake [she] couldn’t afford to make.”
“I don’t understand what all the concern is when I’ve only displayed solid decision-making,” she added.
As for her RHOC castmates’ concerns, Gina doesn’t believe they were earned.
“There’s nothing about me or my personality that has ever, I think, showed anyone that they should be concerned about the decisions that I’ve made,” she reasoned. “I’ve walked through a lot of really gnarly, really bad things on this show by myself, and I’ve always made sound, good decisions to get myself to move forward, to get myself to level up, to get myself to elevate, to find personal growth in so many different areas. So now that I’m finding financial success, the fact that they’re questioning how I spend my resources, or if I’m spending my money the correct way, is insulting.”
During Thursday’s RHOC, Jennifer Pedranti, 49, said she hoped Gina’s financial success wouldn’t make her less “endearing” before insisting she was inspired by all that Gina has accomplished.
“The insinuation that I’m changing really is bothersome to me because I think that as women, we need to be able to allow ourselves to change and evolve and let that be OK and not an indication that we’re no longer grounded as humans,” Gina told Bravo Insider. “I’m a very grounded person; I’m just doing it in better clothes. And I deserve that because I’ve worked really hard for it. It’s the truth.”
“You work hard, you get a promotion at work, whatever it is, you want to spoil yourself a little bit,” she continued. “You know what you have in your bank account and what you don’t. I know my kids come first. I’ve been taking such a hit on this show for f*cking years, being called poor because I chose to put my money into a home, to put a roof over my kids’ heads, and to put money in the bank, to be able to build, to be able to put myself in a good financial decision. And now I’m in it. Because of that, now I’m getting questioned about it. It sucks.”
Back on the RHOC: After Show, Gina suspected her older castmates wanted to parent her and noted that she didn’t think they were coming from a bad place.
“I do think these women genuinely do care about me. I’m just insulted that they think they have to care about me,” she concluded.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 20 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
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