After 12 years away from The Real Housewives of Orange County, Gretchen Rossi made her return in Season 19, where she got bulldozed by rumors about anti-LGBTQ+ social media activity. It wasn’t necessarily the triumphant comeback anyone had in mind, but according to Andy Cohen, there was a very specific reason why the timing lined up after all of these years.
Andy Cohen says Gretchen Rossi proved herself on RHUGT before her RHOC return
The details about Gretchen’s RHOC return came up during Part 2 of the RHOC Season 19 reunion. You’d have to watch the extended cut on Peacock to see this part, but Katie Ginella brought up a conspiracy theory that Scheana Shay from Vanderpump Rules had been “plotting” to get Gretchen back on the show.
Unfortunately for Katie, that all fell flat when Andy explained the true background of Gretchen’s RHOC comeback. He said it all started with that ill-fated edition of Real Housewives of Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco.
“Well, can I just point out that the reason Gretchen is on the show is that she was on [RHUGT]?” Andy said. “We were all like, ‘Wow, it’s great to see Gretchen again. It would be fun if she [were] back on the show. I wonder if she would do it.’ That’s how it happened. It had nothing to do with Scheana.”
Gretchen filmed RHUGT in 2023 along with other retired Housewives like Alex McCord and Caroline Manzo. Of course, that season got shelved after Caroline accused fellow cast member Brandi Glanville of sexually assaulting her during filming. The litigation is still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Gretchen’s unaired performance scored her an invitation to RHOC Season 19, and apparently, that wasn’t the first time. In a previous interview, she said RHOC producers contacted her three other times, but she had “no interest” in returning. That all changed with Season 19, but we’re not sure if things went as she had hoped.
The Real Housewives of Orange County is streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – DID YOU ENJOY SEEING GRETCHEN BACK ON RHOC? WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ANDY’S COMMENTS DURING THE REUNION?
