The Real Housewives of Orange County may have filmed its infamous “naked wasted” episode years ago, but for Gretchen Rossi, the drama around it is far from over.
In a recent interview on Heather McDonald’s Juicy Scoop podcast, Gretchen sat down with fiancé Slade Smiley to finally address the resurfaced, and potentially damaging, claim that she accused Tamra Judge of drugging her during filming.
The allegation came to light when Katie Ginella reportedly told Radio Andy contributor Kiki Monique that Gretchen had accused Tamra of spiking her drink during their time on RHOC. But according to Gretchen, not only is that version of the story untrue, it completely caught her off guard.
“I didn’t see this coming at all,” Gretchen said. She recalled that the conversation in question stemmed from a dinner several months earlier, saying, “You have to remember, this was back in September or October, we all had dinner together: me, Katie, Jennifer, Ryan (Jenn’s boyfriend), and Matt. We talked for three hours, and yeah, I shared some things, including the ‘naked wasted’ night. But I never said I was drugged.”
What really stunned Gretchen was what came next. She said Katie circled back months later, calling both Jennifer and Ryan to dig for more details about Gretchen’s past with Tamra, behavior Gretchen found suspicious.
“Jenn and Ryan called Slade on a three-way because they were weirded out,” Gretchen explained. Slade chimed in, recalling how odd it felt when he overheard Katie speaking to someone else in the background while on the call. “Then suddenly she just hangs up and says, ‘Never mind,’” he noted.
Slade didn’t hesitate to call the narrative Katie allegedly told Kiki “completely false.” Initially, though, Gretchen said she gave her friend the benefit of the doubt.
“Katie swore up and down she never told Kiki anything,” she said. “She was so adamant, and I believed her. I even defended her.”
That trust has since eroded. Rossi now says she’s shocked by Katie’s latest claims that she had been “protecting” her.
“I’m sitting here thinking, ‘Protecting me from what? Your lies?’” she said, denying she ever shared the drugging story publicly. “If I had actually believed that happened, I would’ve spoken up 17 years ago. I wouldn’t have stayed silent.”
As to why Katie would allegedly twist the story, Gretchen believes it’s a deflection tactic. She suggested that once Katie sensed the RHOC cast suspected her of leaking info to bloggers, she shifted the narrative.
“It’s like she needed a backup plan. Since the show started airing, other bloggers have come forward saying she told them the same story. So it’s clear she’s out there pushing this. Not me.”
In the end, Gretchen made it clear she has no interest in dragging this out further, but wanted to set the record straight.
“I’m not trying to spin anything. But if Tamra’s upset, her issue is with Katie, not me,” she concluded.
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