'Real Housewives' Gretchen Rossi, Alexis Bellino Fired?
"Real Housewives of Orange County" stars Gretchen Rossi and Alexis Bellino have reportedly been fired for the hit Bravo TV show.
The former friends, who joined the show in season 4 and season 5 respectively, were at the center of drama throughout season 8 however Bravo TV producers reportedly want fresh faces for season 9. Both Rossi, 37, and Bellino, 33, are yet to publicly respond to the axing reports.
"Gretchen and Alexis are not going to be back next season. Every season they look at how to shake up the cast," a source told LifeandStyle magazine.
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"They needed new women and in order to do that they had to say goodbye to some of the current cast," the source explained.
During season 8 Bellino was targeted by her costars due to alleged differences and although she was often at the center of the drama, producers reportedly decided against inviting her back. Rossi, who got engaged to her longtime partner, Slade Smiley, during season 8 reportedly also lacked a storyline.
"Alexis doesn't really have much going on and Gretchen has reached the end of her story on the show — she's happily engaged and starting a new life with Slade [Smiley]," the source explained, however "They both wanted to come back."
During the season 8 reunion show Rossi was reduced to tears after her costars accused her of staging her engagement to secure a spot on the show in the upcoming season.
"I think if you weren't filming, none of that would have happened," Rossi's longtime rival, Vicki Gunvalson, said candidly. "I think it was all done for the show … that's what many of us think."
Rossi, who began sobbing uncontrollably, denied Gunvalson's claims and insisted that her engagement to Smiley was genuine.
"I'm just so sad. It took me so long to get to that point. We've been through so much and you guys have said so much stuff about us," Rossi told the group.
"And the one thing that I could've never imagined that you guys would say is that that was made up," she went on. "And that hurts me more than, I think, than anything that anybody has ever said."
