Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo, Instagram
Are Real Housewives of Orange County fans ready to meet Gina Kirschenheiter‘s ex-husband, Matt Kirschenheiter?
Since she joined the cast for season 13, viewers have gotten a taste of Gina’s often tumultuous relationship with her ex Matt, which ultimately ended in their divorce being finalized in January of this year.
In the trailer for season 15, fans were shocked to see Matt make an appearance as he hasn’t yet been on the show. Now, in a new interview, Gina detailed how she felt about Matt coming on to film and also shared her thoughts on the new love in Matt’s life.
“I was very thankful that he [filmed] and I do owe a lot of that I think to his girlfriend,” Gina told Us Weekly. “She’s good for him. And she has children also and she always puts the kids first and I think it was helpful for everybody. Even though I did go through such bad things with Matt, I feel like it is important for people to see that you can go through all those bad things, but then you can move on. And obviously, it’s still complicated and emotional and I’m totally willing to share that, but I’m also willing to have my daughter’s father at her birthday party if she wants a father there.”
After separating upon Gina’s debut on the show in 2018, the former pair, who share Nicholas, 8, Sienna, 6, and Luca, 5, briefly reconciled in June 2019. Matt was then arrested shortly thereafter following an altercation between the two, and Gina was subsequently granted a restraining order against him.
Matt pleaded “not guilty” to two felony counts of domestic violence and has a hearing scheduled for next month.
“It took us a long time to get here, but you really rock [co-parenting]. We are very good co-parents and we have a very open dialogue and we talk all the time about the kids,” Gina shared. “And I don’t even know, honestly, at this point what our legal things say or whatever … we felt like it was the happiest, healthiest thing for the kids.”
Gina also shared that Matt actually lives down the street from her in the home she now shares with her boyfriend, Travis Mullen.
“It’s very convenient, you know?” she said. “This year, actually, Matt has the kids for Halloween and he has the kids for Thanksgiving and they’ve already invited us over for both of them. You’ll see in this season, I do have him over for Sienna’s birthday party.”
Even though the former pair has managed to bring their relationship to a good place, the mother-of-three admitted she was still a little anxious for bringing Matt on-camera and she’s worried how RHOC fans may respond.
“I hope that it doesn’t affect, like, where we’ve gotten to now, like seeing things, it’s so hard, it’s so scary,” she stated. “You want to be vulnerable and you want people to be able to see and understand what you’re going through, but then it doesn’t air for a long time later. And then you don’t want to test that. The dynamic that you’ve worked hard to create. So, but we’re cool.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs every Wednesday at 9/8c on Bravo.
