Credit: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages/Cover Images, Instagram, Bravo
Kelly Dodd and Katie Ginella reacted to the Real Housewives of Orange County season 20 trailer with posts shared to their Instagram pages on Thursday and Friday.
As Katie, 42, offered some shade months after being fired from the Bravo reality series, Kelly, who was let go years prior, said the preview clip seemed like a funeral as she suspected the series would come to an end after the new episodes and insisted she wasn’t jealous — twice.
“Is this irony? I don’t know. Is this the demise of the franchise? Is this the funeral?” she asked in a video posted on Instagram on June 12. “I know Bravo is a little bit, a little shade, shade, and we all love a little bit of shade, okay? We’re not gonna lie. But I think they put all these people like they’re going to a funeral. They’re all going to a funeral. I think this is the end. And by the way, this has been a great run. This has been a great run for everyone.”
“But I think this means, the irony here is they’re getting buried,” she continued of the cast’s all-black looks.
While admitting that Vicki Gunvalson, 64, Tamra Judge, 58, and Shannon Beador, 62, had done “an amazing job” on the show, Kelly took aim at Heather Dubrow, 57, who lives in Los Angeles.
“Heather Dubrow can go back to her sh*thole of L.A. and all that crap. Go ahead,” she demanded.
Meanwhile, in a caption, she added, “The Irony ?? Just an FYI… I am not jealous of RHOC. Not even a little bit. Honestly, I’m happier now than I was when I was on the show, and if we’re being real, I think I look better too. Life moves on, and that’s a good thing. I actually think it’s pretty impressive that the show has lasted 20 years. That’s a huge accomplishment and deserves recognition.”
“One thing that does make me laugh is that we used to look like Easter eggs in every promo with all the bright colors, and now, everyone seems to be wearing black. Times change!” she went on. “There’s a time and a season for everything. I enjoyed my chapter, and now I’m enjoying the one I’m in even more.”
“So for the record: I’m not jealous. I’m grateful, happy, and living my best life,” she insisted.
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In a post shared hours earlier, Katie offered a more subtle response, sharing a video of herself pouring a glass of champagne while laughing.
“Yes, I saw it,” she wrote in a caption.
Following the post, a number of Katie’s followers weighed in.
“It was quite vanilla, no!?!” one person asked.
“It’s gonna be the worst season ever. Not even [Vicki can] save this,” said another.
“If a trailer is supposed to be the most exciting parts of the season, meant to entice you to watch, then what does it say about the season if the trailer is boring?” asked a third.
Also on Katie’s social media, she refused to say more on Threads, writing, “My mom always said ‘If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.’ So I am.”
While Katie wouldn’t speak out herself, she did reshare a telling post to her Instagram Story from Bravoo OMG on Instagram.
“The 20th season of [RHOC] premieres July 9th, and I won’t be watching or covering it … The way Katie Ginella was treated during her two seasons on the show was appalling. A predominantly MAGA cast repeatedly worked to discredit, isolate, and target the franchise’s only woman of color. The racial undertones in many of those interactions were impossible to ignore,” the message read.
“This is now the second time I’ve stopped watching this franchise because of the cast’s behavior. And judging by the number of people saying they’re boycotting this season over Katie’s treatment, that should be a wake up call to the people making decisions behind the scenes … And yes, reality TV is political,” it concluded.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 20 premieres on Thursday, July 9, at 8/7c on Bravo.