When the subject of Gina Kirschenheiter previously living in a casita arose on The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 20, the real estate agent took the opportunity to clarify the “inaccurate” portrayal of her past living situation to her castmates.
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Amid concerns about Gina’s spending, which became a talking point during the RHOC cast trip to Tokyo in Episode 16, Jennifer Pedranti had remarked that she loved “the girl who went from the casita to the badass that she is now” and simply hoped that her newfound financial success would “never change” that part of her. Gina, meanwhile, didn’t exactly take Jenn’s statement as a compliment.
“I never lived in a f–king casita!” she declared during a group dinner. “I was never poor.”Â
Though Jenn clarified that she was “not insinuating that [Gina was] poor,” she still fired back, “It’s inaccurate, and I don’t appreciate it.”
Did Gina Kirschenheiter live in a casita?
No, Gina never lived in a casita full-time, though she did rent one from her trainer while going through her divorce from ex-husband Matt Kirschenheiter in 2018. She had made that arrangement, so that their three kids — Nicholas, 14, Sienna, 12, and Luca, 11 — would not have to schlep back and forth between two homes, at the time.
As Gina explained in a RHOC confessional, “I owned a home in Coto de Caza, and every other weekend when Matt would come, I would go to this casita as like a crash pad, so that my children would never have to adjust their circumstance when they’re already going through so much with their parents separating.”
As for why the characterization of her living in a casita bothered her so much, Gina told Jenn directly, “The chatter of the universe is always like ‘Casita Gina.’ And I don’t like it, because it insinuates that I was, like, living in a casita with my kids. And that’s not true.”
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Gina Kirschenheiter defends her spending amid the RHOC cast’s concerns
On The Real Housewives of Orange County After Show, Gina went on to reference her castmates’ past comments about her and now-fiancé Travis Mullen’s blended family previously cohabitating in a smaller home. ICYMI: Gina and Travis temporarily lived in a three-bedroom home, with their collective six children sharing two rooms with bunkbeds, before they eventually upgraded to a 2,800-square-foot, five-bedroom house.
“For the past decade, I’ve taken hits from my friends who judged me for the size of my home, all because I have chosen to live within my means,” Gina remarked on the RHOC After Show. “Why now am I not just looked at like I’m doing the same thing?”
Given her track record, Gina also slammed the other women questioning her spending as “ridiculous” on the After Show. “I have always lived within my means,” she said. “I’ve never showed any behavior that would reflect the fact that I was spending irrationally or living outside of my means.”
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She continued, “I can’t apologize for the fact that I’m doing well. I’m not gonna apologize for the fact that I bust my ass, and every once in a while, I want a pair of Prada shoes.”
As Gina eventually concluded, “I’m all about personal growth. I’m all about learning from my mistakes. Some of my mistakes have been bigger than others, but I’ve never made them twice. I learn from them, I change from them, I evolve from them, I become better from them. And that is something I have done consistently and that I’ve showed everybody I’ve done consistently for the past nine years.”
Don’t miss exclusive details on Gina’s two engagement rings from Travis.
