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Gretchen Rossi is back on Bravo, and she’s setting the record straight on her relationship with her longtime fiancé, Slade Smiley.
Gretchen returned to The Real Housewives of Orange County as a friend this season after leaving the show at the end of Season 8. A lot has changed for Gretchen in the past 11 years since she departed the franchise, but one thing has stayed that same: Gretchen is still engaged to Slade.
In Season 19, Episode 2, which marked her official return to the show, Gretchen opened up to a producer about her long engagement to Slade.
“Slade and I never got married, but we are more in love than we were 16 years ago,” she remarked. Then, implying she and Slade are more than happy continuing to be in a relationship without marriage, she stated, “We are [like]… Kurt [Russell] and Goldie Hawn.”
She then addressed the claims that her and Slade’s engagement wasn’t authentic. “The irony of so many of these women claiming [Slade and I had] a fake relationship is [that] most of those women have gotten divorced since then,” she commented.
As flashbacks in the episode noted, the women Gretchen was referring to included Tamra Judge, who divorced Simon Barney in 2011, Vicki Gunvalson, who filed to divorce Donn Gunvalson in 2010, and Alexis Bellino, who ended her marriage with Jim Bellino in 2018.
“Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?” Gretchen quipped.
Gretchen Rossi opens up about possible wedding plans
During her appearance on Scheana Shay’s podcast, Scheananigans with Scheana Shay, on Feb. 14, Gretchen opened up about her decade-long engagement to Slade. She explained that the couple has been too busy to tie the knot, citing Slade’s work ventures as well as their IVF journey, which led to the birth of their daughter, Skylar Gray Smiley.
Although they haven’t set a date yet, the RHOC friend told Scheana she wants a wedding. “I’m not the kind of girl that’s like, ‘Let’s go down to the courthouse and get married,'” she explained on Scheana’s podcast in February. “I want the wedding…I want to have more of the big hoopla.”
On the podcast, she acknowledged she’s been married before, but doesn’t think that means she can’t have an extravagant ceremony to marry Slade. “I had the big thing, but it wasn’t the right guy,” she remarked. “So I wanted it with the right guy.”
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Gretchen Rossi gushes over Slade Smiley relationship
On July 9, Gretchen shared an “appreciation post” for her “incredible” partner. The post featured photos from the couple’s Fourth of July celebration at Bass Lake paired with a heartfelt caption.
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“[16 years] later [and] home for me is still in your arms. You make every dream of mine come true, you make me laugh and smile every single day. You hold me when I cry, fight for me when I need protecting, & you let me be my own independent woman at the same time,” she wrote in the caption.
“You still open my doors for me and make me coffee in the morning, and rub my back to sleep, you always put me first no matter what…. you love me the way Christ loves the Church and that is the most special gift from above,” she continued. “You are an incredible father and an amazing example to Skylar of how to love and adore a woman.”
“You are everything I never knew I needed, and I am just so grateful every single day for you. I love you so much baby. Ladies never settle! Always know your worth and never listen to the noise, follow your heart knowing what is right for you,” Gretchen added.
Get a closer look at Slade Smiley and Gretchen Rossi’s relationship today.
