Heather Dubrow vs Katie Ginella: 'RHOC' paparazzi drama escalates as one star may face the chop
ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: In the recent episode of 'The Real Housewives of Orange County' Season 18, tensions escalated between Heather Dubrow and her co-star Katie Ginella. Their ongoing feud has been exacerbated by recent paparazzi drama. The disagreement intensified when Katie claimed she had text message evidence indicating that Heather and her husband, Dr Terry Dubrow, had contacted paparazzi for photos the previous year. Heather denied the accusation, even swearing on the lives of her four children, while Katie presented screenshots suggesting that her paparazzi contact had confirmed Heather’s involvement.
In an episode of 'Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen', Heather firmly denied the accusation of calling the paparazzi. When Andy asked if the screenshot provided by a person named Mark was convincing evidence, Heather dismissed it, saying, "Yeah, no." With the audience split on who to believe, Heather pointed out that they had primarily heard from the prosecution and now needed to hear the defense's side. It seems Heather is growing increasingly frustrated with newcomer Katie and is seeking her removal from the Bravo show. Recently, Katie tried to apologize for her earlier comments about Heather. Last week, viewers saw her making amends while doing yoga and spending time with her dog, Sparkles. Katie mentioned that "Princess Heather" hasn't responded to any of her texts and added that she wouldn’t beg for Heather’s forgiveness. It seems Heather remains unfazed by the situation.
'RHOC' newbie Katie Ginella shares her perspective on paps drama
In a conversation with Entertainment Tonight, Katie Ginella explained her reasons for reaching out to her paparazzi associate. She said that after seeing a TikTok video alleging that Heather hired a photographer to set up staged photos, she contacted a close friend who runs a paparazzi business.
Katie revealed that she asked a friend about the rumor because she found it amusing, given their close relationship and their frequent conversations about celebrities. Her friend confirmed the rumor and then called her to inquire why she was interested. Katie explained that she found the situation funny since they often discuss similar topics.
Katie clarified that her intention was not to create conflict with Heather when she mentioned the screenshot during the show. "I wasn't looking for something, I didn't come in with ill intent to hurt Heather or look for information on Heather. I'm not jealous of her. I'm not obsessed with her. I'm not coming for her. it all just happened, and it was confusing to me all these things that were domino-ing," she said.
'RHOC' star Emily Simpson confesses that she initially trusted Katie's paps allegations about Heather Dubrow
Emily Simpson acknowledged that, while she wasn’t surprised by the allegations against Heather, they didn’t change her perspective on her. “First of all, let me just say, I don’t care whether she does or not. It doesn’t make me think any differently about Heather, if she does or if she doesn’t. You know what? If she does, it makes sense to me. She lives in LA, her husband’s famous, she’s famous. If they do, I’m like, ‘OK, well maybe that works for you. That’s for your brand. That makes sense for you,'” she told Page Six.
Emily went on to say, “Clearly, I’m not calling the paparazzi. They’re not interested in me… But [the Dubrows] have a very glamorous life in LA so that makes sense to me.” While she found the paparazzi story believable, she admitted that her trust in Katie has diminished over the past year. Though she didn’t provide specific reasons, she assured fans that more information would be revealed in future episodes. Emily expressed her growing doubt about Katie's credibility as the season went on, prompting her to reconsider the reliability of Katie's initial claims about Heather's supposed paparazzi calls.
'The Real Housewives of Orange County' airs on Thursdays on Bravo at 9 PM ET.