'RHOC': Gina Kirschenheiter to make victim impact statement against ex Matt after alleging domestic abuse
Trigger warning - Sexual assault, domestic violence.
The latest episode of 'The Real Housewives of Orange County' was explosive for too many reasons, including Gina Kirschenheiter's alleged abuse-addled relationship with ex-husband Matt Kirschenheiter and the details of it being hashed out. Gina has accused Matt of choking her and threatening her life, in an incident dated June 22, 2019. Matt had pleaded not guilty to charges of domestic violence and false imprisonment in connection to this incident. However, prosecutors maintain that he "willfully and unlawfully inflicted corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition upon" Gina.
The episode saw Gina meeting with her attorney Michael Fell who she was consulting for the case. Fell advised her that the option to address this incident in court is available to her and that she could consider it. Gina was hellbent on not taking Matt to the court about this at first for the fact that it would wreak havoc with where they were currently in their lives. She said that the co-parenting was working well for them and they were doing great raising: daughter Sienna (5), and sons Nicholas (7) and Luca (4). "It feels like it was all a long time ago and where we are now, we're co-parenting so well," Gina told Fell.
In a solo confessional, she dived in a little deeper, divulging details regarding how her life was impacted after that ill-fated night. "What happened that night, I struggle with it to this day," she said. "I still wake up in the middle of the night, I have bad dreams," she said iterating that she remains grappling with this incident to this day and came to the conclusion that making a statement in court might bring a sense of closure that she's wanted.
"I spent a lot of time just burying my feelings about a lot of things and it's not right, so I decided to make a victim impact statement," she said. "I at least want him to have to hear how I felt about that night because it is literally the most significant event that's ever happened to me in my entire life," Gina said that this was also coming from a place where she is hopeful that this would help bring awareness for her ex.
"It's hard because my desire to make everything happy for my kids is always taking precedent to my own feelings," she said while also adding, "but I'm hoping that if he hears it, it will affect him in a way that will effect change." She also spoke to some of the castmates about what she'd dealt with and how she felt about it currently. "It's really s****y and I'm trying my best to pretend it's okay and we're going to co-parent and we're great, and we are to a certain extent," she said.
She said she was "not just gonna let Matt brush this off" even if this would affect her kids in case he gets convicted and ends up behind bars. "Knowing that this may be the last birthday that Sienna will get to spend with her father for a while, it's sad, I don't want that for my daughter and I don't want to be the person responsible for that and I have a lot of guilt about that," she said.
Matt is set to appear at Orange County Superior Court in January and his lawyer Edward Welbourn in September said that his client "maintains his innocence," in an interview with US, according to a Daily Mail report. He added, "He continued: 'The divorce and the alleged incident is unfortunate, and there are unfortunately three children who also are going through this. In these cases, where there are no witnesses, it comes down to the credibility of the people,' adding that Matt's credibility is 'fantastic.'"
