Gretchen Rossi (left) and Tamra Barney
Michael Rosenthal/Bravo
Who are these blonde women and what have they done with Tamra Barney and Gretchen Rossi?
The Real Housewives of Orange County returned to Bravo Tuesday with the most unexpected of twists: Tamra and Gretchen kiss and make up. Okay, that’s a joke – they don’t kiss.
“We’re trying to bury the hatchet,” Gretchen tells her boyfriend Slade, who’s totally against any form of reconciliation between the two women, whose hateful feud has fueled the series’ recent seasons. “I just want to try and get all the negativity out of my life.”
“Things with Gretchen have gotten so bad that it’s basically me talking about her, her talking about me and just investing this time to dig up crap on each other’s lives and for what?” Tamra explains, as the pair head out to make peace over mojitos, shrimp cocktail and meatballs.
Outside Influences
If you were expecting one or both to be drenched in mojito by the end, you would be disappointed. Instead, Tamra admits that she’s always liked Gretchen but that outside influences tainted her opinion of her costar. “We need to really forget and just move forward,” Tamra says.
Gretchen says she’s “sick of being angry” about Tamra talking about her when she doesn’t know the whole story. “I’ve spent so much time and energy being angry and upset and hurt,” she says. “I know she doesn’t know everything about that because she hasn’t talked to me, the person that’s involved.”
Then came a real shocker: “I was totally at fault,” Tamra says. “I have to say I apologize from deep in my heart.”
“I was beyond surprised that Tamra actually apologized,” Gretchen said, nearly choking on her mojito. “It was such a relief and so nice to actually hear her say ‘I’m sorry.’ “
And then, just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier, Tamra pulls out a gift for Gretchen. And, no, not a pig’s heart; it was a bracelet.
“We can lock up our past and put it behind us or we can use it to open up our future as friends,” she said of the trinket’s key charm. “It’s pretty and it’s pink and it’s blingy like you.”
“You’re going to make me cry a little,” Gretchen said.
The Future?
Who are these people? And can they actually stay friendly and drama free? Not likely. “One of the biggest obstacles in my relationship with Gretchen and moving forward would definitely be Slade,” Tamra says. “I don’t have a lot of respect for the guy.”
And Gretchen wonders what Orange County‘s matriarch, Vicki Gunvalson, will think of this newly minted friendship.
“Do you think that’s going to be an issue?” Gretchen asks.
“I just want to be sure that Gretchen and I are going down the right path before I even bother Vicki with the information,” Tamra says. “Because I know she’s not going to like it.”
Link:
Real Housewives of Orange County: Gretchen and Tamra Bury the Hatchet