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Credit: Instagram

Gina Kirschenheiter is explaining why she told Jennifer Pedranti about the “former fatty photo” Tamra Judge shared of her, addressing the fear Heather Dubrow potentially has for Tamra, and reacting to Tamra’s temporary exit from The Real Housewives of Orange County.

As she also suggested she can’t trust Katie Ginella, 41, clapped back at the backlash she and Emily Simpson, 49, received for their formaldehyde-dipped jokes about Gretchen Rossi, 46, and discussed moving back in with Travis Mullen amid his drama with ex-wife, Meghan Mullen, Gina, 41, said there was “no way” she wasn’t going to tell Jennifer, 46, about the image Tamra, 57, shared.

“We got to get it all out. That’s just a part of this … [And] I think she does have a right to know what’s being discussed about her behind her back,” Gina explained to Decider on August 8.

After Jennifer called Heather, 56, out for sticking up for Tamra and her actions, Gina said Heather has been scared of their castmate.

“I think Heather herself even admits that there’s times that she is afraid of Tamra. I mean, are we going to sit here and pretend like Tamra’s not scary? She’s a little scary,” Gina noted. “But I think that Tamra is the type of person that’s very reactionary. And Tamra is the type of person that will tell you how it is directly in the moment. She gets very activated.”

“Tamra – she admitted it, she’s in therapy to work on this – she goes out of bounds. I think that does scare Heather … that’s something that Heather is just very uncomfortable with,” she continued.

In addition to scaring Gina and Heather, Tamra has also been at odds with Gretchen, who recently suggested she was playing victim amid Teddi Mellencamp‘s health crisis.

“I felt bad because the Teddi stuff is very real. Teddi is very ill,” Gina said in response. “When we were filming, she had just found out that she had brain cancer, and then she went into those surgeries, and it was not good. This is Tamra’s closest person to her in her life. It’s her best friend … It was really affecting her.”

During an off-camera moment, Gina recalled Tamra opening up about her heartache as she revealed the two of them had recently hung out together in New Orleans.

“That’s why I apologized, because then I was like, ‘Let’s go to New Orleans!’” Gina explained. “I felt so bad. It really did trigger her. She has a right to be upset.”

As fans now know, it was in the midst of the ladies’ trip to New Orleans that Tamra announced she was done with RHOC. 

“I think Tamra was carrying a pretty heavy load this year, and I know nobody likes to give her a break. I get it. But she was. I think she just hit a wall, and she just couldn’t do it,” Gina reasoned. “I do think she needed a break. Maybe she was kind of running away from some things, but sometimes that’s what you have to do for your mental health. Protect your peace.”

Although Tamra did exit production amid season 19, she ultimately returned to filming.

“She came back! She’s good at dramatics. So it was interesting. We found out with everyone else that she quit, on social media,” Gina explained. “Well, she texted me basically to go fuck myself. But she put it on Instagram. And we were like, ‘What?’”

Regarding fans rallying around Katie amid her drama with Shannon Beador, 61, and her ties to bloggers, Gina suggested there were things that went down “off-camera” that viewers didn’t know about.

“[There are] things that will become clearer as time goes on,” she teased.

Then, reflecting on her comment about reconsidering her own return if Katie is brought back to the cast, Gina explained her issue with her co-star.

“Women come into this circumstance, and they think that they have to do certain things in order to survive. That’s really scary for us as a group of women who aren’t necessarily doing that,” she stated. “I just don’t know how you trust somebody that’s already approached this in such a weird way and a threatening way.”

“Maybe she just got caught up in all of it. But it’s interesting that she says that. I don’t know why she would want to be in this group anymore,” she added.

Moving on to her and Emily’s comments about Gretchen’s appearance, Gina doubled down, saying that they were “funny.”

“I’m not going to say it wasn’t, because it was [and] I was so surprised by how much [backlash] we got,” she admitted. “We were complimenting Gretchen. That’s just a real conversation between two friends joking it up. Why I like Gretchen is because you can have fun with Gretchen. I could say all of this to Gretchen, and she would laugh with us.”

Also during the interview, Gina was asked about her decision to move back in with Travis.

“Although I don’t regret taking the time that I felt like I needed to kind of figure it out, I’m actually really happy because now we’ve come together and I’m recommitted in a way that I feel fully, 100% committed to this situation in this circumstance. So it feels really good. And the kids are so happy,” she shared.

Then giving a nod to Travis’ ongoing legal battle with Meghan, Gina described it as “very unnecessary” and “totally heartbreaking.”

“It’s a real struggle that we have to endure,” she stated. “I got to a point where I had to start opening up about this. I don’t think it’s right, and I think I’m entitled to my perspective to speak about this. But then even me speaking about this now could have consequences back again on the kids. I’m in this really weird, tough position. It’s awful, honestly.”

“I would do anything to make it get better, but I just don’t see that happening,” she concluded.

The Real Housewives of Orange County season 19 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.