Gina Kirschenheiter was the second Housewife to confirm she’d been asked back for season 15 of Real Housewives of Orange County, after the show dropped longtime cast members Vicki Gunvalson, 57, and Tamra Judge, 52. While she’s definitely not going to miss enemy Vicki, Gina will still be hanging out with pal Tamra off-camera. The two ladies played tennis on Feb. 19 and Tamra urged Gina to kick butt with the rest of the cast, which could likely include new members.
“Tennis 🎾 with @ginakirschenheiter. She kicked my butt 😩 Show them how it’s done this year girl #RHOC,” Tamra captioned an Instagram pic of the two ladies smiling together court side. They each had on black visors and sunglasses, as well as comfy tennis wear. Gina responded in the comments, “❤️ You’re the best! Mommom mom,” and Tamra wrote. back, “@ginakirschenheiter love you ❤️.”
Many of the other comments were from fans telling Tamra how much they were going to miss her, and how RHOC wouldn’t be the same without her. Tamra announced on Jan. 25 that she was leaving the show, a day after Vicki did the same. It later turned out they weren’t asked back. “I’m sad to go but I’m very excited about my future,” Tamra wrote in an Instagram post. She’d been with the show 12 years, so her departure came as a bit of a shock. Vicki was an OG, but had been reduced to friend status in season 14.
Gina confirmed her return to RHOC in a Feb. 13 Instagram post. It showed her seated with cameras around her, as the show has begun filming. “Here we go again!!! #rhoc #crazybeautifullife,” she captioned the pic. Kelly Dodd, 44, was the first to announce she was returning for season 15. She broke the news on Feb. 12, with an IG post that read “Started filming today!” It showed a pic of herself and some of the RHOC film crew around her. Braunwyn Windham-Burke, 42 — who joined the series last year — was also spotted in the pic.