Gina and Matthew Kirschenheiter’s relationship had issues way before she joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County. The Bravo star claimed her estranged husband had an affair before they split.
“We moved here, Luca was, like, 4 months old and he had an affair,” a visibly emotional Gina told costar Emily Simpson on the Tuesday, August 20, episode. “We tried to work through it the best we could. We were in therapy and it opened our eyes to other problems in the relationship.”
While Gina wanted to “protect her kids,” she couldn’t keep the secret anymore after she found that Matthew is “still seeing” the woman he had the affair with.
“I found a Valentine’s Day card. … They think they’re in love,” Gina admitted to Emily. “Finding the card felt like the day that I found out about the affair in the first place. … I’ve just been carrying it around for so long and not being able to talk about it. It does feel good, at least, to just say it and try to heal from it.”
Matthew, for his part, has never appeared on RHOC. He has yet to publicly comment on his estranged wife’s remarks in Tuesday’s episode.
A source tells Us Weekly that Matt “really hurt” Gina by straying from their marriage.
“She really told almost no one when it happened to shield her kids,” the source explains, noting that she’s in a better place now. “Gina has been dating around, she got a new hairstyle, makeup style and has been getting her confidence back.”
Gina and Matthew, who wed in 2010, are parents of sons Nicholas, 7, and Luca, 4, and daughter Sienna, 5. While the pair announced their split a week before Gina made her Bravo debut in 2018, they briefly reconciled while she was filming season 14 of RHOC.
The twosome called it quits again in June 2019 after Matthew was arrested on suspicions relating to domestic violence on June 22. (He was never officially charged with a crime.) In court documents obtained by Us, Gina alleged that Matthew was abusive during their relationship, which he denied. She was subsequently granted a restraining order against Matthew, which will remain in place until a January 2020 court date.
A judge agreed to the “dissolution” of Gina and Matthew’s marriage in court earlier this month. However, they will remain “married” until December 31, 2019 as they hash out issues regarding their joint properties and more. The duo also came to a custody agreement: Gina will have primary physical custody of all three children and share legal custody with Matthew. He was also ordered to pay her nearly $10,000 a month in child and spousal support.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
