The Real Housewives of Orange County's Gina Kirschenheiter recently claimed that her estranged husband had an affair before their divorce. She broke down in tears on The Real Housewives of Orange County when she alleged that her husband, Matt Kirschenheiter, had an affair early on in their relationship and claims that he continues to see other women while separated.
The 35-year-old Long Island native moved to California for a new start and although Matt never appeared on the show, due to his employer forbidding it, he is definitely being talked about. The newbie joined the OC cast in season 13, and was there to shake things up. Gina shares three young children with Matt - Nicholas, 7, Sienna, 5, and Luca, 4. This has been a particularly hard year for Gina with her marital problems and when she recently got into trouble with the law, getting a DUI. In June, it appeared that Gina and Matt reconciled, but then later that month he was arrested after an alleged domestic abuse situation and was ordered to stay 100 yards away from her and their children. Then, after eight years of marriage, the couple filed for divorce.
She opened up to her co-star Emily Simpson about how she had been trying to keep the alleged affair a secret in order to protect her children and not wanting their "kids to think their father is a bad person." She opened up by claiming that Matt first began his alleged extramarital affair when the two first moved to California from New York when their son Luca was only 4-months-old. Gina explained that the pair "tried to work through it." She then explained that the couple even tried therapy and it seemed to open their eyes to "other problems in the relationship." She spoke about why she kept the divorce private, saying, "I just felt like it wasn't necessary to share that." Gina, obviously hurting, explained that she was really proud of the fact that the two were co-parenting so well.
Gina found a Valentine's Day card the mistress had written to Matt in his car, and learned that the two were still dating. She said, "I found out that he was still seeing this woman and has been for the past six months. And he didn’t tell me. It hurts." Gina explained that her finding that card like that brought back all of the emotions of when she first found out about the affair. Still, she maintains that Matt is "not a bad person, it’s just hard." However, she did mention to her co-star that this information does radically change the way she sees him now, saying that she feels like it would be impossible for her to ever have "a deeper relationship" with Matt ever again. She went on to say, "We’re still going to co-parent … but for me, this changes things. I just feel really hurt. … They think they’re in love." Gina's anger boiled over as she spoke about the alleged mistress, by saying, "I hate her so much. Can we just send her to an island. … Send her a** away!"
Gina, who had just had a DUI two weeks before finding the proof of the alleged affair, was going through one of the hardest moments of her life. She claimed that although she wanted to keep it a secret, she felt like being able to talk to her co-stars about the problem lifted a huge weight off her chest. Even though the pair have yet to finalize their divorce, it seems there is no chance of reconciliation.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Mondays at 9pm EST on Bravo.