Jo De La Rosa starred in the first season of The Real Housewives of Orange County. At the time, she was the youngest housewife ever. Now, she is revealing that she paid to be on the show.

The 40-year-old starred on the first two seasons of the breakout franchise but left soon after. Recently, Jo had to bury her father, who passed away from COVID-19. Jo did make cameos in season 3 and four before getting her own spinoff, Dare My Ex: Jo and Slade. Soon after leaving the show, the couple broke up, and Slade Smiley began dating Gretchen Rossi. After saying goodbye to the OC, Jo had a career in advertising and moved to Los Angeles. She also started her own podcast, Popcandy.

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Jo took some time from her busy schedule to stop by and speak on the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast, where she dropped a few grenades about her time on the show. Yontef asked about the infamous maid outfit she wore for her boyfriend at the time and how she got involved with the filming of the show. Jo told listeners that it was Slade that got them involved since they were neighbors with Gina Keough, saying, "Like he bought our way into being a part of a cast basically. Oh my God."

The businesswoman revealed everything, saying, "It was actually Slade that got us on and he was at a charity event and I just knew that they were looking for like the fifth couple to cast. And I guess, because we were really like, I was so young and he was older and there was this weird ...  just interesting 15-year difference between us. They really liked that dynamic." Evidently, with some persistence, the couple prevailed with Jo revealing, "Slade just came home one day and was like, 'Hey, so decided to move forward on this.' And I was like, 'You're going to have cameras, do what, come into our house?' ... Cause back then reality was not a big thing." But as she continued to reminisce about the beginning, she told the podcast host that she learned the truth. "I later found out that Slade actually bought a charity event ticket, and that's actually how we ended up on there ... I was so young then I really didn't know. I didn't ask a lot of questions. I just heard 'charity event' and we were cast. I was like, okay, you don't ask a lot of questions when you are young."

In the end, Jo is thrilled she didn't end up like a stay at home housewife with no career. While it may work for others, it was not going to work for her. And while it was hard to watch her ex move on, she has started her own life away from the prying eyes of Bravo fans.

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Source: Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef