Gretchen Rossi was left sobbing uncontrollably during the "Real Housewives of Orange County" season 8 reunion show after her co-stars accused her of getting engaged to Slade Smiley for publicity.
The normally bubbly handbag designer, 34, was uncharacteristically somber during part two of the reunion show which aired Monday night. Rossi expressed her heartache in between sobs while defending her engagement to Smiley as her co-stars watched on.
"I think if you weren't filming, none of that would have happened," Rossi's longtime nemesis,Vicki Gunvalson, said candidly. "I think it was all done for the show … that's what many of us think."
Rossi, who was immediately reduced to tears due to Gunvalson's comments, proposed to Smiley, her longtime partner, in April. During season seven of the hit Bravo reality TV show Rossi revealed that she did not want to marry the single father due to his financial woes which triggered the recent engagement skepticism amongst her co-stars.
"I'm just so sad. It took me so long to get to that point. We've been through so much and you guys have said so much stuff about us," Rossi told the group.
"And the one thing that I could've never imagined that you guys would say is that that was made up," she went on. "And that hurts me more than, I think, than anything that anybody has ever said."
Eventually Rossi's co-stars began to back down and clarified that their criticisms were not about whether the reality TV star's love for Smiley is genuine, bur rather that the timing of the engagement was questionable.
Rossi's engagement controversy was not the only drama to unfold during the reunion show. Gunvalson's relationship with Brooks Ayers was also criticized and co-star Tamra Barney's loyalty was called into question prompting an explosive showdown between the mother-of four and Rossi.