It’s a new season four of Bravo TV’s Real Housewives of Orange County and another of the original Housewives, Lauri (Waring) Peterson, has bid goodbye, while one wonders: what happened to Quinn Fry?

The new season has a new “housewife”: 30-yr-old Gretchen Rossi, a blue-eyed blond babe. According to Bravo, Gretchen is a “blonde bombshell with a sparkling personality, dazzling smile and — something very few Orange County women have — real breasts”.

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Real Housewives of Orange County: DBKP Library of Articles

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The “real” breasts tag is misleading: it should read “”great” breasts that are “real”. We all know that “real” breasts don’t make the “cut” unless they’re nicely shaped and the right size to compete with the “fake” boob crowd that seems to be so prevalent in “Real Housewives’” world. I seem to recall a similar conversation last season with the “newest” housewife, Quinn Fry. Which reminds me, what happened to her? She wasn’t back this season.

A quick check of Bravo’s Real Housewives site, and there’s no mention of Quinn. I did find something posted in the comment section of the OC Register which is allegedly a comment posted on Quinn’s MySpace page:

MySpace Bulletin
Date: Mar 12, 2008 7:31 AM
Subject: Real Housewives Season 4 News!
Body: Hello everyone I have heard some SAD news, but first I wanted to thank everyone for watching the show and being my MySpace friend. The sad news is that I am probably NOT going to be back for Season 4, and yes I feel like I got voted off the island! No fun I tell ya!

Bravo is making a few cast changes and who knows – I must have not been the right fit on the show or too old or whatever? People have been asking me… what they could do to keep me on and I’m not too sure. I suppose if you really want to see return, you could make some noise and email Bravo to tell them!

I had so many more things that I wanted to share with everyone this summer and I really felt that you are just getting to know me. Plus, I’ve lost weight as many of you have seen and I could help others I think. But all in all, it was a blast while it lasted and I’ll always be a Season 3 Housewife.

Thank you for the sweet words and emails sent.

XOXOXO,
Quinn

I was unable to locate this message on Quinn’s MySpace.
I located Quinn’s blog, Quinn – Life After Real Housewives, yet Quinn hasn’t addressed on her blog the reason why she didn’t return for season 4 of Housewives.

Bravo should do their fans a favor and at least mention on their website that Quinn didn’t return this season.

I found Quinn an interesting character. An attractive 53-yr-old “devout” Christian, it was fun to watch Quinn try to pin down the guy she dated after he refused to acknowledge he was her “boyfriend” after several months of dating. When the two took a trip to Vegas, Quinn showed up in a wig and sexy outfit where her “date buddy” was enjoying a drink in a bar. Quinn pretended to be “another woman”. They later slipped into their hotel room for a romp in the hay. Soon after, or on that trip, I can’t recall, the relationship came to an end.

Quinn gets kudos for being a “natural” beauty on the show. At 53, she looked terrific without all the tucks, botox, fake boobs, and in some cases, too thick makeup. Yet I can’t help but wonder about her decision to “dress up” and seduce her “friend” in Vegas, it seemed rather silly and “too much information”.

Lauri Waring Peterson announced on the second episode that this would be her final appearance. She also did an interview with the OC Register’s Richard Chang. Lauri spoke about her son Josh, and how it was his “battle” with drugs and the authorities that led to her decision to quit the show:

Lauri’s decision to leave the show was a surprise: she hadn’t planned on leaving, it was the arrest of her son that precipitated her decision to exit Housewives. Lauri also talked about the “nasty” comments about her and her new husband, George Peterson, on websites. Lauri claimed the comments came from her and George’s “ex’s”.

Lauri and George were previously married and now have a combined family of six kids. Viewers of Real Housewives watched last season’s finale as Lauri and George allowed the cameras to film their wedding.

As for Lauri and her son Josh, Lauri is facing what many other parents who don’t live in a reality show limelight deal with: kids who have drug addiction problems and brushes with the authorities. Reality show stars walk a fine line: that of how much of their “real” life should be privy to the viewers?

Jeana Keough is a case in point: This season Jeana is separated from her husband, Matt Keogh. Last season we wrote about Matt Keogh’s problems with alcoholism and serving time in jail: Real Housewives of Orange County: The Side You Never See.

This bit of news, that Keough had been arrested after caught binge drinking, which was a violation of his parole from a DUI conviction in 2005, was la piece of the puzzle falling into place: Matt’s appearances on the show were always fraught with an underlying tension and not so subtle anger, while his absence was explained away as “Matt’s working out of town”. Someone, either the producers of the show, or the family, made the decision to not include Matt’s bouts with the bottle, police, and the courts.

Which begs question: how “real” is Real Housewives?

Lauri had allowed Josh’s “troubles”, or least some of them, to be part of the show. Other Housewives have also stated during the show that they’ve had, or are having problems with their older kids: “newer” Housewife, Tamra Barney, and her son from a previous marriage, Ryan, as well as former Housewife, Tammy Knickerbocker, and her daughter, Megan.

Viewers also get more than a glimpse into the relationship between voracious “go-getter” Vicki Gunvalson, her kids, and her second husband, Donn.

Vicki wants to succeed, and works hard to achieve her dream. She also is clueless to the affect she has on her husband and kids.

Last season, Vicki showed up at her daughter Briana’s apartment with the keys to a new Mercedes. Briana really didn’t want the car, she’s in nursing school and on a tight budget. Yet Vicki wouldn’t let Briana’s protests stop her from foisting the expensive car on her daughter with the missive that Briana would “be the one who had to make the payments”.

It was “cringe worthy” when Vicki showed up at the house her son resided at in Boulder while attending college with a case of beer in her hands. It was obvious that the last person Michael, 22, wanted to see was his mom, Vicki, who ended up sobbing in a bedroom because her son wasnt’ “excited” to see her. After she regained her “spirits”, she publicly proclaimed that if Michael “made good grades” she’d buy him a car for school. Michael beware: be sure your mother doesn’t get a loan and expect you to make the payments.

Vicki’s aggressiveness and work ethics are fodder for the show. So is the relationship she has with her husband, Donn. It’s almost too painful to watch the two: Vicki is passive aggressive while Donn isn’t shy about telling Vicki to “shut up” or point out her deficiencies. We all know these types of couples, the ones you know it’s just a matter of time before their acrimonious relationship intrudes upon what should be a good time.

Which leads me to this thought: out of all the Housewives, very few of them have a “loving” relationship with their spouses. Of course, very few of the “Housewives” are actually married: Jeana and Matt are now separated, the first two seasons of the show couldn’t hide their “distaste” for one another. Vicki contemplated separating from Donn last season. Tamra and her husband seem to be a solid couple while Lauri was divorced when Housewives started its first season until she met and married George.

Former Housewife Jo lived with the “older” Slade. Tammy was divorced and dating. Quinn was a single, divorced mom. The new “housewife” Gretchen, lives with her older boyfriend, Jeff, who is battling cancer.

Gretchen has her “work” cut out: she’s cute, likable, and an instant threat to Tamra, who believes she’s the “hottest” housewife. If only the rest of us could “aspire” to such a lofty “goal”. So far it seems Gretchen is truly “hot” while Tamra has to work “hard”: botox, boob jobs, and constant reaffirmations such as “yes, I’m hot!”, or “I’m the hottest!”, or “she’s not so hot!”.

The producers of Housewives have managed to portray Tamra as a back-stabbing jealous crone after Gretchen extended her friendship and Tamra talked “trash” behind Gretchen’s back, making fun of Gretchen’s “sugar daddy”. Despite their differences in ages, Gretchen and her boyfriend seem to truly care for one another.

The first episode of the season had viewers along with Tamra on a shopping trip to acquire “sexy” lingerie for an upcoming anniversary with hubby Simon. Not only did Tamra buy the outfits, she modeled them on the show, which reminded me of Jo, whom viewers were treated to French Maid outfits and barely there lingerie. Referees should have thrown a red flag for obvious “flaunting” on both Jo and Tamra.

What’s “real” in Real Housewives?

Artificial boobs and botoxed faces that hide your age are “real” in Real Housewives. Multi-million dollar homes, expensive cars, and purchasing a million dollar yacht are “real”, as well as trips across the globe.

But so are the kids who are in trouble with drugs, the law, and who struggle to get their lives together, the same types of problems the rest of us face. Fragile marriages and relationships and finding someone to share your life are “real” problems the Housewives face. Yet they are able to soothe away their stresses with trips to the spa and buying sprees in Beverly Hills while the rest of us tune into Real Housewives with a tub of Hagen-Daz in our Walmart jammies.

While I’d love to live in the lap of luxury, with an expensive house with pool and palm trees, I find the preoccupation with looks and age to be “too much work”. Which is why I enjoy Real Housewives. They do all the work: dieting, tummy tucks, boob lifts, botox injections, ect., and still have the same problems the rest of us have: kooky kids, wandering spouses, and finding true love. So perhaps the “glamorous” life isn’t so “glamorous” when you look beyond the trappings.

While we’re supposed to be watching Real Housewives in order to see how people live the “glamorous” live, what we’re really watching is the inner-dynamics of the relationships and wondering: are these people “truly happy”? Do “bigger and better boobs” and faces with skin as smooth and lineless as glass, really bring happiness? Or are these women’s lives as “brittle” as their faces?

The women of Real Housewife “inadvertently” give us the clues, it’s up to us to decipher the answers. Matt and Jeana’s marriage is on the rocks. We’re never given the real reason, that Matt can’t control a drinking problem. Lauri and George have a fairy tale marriage, yet behind the scenes, both are embroiled in custody clashes with their ex’s. Tragically, Slade’s little boy has terminal cancer. Quinn was kicked off the show without even a mention.

The “kicker” is that these people are paid to lead their own lives. The rest of us should be so lucky. But then again, my life isn’t glamorous, so my fate, as an amateur sociologist, is to watch these types of shows, a kind of television “looky lou”, in an attempt to discover whether money and preservation of looks can buy one love and whether people with “glamorous” lives are truly happy.

By LBG

Image – Long Kiss Goodbye
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