‘Real Housewives of Orange County’ shocker: Gretchen Rossi, Alexis Bellino not returning

How is this for something that we certainly did not see coming for “The Real Housewives of Orange County’s” next season? After each one of them spent a considerable amount of time over the years fighting, arguing, and occasionally celebrating some happy times, it has now been confirmed that neither Gretchen Rossi nor Alexis Bellino is going to be around to dish out any more drama on the Bravo franchise.

This news was first reported by E! News, with a source saying the following about the ladies saying goodbye:

“Neither will be returning for season nine. The feeling is both of their journeys on the show have come to an end. Bravo is constantly looking at the casting and dynamics and it felt like time for a change.”

To us, the removal of Gretchen is one of the biggest surprises, given that she was by and large considered to be one of the franchise’s larger stars. She has done the whole pop-music thing, and we would have assumed beyond a shadow of a doubt that producers would want to do something over-the-top and ridiculous when it came to her upcoming wedding to Slade Smiley. Instead, it looks now like this will be more of a low-key affair unless there is some sort of wedding special that is planned. (Tamra Barney may have lucked out when it comes to this.)

As for Alexis, this is a little less of a shock when you really think about it. She has been fighting with some of the other women for ages, and her main story seems to just revolve around categorizing other people as bullies while getting really offended most of the time.

What is your reaction to some of these exits? We want to hear some of your thoughts below! Meanwhile, click here if you want to read some more news related to “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”

Photo: Bravo