Jo De La Rosa: Gretchen and Slade’s Relationship Was ‘Hard to Look At’

Time heals all wounds. It’s been 13 years since former Real Housewives of Orange County star Jo De La Rosa and her ex fiancé Slade Smiley split, but she admits it hasn’t always been easy watching him move on with her former friend and RHOC alum Gretchen Rossi.

“I don’t think anybody likes to see their ex move on. Not that they don’t like to see it, but it’s always weird when they do,” De La Rosa, 40, tells Us Weekly exclusively on the Friday, October 9, episode of the “Getting Real with the Housewives” podcast. “You see it on Instagram or you hear about it. It doesn’t matter if you’re over the relationship or whatever. It’s always weird.”

The “PopCandy” podcast co-host was just 26 when she made her debut on RHOC, but left the Bravo franchise after season 2. She admitted that she “needed time away” from reality TV. Additionally, Smiley, 46, and Rossi’s relationship was “hard to look at” and she was “really immature and didn’t understand it.”

“It’s been years now and I feel like we’re all in such a great place and time heals all,” the Date My Ex alum tells Us. “So I think if I was asked to go back [to The Real Housewives] I’d definitely consider it and I would definitely do it.”

Smiley and Rossi, 41, welcomed daughter Skylar, 14 months, in July 2019, while De La Rosa recently celebrated her 40th birthday.

“I think everybody ended up exactly where they were meant to end up,” De La Rosa tells Us. “He’s happy, it seems like, I’m really happy, and so it all worked out as it should.”