Gretchen thanks for speaking with me! How was your summer?
It was fantastic, definitely always busy! It seems like it’s hard to get a moment to myself to just relax and take a vacation, I don’t even know what the means anymore. We stopped filming in June, so we had a little bit of downtime with the show. I was busy with my companies, traveling, and promoting my single.
Speaking of tell me about your new single “Unbreakable”. I recently heard it in a club, and really enjoyed it!
Thank you so much, I’m really excited about it. I think it’s my best work yet, and I love the song. I worked really hard on it with some great producers. The song was inspired by Slade’s (Smiley, Gretchen’s boyfriend and co-star on “Housewives”) youngest son Grayson, who unfortunately is battling brain cancer. He was diagnosed at the age of 5, and he’s 11 now. He’s been through eleven different brain surgeries. One afternoon, he came home and there was a video of him singing what he called “the pain song”, I saw a little boy with an unbreakable spirit, despite everything he had been through. I was influenced by some of my own experiences also, and got into the studio with some great people and we had a song within an hour; it just worked! I get tweets from people all the time about how much they love it, and I am thrilled.
How would you describe your sound? Your previous single “Revelation” had somewhat of a similar sound.
My first song “Nothing Without You” was a ballad, while “Revelation” was definitely for the clubs. “Unbreakable” is what I would call pop/dance. I don’t think I fit into one category, I think it comes down to what I feel for each song and what direction I want to go with it.
Think we may get to see you performing the song live on a club tour? The gay boys would definitely come out to support!
I love the gay community! It’s funny, someone did a cover of my song at a Pride event over the summer and they told me the crowd went crazy! So many people in the LGBT community have been torn down for who they are, this song is definitely for them.
I definitely think you will see me performing live. It’s something we’re working on right now, we’re getting a ton of requests. My schedule is so incredibly busy, it’s tough to get in there and rehearse and put a performance together.
You recently closed out Season 8 of “Real Housewives Of Orange County”. What are your thoughts on the season? Think we could see you on Season 9?
It’s funny, everyone’s perspective is different. For example, when we filmed the reunion, I didn’t think it was so crazy, but when I watched it back and saw some of the things that were disclosed, I realized it was pretty nuts. It’s funny, sometime I feel like I’m one of the newer cast members, but I realize that it’s actually been five years.
I’m sure I’ll do another season! I enjoy sharing my life with the public. People are constantly writing and saying that I inspire them, and that’s what I’m doing the show for. It’s great to build my business, but I like showing people that it’s ok to fall, you’re going to make bad decisions. It’s about how you get back up that really counts.
“The Real Housewives Of New York City” revamped their cast this season, cutting four cast members, three of which were original cast members. Do you think a revamped “Orange County” would be be helpful or potentially hurt the brand?
Here’s what I think; I don’t think it’s a smart move. I don’t think it’s smart unless the numbers are down or unless the show is suffering. If the same stories are being played out over and over, it’s definitely a good idea. I think what makes people tune into the shows is that it’s like a soap opera. When you lose your favorite character on a soap, it doesn’t feel the same and it’s a loss for the audience. I think starting over with new characters can be very tough. I think in general, Bravo has done a great job casting and finding women that will be interesting and bounce off of each other. Like with Vicki on our show, people may say her story has run it’s course, but people love the familiarity.
Each cast from the “Housewives” franchise seems to have a budding pop star. If you had to choose between Countess LuAnn from “New York”, Melissa Gorga from “New Jersey” and Kim from “Atlanta”, who would you love to record a duet with?
I definitely would say Melissa. We’re the same age, and I think we would have a really fun & hot music video! We’ve hung out with she and her husband a couple times and they’re great.
What’s next for Gretchen Rossi?
The Gretchen Christine Collections are going very well, my pink collection is coming for October for Breast Cancer Awareness. I just did New York Fashion Week in the Style 360 Suite as well. It’s really about continuing to grow my little “mini-empire” if you will. I still keep getting offers for different things, which is great also. My next big step personally is starting a family.
