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The drama on The Real Housewives of Orange County isn’t just staying on camera and now, Emily Simpson is putting fellow cast member Katie Ginella on blast. But is Emily’s outrage genuinely about boundaries, or is Katie just an easy target?
During a recent Access Hollywood’s Housewives Nightcap appearance, Simpson aired her grievances about Katie’s role in Season 19. “I don’t know if that’s self-producing or self-sabotaging,” Simpson, 49, said, calling Katie’s behavior a boundary-breaker. “She’s broken boundaries that are in places that I just can’t come back from.”
The “boundary” in question? It started with Katie’s daughter, Kaili, who had babysat for Emily’s kids. Kaili shared that Emily’s children repeatedly said their mom didn’t like fellow Housewife Heather Dubrow. Word got around. But according to Shannon Beador, the situation escalated when Simpson’s former nanny also came forward — unprompted — and backed up what Kaili had said.
A resurfaced AllAboutTRH article confirmed that the ex-nanny claimed Emily’s kids had shared a lot, suggesting Kaili wasn’t lying.
So why is Emily angry at Katie?
Simpson reportedly believes Katie steered the nanny into speaking out — a claim Katie denies. In a confessional, Katie explained that the nanny reached out to her after the reunion, saying, “Your daughter is not lying. This is my experience.” Katie says she made it clear she wasn’t going to run with the story — but suggested a podcast (AllAboutTRH) where the woman could share it, if she chose to.
“I can’t do anything with it,” Katie said plainly. “So I told her, ‘This is the podcast to speak with.’”
To Simpson, that was enough to declare Katie untrustworthy. “We don’t go after each other’s children,” she said. “I thought the boundaries were clear. She didn’t adhere to them.”
But Katie never dragged the kids into drama — it was Emily’s ex-nanny who spoke out, and Kaili only repeated what she heard while babysitting. The actual issue seems less about Katie crossing a line and more about Emily being uncomfortable with the truth getting out.
Emily also took shots at Katie’s character, comparing her unfavorably to longtime RHOC castmate Tamra Judge. “Tamra’s a villain, and she does it well. She’s authentic. Katie doesn’t do that on camera,” Emily said. “I don’t have respect for people who do deceitful and deceptive things in the dark, behind closed doors.”
Yet Katie’s actions weren’t exactly behind closed doors — they were transparent, and her side of the story aired publicly. If anything, Katie tried to remove herself from the situation.
When asked about their current status, Emily threw shade. “I don’t know anything about Katie. Does she live in Orange County? I don’t know.”
While Emily may be drawing lines in the sand, it’s starting to look like Katie is just caught in the crossfire — and doing her best to stay above the noise.