Slade Smiley is just as much of a fixture on the Real Housewives of Orange Country franchise as Vicki Gunvalson. He may have disappeared for a few seasons, but he’s one of the constant, mainly because he keeps dating women on the show. It’s a pretty big joke that’s faded since he’s now been with Gretchen Rossi with four years, and they’re engaged, but it’s worth a trip down memory lane since RHOC is celebrating it’s 100th episode tonight.
Jo De La Rosa
It’s kind of a fluke that Slade and Jo even got to be on the show. They weren’t chosen by producers, but instead won an auction for a spot on the new reality show by bidding $2500. According to Jo, it was all Slade’s idea to be on TV. “It was something that he wanted to do, we were engaged, and as corny as it sounds, I did it for love,” Jo says on the 100th episode anniversary special.
Things didn’t stay happy for long for Slade and Jo, who was hoping to launch a singing career, and their relationship quickly fizzled. Their storyline on the show told the story that Slade wanted Jo to settle down and be a wife and mother, but that Jo had big dreams. After they broke up they remained in a business partnership of sorts with Slade managing her music career and the two of them appearing on a strange Bravo dating show called Date My Ex.
Jo revealed in a 2011 interview that she was still in love with Slade while they filmed Date My Ex, and that she wanted things to work out for them up until he started seeing Gretchen.
Lauri Waring Peterson
Lauri and Slade didn’t exactly date, but they had some hangout/hookup moments for a little while when he and Jo were on a break.
Gretchen Rossi
Gretchen Rossi actually became a Real Houswewife because Jo and Slade recommended her to the producers. Jo says “She was outgoing and she was beautiful, and she had this dynamic personality when she drank, and had a really hot body.” Slade and Gretchen have said that they’d known each other for years before decided to get together in 2009, and they’ve been inseparable since. At first Gretchen was hesitant about marrying Slade because he had hit some major economic hard times, and she didn’t want to be responsible for his debt. Things have stabilized for Slade recently, and this April Gretchen decided to propose to him on top of the AT&T building in L.A.
