Why Heather Dubrow Tagged RHOC Newbie Katie Ginella on Instagram

Heather Dubrow is setting the record straight about why she tagged The Real Housewives of Orange County star Katie Ginella in an Instagram post.

“It was just an accident,” Heather, 55, exclusively shared with Us Weekly on Thursday, August 1. “I had looked Katie up on social because Gina [Kirschenheiter] had talked about her and I knew that she might be coming on the show. There was another girl who they were talking to about coming on the show. I looked her up as well, but I [didn’t] take a deep dive.”

In recent episodes of RHOC, Katie, 40, had questioned why Heather tagged her in a post before they even started filming season 18 together and could build a strong friendship.

While chatting with Us, Heather said she likes to look at potential new cast members to see if they have kids or what their interests are. In addition, the “Let’s Talk With Heather Dubrow” podcast host has someone helping her with online posts.

“My social media person was putting my birthday post [together] and what I’m assuming happened is she was tagging my dress, my hair, my whatever and I was wearing a Givenchy dress,” Heather explained. “And the [way it’s spelled], I’m sure Ginella popped up and she just hit it.”

Heather also pointed out that Katie later admitted that she was sending a text out to a group of friends and accidentally put the wrong Heather. In other words, accidents can happen, right?

“I get it. It’s OK. You see how it happens?” Heather explained. “But she didn’t see how those things were comparable. What was also strange to me with the tagging thing was obviously it was a mistake. It was a picture of me by myself. But was it offensive? Yeah, no. I mean, I would think someone would be happy if they got tagged because then people might look them up, follow them. You’re welcome, by the way. Won’t make that mistake again.”

One day before she came to Us‘ New York City studios, Heather hosted an event at the Aman Hotel to celebrate her partnership with Family Equality, a nonprofit organization that provides resources to LGBTQIA+ people who want to become parents. (Heather has four kids with her husband, Terry Dubrow, and three of them identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community.)

“What I get to do on this show is really show our authentic lives and the work that we get to do,” she told Us and other reporters at the rooftop event. “The reason I came back to the show was to start conversations with other people’s families. This season on the show, I do a big event for Family Equality.”

Heather explained that “about a year ago,” she was the honorary cochair of a Family Equality gala with her “high school buddy” and Scandal star Dan Bucatinsky.

“When I was there, Equality Vines asked if I would be interested in doing a collab with them. I said, ‘Yes, if 100 percent of the proceeds go to Family Equality, I’m in.’ And they agreed,” she told Us. “Instead of just standing around and sipping champagne, I thought maybe it would be fun to get the girls involved and do a fashion show.”

Heather started working with designer Susan Bender to make a capsule collection of “classically timeless pieces,” which launches on August 13.

“This collaboration happened very organically,” Heather said. “She’s really known for very chic New York style, and I think that’s why we are very simpatico.”

The Real Housewives of Orange County airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET. Old episodes are available to stream on Peacock now.

Reporting by Christina Garibaldi