The fashion guru lost her then-fiancé Jeff Beitzel to cancer, and faced criticism from castmate Vicki Gunvalson for appearing on the show during his illness. The drama unfolded over several seasons, and Vicki even accused Gretchen of infidelity during that time.
With Vicki now unfortunately struggling with a similar situation, fans are curious to get Gretchen's take.
“What’s interesting is that so many people still tweet and Instagram me about what’s going on," she told The Daily Dish. "'How do you feel that she’s doing the show even though she said that you should not be on a TV show if you have cancer in your family?’ So I get that all day long.”
Now happily engaged to longtime partner Slade Smiley, Gretchen has some words of wisdom for her former co-star.
“My advice is, first of all, don’t judge somebody like she did back in the day with me, because you never know if you’ll end up in that position,” she said. “And unfortunately, it’s kind of one of those things where if you judge somebody and you have so much to say — she had so much to say about Slade and my relationship, she had so much to say about Jeff’s and my relationship, she had so much to say about whether or not I should be on a TV show when someone I loved had cancer, and now she’s going through all of the exact same things I went through.”
Despite the turn of events, Gretchen wishes Vicki well.
“My second suggestion is, don’t care what anybody says,” she continued. “If you love him and you want to be with him, go with your heart. That’s all that matters at the end of the day. Not what any of the girls say, not what the world says. When you go to bed at night, if that’s the man you love and the person who makes you happy, that’s what you need to focus on.”
Photo Credit: Bravo