It’s been around a year and a half since The Real Housewives Of Melbourne had filmed a scene together, but that wasn’t a long enough break for some of the ladies.
That’s right, if you thought time off – and the departures of three trouble-making castmates Pettifleur Berenger, 52, Chyka Keebaugh, 48, and Susie McLean, 48 – would help old rivalries fizzle, then fans of the hit reality show are in for a rude awakening!
When we arrive at our exclusive photo shoot with the ladies in Melbourne’s St Kilda, it takes no longer than a minute for the NW-ettes to notice a serious divide between returning housewives Jackie Gillies, Janet Roach, Gamble Breaux, Lydia Schiavello, Gina Liano and new kids on the block Sally Bloomfield and Venus Behbahani-Clark.
Lydia confirmed what we thought, remarking, “It’s me, Gina and Venus versus the rest”.
Why?
Well, according to Gina, 51 – who missed parts of filming early on in the new season after the devastating loss of her father – tensions arose between the ladies when her lawyer friend, Lady Venus (yes, you read that right – she married a lord!), arrived on the scene.
“I’ve been friends with Venus for about eight years, so I gave her lots of warning about what she was in for. I said, ‘Darling, it will be an onslaught,’” Gina spills to NW.
“And, boy, did she suffer from the start… she copped a real thrashing!”
In fact, Gina tells us that Venus was so emotionally crippled by the whole experience at times, she had to physically look after her.
“Venus is a beautiful, educated woman with a lot of integrity – and some of the girls really took it out of her,” Gina reveals.
“Trust me, it’s not easy having a bunch of old hats take swipes at you in the public eye. In fact, it can be quite destabilising and distressing and humiliating! I had to pull her out of bed on more than one occasion.”
“But I did warn her,” she adds.
“I told her she was going to get savaged! I told her she was going to get targeted for [her] plastic surgery! I told her they were going to target her poor husband [who inherited his Lord title from his grandfather] – and the poor darling certainly copped it at times.”
