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TONIGHT’S Real Housewives of Melbourne reunion promises to be explosive — in the 30-second promo alone, viewers are treated to one walkout and Gina Liano calling another of the Housewives an “insignificant arse hair” (we’re going to hazard a guess she’s not talking to Chyka there).
The past few months have been a whirlwind for 47-year-old South Yarra barrister Liano, as on-screen attacks from fellow Housewives Andrea and Lydia have been countered by a groundswell of public support.
We spoke to the woman herself to find out the truth. Was the bullying on the show as bad as it seemed? Will she return for a second season? And who has she refused to work with again?
Q. We won’t see the reunion episodes before they go to air, and we understand you won’t either. What was filming like?A. Can I tell you, it was pretty much just another 16 hours of the behaviour I experienced at Mission Beach [sighs]. Hopefully the audience find it entertaining and it doesn’t create another uproar like every other episode has, but I suspect it might.
Q. The viewers have really rallied behind you throughout the season.A. The support has really made it all worthwhile. It’s renewed my faith in the Australian audience to see that they’re so aware of what’s going on. I’ve virtually had to say nothing on social media — they’ve fought my case all the way.
What seems to have happened with the audience is they’ve seen that I’ve copped enough, and if anyone wants to give me any more, they’ve got no tolerance — they tell people to leave me alone. And among the thousands of positive messages after each episode, I’ll get maybe one bad one a month — and it’ll be something about my breasts being fake [laughs].
More: Gina jets off to LA for surprising catch-ups.
Q. As Andrea and Lydia’s attacks on you wore on, it seemed as though they assumed the viewers would take their side.A. I think so. Look, it was a character assassination and they were trying desperately. It’s hard to know what they were thinking — it seems they lacked a bit of foresight, not ‘forsyth’ as Andrea would say [laughs].
I don’t know how they’d think for one minute that their behaviour would be endearing in any way, but I think they put that aside with the mission to persuade the audience of who they think I am. I guess they thought if they kept banging on about it, eventually the audience would be persuaded.
Q. Your reactions to some of their behaviour have been very funny to watch, from doing your make-up mid-argument to telling Andrea to get her testosterone levels checked. Are you playing up to the camera or are you really this camp?A. That’s me in real life. I tend to not engage when someone’s being aggressive — it takes a lot to get me to respond. The producers are waiting for trainwreck moments, but that’s not me.
I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve been harassed or bullied like that, so it was all new to me. I think the attitude behind it was: I was looking at them like they were freaks. I thought, if they want to communicate with me, they can step up to the mark — I’m not going to go down to their level to get my point across. Of course, they didn’t want to do that, they stayed right down where they were!
Q. Many of the problems seemed to arise because some of the other Housewives just couldn’t move past the fact you’d used the ‘C’ word.A. Well, I said it to Janet because I was angry, and it was in the context of having been called that myself.
Q. So it was getting thrown around left and right anyway?A. Exactly! No one should really care. At the end of the day, if I’d walked up to one of them and said ‘You’re a blank’, like Jackie did to me, I think that’s much more offensive than to have a private, upset conversation with a girlfriend in the bathroom. I might swear to be colourful or punctuate or be humorous, but I’d never swear at someone.
Q. Back in episode eight, some of Lydia’s harsher comments about you were edited out of the broadcast at the eleventh hour. Were you disappointed the viewers didn’t get to see exactly what she was saying about you?A. Yes and no. Being spoken about like that on camera is really embarrassing, so you carry the burden and stigma of that. But at the same time, I think the [editing] took away from Lydia’s character evolving, because she was truly revealing herself. The motivation for taking it out was not to protect me; it was to protect her, because she was receiving such a serious reaction from the audience that the [producers] really had to step in and exercise their duty of care.
In a way, the editing highlighted it all the more — it became a story and a topic of conversation in itself. They also took out Chyka saying, ‘If this is the way the girls are going to talk about Gina, I can’t be friends with them,’ which was a shame.
Q. You mention the backlash Lydia received and it’s true that, among all the #teamgina support, there have been people out there threatening and harassing Andrea and Lydia to show their support for you. How do you feel about that?A. I interact as much as possible with my followers, and if there’s something inflammatory or offensive, I ignore it. I really steer clear of nasty comments, because I don’t want to condone or encourage it.
But I did say to the production company that showing me calling Lydia the ‘c’ word in the bathroom really just gives the audience a license to call her that. I’ve said it, they’re following, and how surprised can we get when it’s what we’ve delivered to their lounge rooms? It’s a fine line, and it’s difficult to judge people who are reacting harshly, because the content really sets the standard, in a way.
Q. Given you’ve had such a bumpy ride with the show, why did you initially decide to sign on?A. I’ve got a spirit of adventure and I know I’ve got a lot to give. I wouldn’t have signed the contract if I didn’t think I could deliver what they wanted. I think I can be really hilarious, I thought the experiences I’ve had in life could be compelling — cancer, my profession, being a mother, my fashion, the fact that I’ve got a bit of Kath & Kim going on. I just thought, why not?
Q. There are a lot of rumours swirling about who’ll stay and who’ll go for a second season. Given you’re the most popular cast member, it seems you have the upper hand at the moment ...A. I haven’t had discussions with the production company yet. It hasn’t been confirmed to us that there will be a second season yet, but I suspect strongly that there will be. You can hazard a guess though, can’t you? If something’s rating well, Foxtel will continue to do it.
Insofar as cast members, I’ve spoken to the production company and said there are certain cast members I don’t want to work with again. I probably put it a bit stronger than that, actually, because I think signing them for a second season gives them a license to continue their bad behaviour. I don’t want to be subjected to it and I don’t think the audience want to watch it either. I want to entertain the audience; I don’t want to put them in a situation where they’re not having fun and they turn off.
SourceThe reunion wasn't as good as I'd hoped tbh
