ina Kirschenheiter felt confident in her decision to live apart from her boyfriend, Travis Mullen, and his three kids — but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy for her.
On The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 18 premiere, the mom of three shared that she wanted to give her growing kids more space in a new home, and she wanted Travis to work through his divorce. Later, during a visit to Bravo headquarters in New York City in July, Gina revealed whether she regrets asking Travis to move out, and she shared an update on where their relationship stands now.
“I would, looking back on it, make the same decision. And that’s what’s hard,” she explained. “Because even today, we’re doing so well, Travis and I, and we’re working through so much. But, we still sit on opposite sides of this decision.”
Travis and Gina may not agree on their current living situation, but she noted that “the more that we communicate and go through it, I think he is really seeing [and] starting to get and understand my side of it.”
Though she believes that it was the right call, she said that it has been challenging.
“It’s just what we have to do for now. I don’t want to live like this forever,” she continued. “Logistically, it’s a damn nightmare. It really is, like, going back and forth all the time. But, it just feels like the right thing to do until we can actually take the next step.”
Gina Kirschenheiter posts a photo of herself and her boyfriend, Travis Mullen, on her Instagram account. Photo: Gina Kirschenheiter/Instagram
Gina also said that it was “incredibly difficult” to make the decision to live apart from her boyfriend of five years.
“We have a blended family situation, and it is extremely complicated and stressful sometimes. And I ultimately just feel like I always have to do what is in the best interests of myself and these three people [who] mean the world to me,” she said, referring to her kids Sienna, Luca, and Nicholas. “I’m responsible for shepherding them through this lifetime and protecting them. There were just things that were starting to happen as a result of everything that he’s a victim of that was outside of his control. And I get that, but I still feel like I need to protect my kids from it.”
Yes. As for when Gina plans to move back in with Travis, she said that it is “depending on a lot of his puzzle pieces falling into place.”
But while she isn’t sure when exactly she’ll be cohabitating with Travis again, Gina is sure of one thing: She wants to be with him.
“It was like, ‘Look, you’re a phenomenal person and I know that I want to be with you…'” Gina said about her mindset when the two stopped living together. “Nobody makes me feel as safe and cared for and loved and appreciated and valued as that man. He’s such a good dad, and he’s such a good stepfather, but he has some stuff he has to get through before he can really commit to this relationship in the way that we need him to to make it whole. But, I’m willing to do this and to wait.”
Watch new episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County on Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo. Stream episodes the next day on Peacock.