A “Real Housewives Of Orange County” Arrest And Secret Hookup

Even though cameras have stopped taping, the drama surrounding the people of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” continues.

Slade Smiley, who was shacked up with Jo De La Rosa on previous seasons of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” and tried to help Jo find lasting love on “Date My Ex,” was arrested Friday for “civil contempt,” which usually means non-payment of court fees or child support. He may have been visiting Gretchen Rossi, who joined the cast of “Housewives” for season four, because Slade was picked up on the same block where Gretchen supposedly lives.

So basically, Slade didn’t really have full custody of his sons like he tried to pretend on the first season of “Housewives.” Neither of his sons, one of which is very ill with a brain tumor, lives with him. And it seems Slade, whose house was foreclosed last year, is too broke to pay his bills. He must have a few stacks of money stashed somewhere, though, because Gretchen doesn’t play for free. I think these two are hooking up because Slade thinks of himself as the Orange County player. Remember how he started dating Lauri right after he and Jo broke up, but then ditched Lauri when Jo showed interest again?

But there’s more to this story. Jay Photoglou, an ex-boyfriend of Gretchen’s, claims he was still dating the reality star while her fiance was dying. And he’s the reason Slade was eventually arrested. He wrote in the comments of a blog post that he tried to retrieve items he’d left at Gretchen’s house, but couldn’t initially gain access despite having police assistance. Jay wrote that he and the police heard Gretchen and Slade upstairs, but they wouldn’t come out and tried to pretend they weren’t in the home. While Jay was getting some of his things, he overheard the police say: “[Slade] has a suspended [license] and a fake tag on his unregistered car as well as a warrant for $10,000 out of LA county.”

Wow, either this Jay dude is trying to get his 15 minutes of fame or he really has it out for Gretchen and Slade. I just wish we got to see this side of “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” instead of Vicki Gunvalson’s incessant screaming. [Jezebel]