TheDailyBeast.com:
“Carlton is a badass. She’s hot,” is how Real Housewife of Beverly Hills Brandy Glanville describes her new costar and friend, Carlton Gebbia. Meet the latest woman to join the wild cast of Bravo’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,
tattooed, actress-turned-interior designer, Carlton Gebbia. Appearing
in the season four trailer making out with Glanville, Gebbia has
certainly already made her reality TV splash, and seemingly acclimated
well with the housewives crowd.
Raised in a myriad of places—she
cites England, Guernsey, and South Africa among the few—Gebbia
transplanted herself to Beverly Hills nearly twenty years ago. “I’ve
been out here a long time” she laughs. Married to David Gebbia, owner of
corporate investment firm StockCross Financial Services, with whom she
has three children, Gebbia prides herself on her family and, yes, her
practice of witchcraft. It’s a first for the housewives: a witch by
spiritual means, rather than personality. Gebbia talks to The Daily
Beast about her faith, feeding squirrels with Kim Richards, and her love
for Real Housewife of Atlanta (and Celebrity Apprentice alum) Nene Leakes.
What has your family thought of you joining the show, putting your lives on tape?
Well,
[they’ve been] very supportive actually. My mother-in-law used to watch
the show anyway, so she got a giggle out of the idea. My
brothers-in-law and my sistesr-in-law have been really supportive, and
have actually been a part of it.
Did you watch the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills before you joined?
You
know, I didn’t. I never really watched a lot of reality television, but
then once I knew this was going to materialize, I did catch up on some
episodes, just to kind of get a general idea of what I was walking into.
It was ill-prepared [Laughs].
It’s quite an interesting thing to walk into.
Yeah. But I do feel like I walked in with my eyes wide open.
Were you friends with any of the cast members beforehand?
No,
I wasn’t. I didn’t really know them. I knew we were in the same
circles, but [we] hadn’t really had the opportunity to meet one-on-one.
So
during filming, or even after filming, did you become particularly
close with anyone? Or did anyone really reach out to you as a new
housewife?
Yeah,
actually the very first time that—this is when I was at the Chamber of
Commerce event at Kyle [Richards’s] house. I got to meet all of the
girls and definitely Yolanda [Foster] completely reached out to me. So
did Lisa [Vanderpump].
And then, I think Brandi [Glanville] and I had a funny exchange in
words. But those three, I would say, were the most accessible initially.
Do you have any funny or standout moments from filming?
[Laughs] Let me think about that one.
Obviously Brandi and I had a moment when we were in the pool, which has been shown in slow motion, might I add.
I
had a funny moment actually with Kim [Richards]. We were feeding
squirrels in Palm Desert, which was hysterical because the girls were
running away from them. It was really a lot of fun. We had a few
encounters with some bees and things.
I
think you’re definitely going to see both sides of me. You’ll see the
side of me that’s really about my faith, which is about nature, and then
you’ll see somewhat of a wild side.
Right. I have read a lot about your faith. You practice Wicca, correct?
Yeah.
Well, there’s a lot of debate about what I supposedly practice, because
Wicca and other religions are covered under the umbrella of Paganism.
I’m Celtic, which is my ancestry. And I practice witchcraft. My
grandmother was a Pagan. There are so many branches of Paganism and
there are also different ways to practice these faiths. There’s no one
defined answer.
Because
I’m a sole practitioner, it’s more of what works for me personally and
spiritually, and something that has been in my family since the day I
was born. It’s not something I fell into, although it’s a fantastic
faith. It’s incredibly positive. We believe that the spirit lies in
everything around us and I believe that spiritual growth is related to
the cycles of the earth. I believe in the moon phases as well.
Are your children being raised to practice this as well?
No.
The one thing that I have decided is because they are young, they
believe in the power of prayer—which I believe in as well—, the healing
of crystals, and prayer candles. Those are kind of the three things they
understand and are comfortable with. If this is something they want to
explore further, I’ll teach them.
Again,
I’ve said it before, any religion they decide to follow I’ll be
supportive of it. I’ve never, until I had to really explain what I
believe in—which happened when I was in school—I just don’t define
people by their religious beliefs. I don’t stand in judgment of
anybody’s religion. It’s now been a repetitive cycle for me. From
school to now, it [has been] judged, unfortunately negatively. But if
people who have a genuine interest do the research, they’ll see that it
is very, very positive.
I also read that you’re writing a children’s book.
I
am actually. I had wanted to do this a long time ago and wanted to
write basically a toddler’s storybook with a tiny bit of Victorian
gothic flair. But, then I figured it may be interpreted not as lightly
as I intended, so I put a hold on it. [My girls and I] always tell these
stories before bed and give [them] a different flair. As my girls have
gotten older, I decided I was going to continue with the book—but that I
was going to write the short stories with a bit of a gothic, Victorian
edge and have my children illustrate, because they’re fantastic little
artists. So we’re going to make it a family affair. My husband might
draw a stick figure. I’m not sure about that.
Do you have a favorite housewife from any of the other cities?
I
hadn’t watched [them] before. I just started, I figured I better. I
just started watching older, fairly new episodes—they’re on demand—of Orange County. But NeNe [Leakes], I think she’s a firecracker. I like her a lot. She’s a force to be reckoned with.
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