RHOC's Gina Kirschenheiter Sobs as Missed Court Date Leads to Arrest Warrant: 'It's Terrifying'

 

Gina Kirschenheiter nearly found herself in jail again on Tuesday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County. 

Cameras rolled as the 35-year-old mother of three learned that a warrant for her arrest had been issued because she failed to appear in court for a hearing related to her DUI arrest.

News about the warrant broke in late April. As PEOPLE reported at the time, Gina’s former lawyer had filed a motion to move her court date to May but allegedly made an error with the filing.

She hired Michael Fell, the former Orange County senior deputy district attorney, the next day, and he had her arrest warrant recalled.

Even though the entire snafu only lasted 24 hours, Tuesday’s episode showed that it had a profound effect on Gina.

Through tears, the Long Island native cried to her parents about how frustrated she was with her former lawyer for allegedly making the mistake.

“My attorney put in to postpone this arraignment date but he didn’t check to confirm that it actually was accepted and it was denied. So as far as the courts are concerned, I just didn’t show up,” she said.

“If I didn’t hire him, I would have shown up at court this morning,” she added. “Even me without a law degree knows when you have a court date to just show up to the f—ing court date!”

RELATED: Gina Kirschenheiter’s Ex Matt Claims He Lost Job Over Arrest, Reveals Her RHOC Salary

Gina insisted that she wasn’t trying to avoid her problems.

“I’m not wiggling out of anything, I just don’t understand this process and I was hoping to have somebody guide me through it,” she said. “I could have gotten arrested! On the lamb. Just to not show up to a court date, I look like such a loser. I would never do that.”

“This is not something that you play around with,” she added. “This is the law, and if they want to come and bring  me to jail, they can come and bring me to jail, and there is nothing I can do about it. And I know this is not a place I want to go back, ever.”

Adding to her frustration, Gina said, was her recent discovery that her estranged husband Matt Kirschenheiter was still seeing his alleged mistress. (He has declined to comment on the subject to PEOPLE.) The former couple, who were married for eight years, are now divorcing and arguing over the custody of their three kids: sons Nicholas, 7, and Luca, 4, and daughter Sienna, 5.

“My whole life is s—,” Gina said.

Her parents didn’t agree. “No it isn’t. It really isn’t,” Gina’s mom said. “There’s so many worse things, Gina.”

“You know what would be terrible, G? If you didn’t have the support of friends and your family,” her father added.

RELATED: RHOC‘s Gina Kirschenheiter Claims Estranged Husband Had an Affair Before Divorce Filing

RELATED: Gina Kirschenheiter’s Arrest Warrant Recalled After RHOC Star Was Labeled a ‘Fugitive’

Having weathered her own husband’s cheating scandal, castmate Shannon Beador introduced Gina to Fell.

“You can’t blame her,” Beador, 55, told costar Tamra Judge. “She hired an expert. She shouldn’t be well-versed in criminal law.”

“I know what it’s like to be at rock bottom,” she added in a confessional. “This needs to be taken care of right away. Gina cannot go to jail. She has little kids.”

With Beador’s encouragement, Gina used this as an opportunity to make a break from her previous attorney and hire Fell.

“It sucks. Like, I’m trying so hard to deal with this in the right way. And like, I was specifically told not to go there. Why didn’t he have somebody there just in case? You know what I mean?” Gina said, slamming her former attorney. “Like, I’m not even supposed to appear. He’s supposed to appear on my behalf!”

“I feel so vulnerable because of this person,” she continued. “I could gotten arrested today. I’m just really at my breaking point. It’s just like, enough’s enough.”

RELATED: Gina Kirschenheiter Cries About Arrest and DUI in RHOC Premiere: ‘I Made a Bad Choice’

The next day, Gina met with Fell.

“Sheriffs were going out to arrest you today,” he told her in their meeting. “But that’s been called off. So this is good.”

Gina was once again struck by the thought that she could have gone back to jail.

“It’s so terrifying to think that my kids could have seen that,” she said.

Ultimately, she said she was remaining positive and learning from her error. “I can try and let the lesson here be what you do after you make a mistake,” she said.

The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Tuesdays (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo.