'RHOC' Stars Gretchen and Slade Got Engaged Back in 2013 — Are They Still Together?
Gretchen told her followers to "never settle."
Published July 18 2025, 4:13 p.m. ET
The Real Housewives franchise isn't exactly known for storybook romance. While the Housewives stars do occasionally find their "happily ever afters," it's more common to watch their lives melt down with heartache and sorrow, because there's something particularly challenging about those high-profile relationships that are under constant scrutiny.
Which is why it's so nice when you see a couple make it work, like Real Housewives of Orange County couple Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley. They got engaged in 2013 and seemed to be going strong. But is she still with him? Here's what we know about the state of their relationship and how the RHOC couple overcame a very dark and heartbreaking 2023.
Slade and Gretchen with their daughter, Skylar
Is Gretchen still with Slade on 'RHOC'?
It's amazing to look back and realize that Slade proposed to Gretchen all the way back in 2013, during Season 8 of RHOC. And despite the intervening years, the strain of welcoming a child together, and the heartbreak that Slade experienced in 2023, they are still together.
On July 9, 2025, Gretchen posted to Instagram about their relationship, reaffirming their enduring romance.
In a photo that showed the happy couple wearing matching 4th of July outfits, Gretchen gushed, "16 years later, and home for me is still in your arms. You make every dream of mine come true, you make me laugh and smile every single day. You hold me when I cry, fight for me when I need protecting, and you let me be my own independent woman at the same time."
She praised his coffee-making skills and how he always puts her first, adding, "You are an incredible father and an amazing example to Skylar of how to love and adore a woman. You are everything I never knew I needed, and I am just so grateful every single day for you."
She then encouraged her followers to "never settle" and "follow your heart."
With that kind of butterflies-in-the-stomach love, it's clear that not only are they still together, but they're doing well.
2023 was an enormously challenging year for Gretchen, Slade, and their family.
Which is a relief, because the couple is still reeling from a very dark and heartbreaking 2023.
In 2023, Slade's son Grayson Smiley-Arroyo, from a previous relationship, passed away at age 22 after a 16-year battle with Diffuse Fibrillary Astrocytomas.
In early 2024, Gretchen looked back on the last year, posting on social media, "After [losing] Grayson earlier this year, we felt broken … and wasn’t sure how to do life again.” She attributed her and Slade's healing journey to faith, and added, "This year I personally learned to set boundaries [and] not allow people to have access to me that no longer deserved it" (excerpts via Bravo).
But through it all, and the staggering loss of losing a child, Gretchen and Slave have stayed by each other's side.
As to why they haven't gotten married yet? "Honestly, it's really just been the timing of everything," she told Scheana Shay on her podcast, Scheananigans With Scheana Shay in February 2025.
However, they still plan to tie the knot. And when it comes to the possibility of getting married in front of the RHOC cameras, Gretchen playfully told E! News, "Absolutely no reason for us not to."