O.C. women audition to become ‘Housewives’

NEWPORT BEACH — Monica Winkle is a 45-year-old divorcee who lives in a gated community here and spends the majority of her day catering to the needs and wants of her three teenage daughters and 9-year-old son, all of whom detest her boyfriend of four years, while still finding time for a dynamic social life.

That makes her a strong candidate for the third season of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” for which she auditioned Saturday afternoon at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort along with about 30 other South Orange County women.

“We have a lot of chaos and a lot of controversy … and I think people would be really interested in that,” Winkle’s daughter Kyla, 15, said.

Winkle added that Newport Beach would make a good location to follow the TV series’ first two seasons, which took place in Coto de Caza.

“Let’s face it, they don’t want to go to Garden Grove and profile a family living there,” she said. “Everybody wants a Newport address, and they want to see the flash, the money, the parties, just the great lifestyle we have here.”

Two members of the show’s casting team as well as show creator and executive producer Scott Dunlop interviewed each woman, asking them questions about nearly anything, including their family, life goals, volunteer and paid work, personality and relationship status. Most of all, they were looking for women who could offer some captivating drama.

“What I’m looking for are women who don’t make excuses and have very pointed views about things, women who are taking care of their families and really have something to put out there that viewers can relate to,” said casting producer Katie MacIntosh. “I don’t want to find women who are baking pies and folding laundry.”

Laguna Hills resident Gina Adams, 43, engaged the panel with anecdotes about her workaholic husband, his unfriendly ex-wife, their two children and her active 18-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.

Training for the L.A. Marathon and the National Amateur Bodybuilders Assn.’s Miss Figure competition, she also offered a tall and slender, but strong physique.

“I think I can offer some inspiration to housewives around the country and help them make decisions about their own families,” said Adams, who wears a nearly four-carat diamond wedding ring. “Nobody is the perfect parent or the perfect wife, but I am fortunate to have a wonderful family and live in a wonderful place called Orange County.”

Though details about the location for the next season of the show are still uncertain, Dunlop said Newport Beach definitely has all the requisite elements he is looking for in a potential setting.

“You have lots of shiny, happy people and interesting people,” he said. “I think it would be a lot of fun to do a show here.”