The Real Housewives of Orange County alum Katie Ginella is giving fans a look inside her recovery after she underwent an upper and lower blepharoplasty.
“I’m in bed recovering the morning after surgery,” Ginella, 42, said in a video shared via her Instagram Stories on Thursday, November 5, showing fans the swelling and stitches around her eyes.
“Honestly, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” the reality TV personality continued, although she noted that her phone’s Face ID didn’t recognize her.
Ginella noted that she’s been “icing” her face on and off, while her husband, Matt Ginella, has been nursing her back to health. (A blepharoplasty is a procedure that removes or repositions muscle, skin and fat on the upper and/or lower eyelids to give a more rejuvenated appearance, according to Mayo Clinic.)
In a follow-up video taken three days post-op, Ginella had more bruising around her eyes. She explained that she needed to wash her hair for a meeting but still was not allowed to get her eyes wet, so she taped a Ziploc bag to her forehead to keep them dry.
“It’s unhinged, I know. Just go with it,” she joked.
Ginella’s surgery comes less than a year after her exit from RHOC made headlines.
“After two seasons as a cast member on RHOC, the network has decided to move forward with season 20 without me,” she wrote via Instagram in January. “While disappointing, it’s not entirely surprising after seeing how season 19 played out.”
The former golf reporter continued, “I’m incredibly grateful for the love and support I received — it was seen, felt and deeply appreciated. Representation matters, and I’m proud to have shown up authentically, even when it wasn’t easy. This chapter may be closing, but my voice and my story don’t end here. Love, Katie.”
Ginella was introduced to fans on RHOC season 18 in 2024 as a friend of cast member Gina Kirschenheiter. However, during her second installment of the show, she found herself at odds with most of the cast, including Kirschenheiter.
“I went into the [season 19] reunion thinking I have nothing to lose this year. If they don’t ask me back, they don’t want me, and that’s OK,” Ginella exclusively told Us in November 2025. “I feel like I said my peace and I was done. I would love to come back to prove to these ladies that I deserve a spot just as much as they do.”
Ginella also claimed she didn’t get paid for the second half of the season.
“We get paid for the episodes we’re on,” she exclusively told Us while attending BravoCon 2025. “I remember having a call and they said, ‘If somebody were to bring you back and say [they] want Katie to film, you could have filmed, but nobody did that.’”
She continued, “You get paid for the episodes you’re on, so that really hurts. I put, like, my real work on hold to be filming, and so, I missed that on both paychecks.”
