Jo De La Rosa

Real Housewives Jo De La Rosa Wants To Set The Record Straight on Slade
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel SmithJun 16, 2008
from: National Ledger

If there's one thing Jo De La Rosa of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Orange County" wants to make known, it's that former fiance Slade Smiley is not her manager, as has been reported. "He's not anything to do with business. I don't know why people thought he was my manager, but he's not," she tells us. "If anything, Slade's been my guide for the last couple of years," she adds. "If I had any question on contracts or decisions I've had to make, I would go to him. He's also been there if I ever needed a little push or whenever I had some self-doubt."

The status of the two will certainly become clear when her "Date My Ex" reality show premieres on Bravo July 21. Besides serving as her supportive friend as she works on recording an album, he'll be seen acting as her guide in a much more personal sense as he sizes up her prospective boyfriends.

De La Rosa acknowledges that their relationship continues to be a big topic for most fans. "I went through a lot of hard stuff with Slade on the 'Housewives' show. We broke off our engagement on that show, which was hard to do in front of America. Every day I feel like I have someone coming up to me telling me what I should have done or not to be so hard on Slade. They're either Team Jo or Team Slade."