Real Housewives of Orange County Season 18 has added some fresh blood to the cast. Newcomer Katie Ginella is a former golf reporter turned Housewife, and she’s ready to bring some new energy to the group.

Katie has been friends with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Sutton Stracke for years. When Katie and her family moved from San Diego to Orange County, Sutton introduced her to RHOC’s Gina Kirschenheiter, and they immediately hit it off.

“We met for coffee, and we spent five hours together just talking,” Katie said. “She’s just a ball of fun. That’s how we got to know each other and became fast friends.”

Things go south with Heather

The newbie shared with PopCulture how excited she was to join the Housewives universe. “I had just started this business, which would be a really cool marketing opportunity,” she said.

“[It’s also] just really exciting to … be the first Asian on [RHOC] … There’s never been a Korean Housewife across the franchises, so that was really exciting to me, and it seemed like something new and fun to experience.”

Meeting her co-stars was another major milestone. Sadly, her initial experience with Heather Dubrow didn’t go at all well.

Katie revealed that she and Heather actually met briefly months before filming began. “We attended [a Christmas] party at Sutton’s house,” she said, and they didn’t get off to a good start. “But a good first impression I had with her [was] at the party when I officially met her for the season … She was lovely at [that] party.”

Unfortunately, things headed south for the new friends when Katie came across “some information that I thought was very fun and lighthearted, [but Heather] didn’t agree,” Katie shared. “That [became] a very big … tension point for the two of us throughout the entire season.”

Respect for her castmates’ history

Katie was looking forward to joining the group while having “respect” for each woman’s history. She was especially sensitive to Alexis Bellino, who was rejoining the show as a “Friend” of the cast after being a regular in Seasons 5-8. As we all know, Alexis is now dating co-star Shannon Beador’s ex, John Janssen. That promises to be the Mother of Tense Situations as the season unfolds.

“I think coming into any group of women … is daunting,” the mom of four said. “You’re walking into a group of women that have known each other for [years] … You kind of walk on eggshells a little bit like, ‘I respect you guys. You’ve been friends for a long time, but here I am and I would love to be a part of your group.’”

“It was daunting,” she continued, “but anything that’s challenging always turns out to be so rewarding.” She has no idea what she’s getting herself into, but I wish her all the best.

Real Housewives of Orange County airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.