Is It Just Me Podcast by a couple of Mitches.
All right, now, this is an interview that we recorded months ago, and we weren't able to even talk about it. We weren't able to say who it was with because it was off the back of her project that was unannounced. But finally we can say Mitch and I sat down with the one and only Gina Leanna from the Real Housewives of Melbourne.
I've been waiting for this for so long.
Oh yeah, so exciting.
First, we sat down with her to record her podcast, Judge Gina, which they were keeping under wraps. They wanted it to be a big secret, a big announcement, and so Mitch and I had a dispute that Gina was going to mediate, and so immediately after we recorded her podcast, we borrowed a bit of her time to record something for our podcast. So you're gonna have to head along search Judge Gena wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, but yeah, Judge Gina, she settled a dispute for us.
I wouldn't stay settled. Can we just put that out there? No, I don't think that it was settled at all, and I was very unhappy and I've gone to the Supreme Court because it to be overruled.
Let me just say this, Mitch ripped me off. Oh and I was thinking compensation.
Did not rip him off. It was a fair deal. And he brought it to the court of Judge Gina and she just felt pressured by him because she was scared by him. But I TV outcome. You'll have to listen and make it up for yourself.
But yeah, if you don't know who Gina Leano is, she was one of the Real Housewives of Melbourne, which I only just recently got into. Real Housewives of Melbourne.
Did you ever watch it, Mitch?
Yeah, I loved it. I love all the Real Housewives, but the Real Housewives of Sydney and Melbourne have a very special place in my heart. She's so iconic, and she left that show and we talk about that in our interview. But yeah, once she left, I stopped watching.
Yeah. I mean, even if you didn't watch Housewives, I feel like everyone knows Gina. She's the most recognizable one from the Melbourne franchise that you reckon.
Oh yeah, that hair and that head of hair. Yeah iconic. Yeah, I love Gina.
If you've never watched Housewives, I'm gonna give you a little taste of what Gina was like on the show.
As you'll hear in the podcast.
We recorded with her, she's veryry, poised and put together. It takes a lot to get under her skin. There's only been a couple of times on the show that she was rattled, and so they made for the most iconic moments. This first one I'm going to show you this was when a new girl, Sally, came on board around season four, and Sally was calling herself the new
sheriff in town. And I don't imagine Gina would have enjoyed that because she's kind of like the unofficial top dog of the Melbourne Housewives, and so she rubbed Gina the wrong way from the get go. But the whole feud started when Sally dad called Gina a bully, and Gina did not like being called a bully.
Stopping such a bully?
You try to shut her down every single time she tries to talk. Just let her talk, stopping Who am I I mean?
Who is this woman coming at me with a pointy finger and her fucking camel teeth calling me a friggin bully?
Fuck off?
I think that Sally having a new hashtag new Sheriff in town on her social media's actually hilarious. A new sheriff in town made the sheriff dhla. If you want to come in with guns, blozing, your flat shoes and your legs spread like a bloke guy for it. I'm not gonna hang out with Sally.
She can go for like herself.
But I do feel sorry for it because I know she's grieving at the moment.
That is the first first moment of Ginny I ever heard. You showed me that last grab. I do feel sorry for her because she's great after being a total cut.
Because Sally's husband had died not long before filming, and Gina's just going her and that's what I love her most for.
She's it's got these brutal one liners.
We talk about a couple of them in our interview with her. One of them, of course, the most iconic, I would say so one of the other housewives, Petti Flur, was being a real punished. All the housewives were on holiday in Dubai together and one by one, Petty Flour was just pissing all the other housewives off, and Gina just decided to put her back in her place.
All people are trying to do is explain to her howard is it? She's rubbed them up the wrong way, And all petty flu can think about is how she feels. You're a gord woman doing you You need to slip the fuck out of it.
I've had enough.
If you are indulged bow fucking shit every time, why and make God's song and carry on? Jesus fuck me. I just love her.
God, She's good. We didn't actually get much of that energy in the podcast which will play the interview with Gina, which I.
Was kind of hoping we would.
Yeah, me too, but no, if you listen to her podcast with us in it, we definitely get more of that Gina. She's playing her role in her show. But in this interview it was actually really earnest and quite. She was very warm. It was nice to hear this side of Gina. So yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed the chat because we loved it.
Yeah.
Basically, what I learned was the Gina is actually very lovely, but fuck you don't want to get on a bad side that way.
I figured.
Amen. Amen, So go over and listen to Judge Gina. Give it a search, Mitch and Iro on the episode. By the time you're listening to this, it'll be out Otherwise, enjoy. Yeah, I'll chat with Genealiana.
Please are the fabulous Real Housewives of Melbourne.
I'll give you my opinion, but you'd better be ready to hear it.
Oh my god, Mitchell, I am so excited for this. How are you feeling? Because I know you're excited for our guests.
I mean, I thought the day would never come that we'd get Gena Leanna on the podcast, but she's bloody here.
She's here, Gina, welcome, Hello guys. How are you?
Oh?
We are so good? You know Gina from the Real Housewives, of course, I mean everywhere in Australia or her fragrance at Chemist's Warehouse.
My god, I'm feeling a lot more relaxed now because we've actually just wrapped up recording on Gina's podcast, Judge Gina.
So you're gonna have to go.
Listen to that because Mitch ripped me off and I've brought it to Judge Gina to help me out here. I'm not going to spoil the gevening, but you're gonna have to go hear the podcast. I'm feeling a lot more relaxed now.
Well you are, but it will tell you what my heart rates already hides. It is, Gina, my blood pressure is through that. I got my GP on the line. Just you need to get some new medication. Because that was tense, Gina. That was a you do a great thing.
So yeah, just sharing a bit of the love for my day to day job. I suppose with everybody.
It was funny because when we were trying to tea this recording up, your producer would say, oh, you know, we can't do this time, we can't do that day because Gina is actually a barrister. The word actually we've thrown them out a lot. Is if that's something that people couldn't possibly believe.
Do people think that that was just for TV or something?
Not sure what people think. I can't really say, Bash, I have been accused of being other things other than a barrister.
I must say, is that not accurate? You are actually a barrister.
I am. I'm a practicing barrister and I'm in court every day.
It showed I did it. Oh my god, You're fantastic. I mean, I get it's a podcast. It's entertainment, but I thought I was in a real court of awe. I mean, Mitch said to me after he went why are you dripping? And I was, I'm sweating. I feel like I'm being real. We're gonna have to go wear a hole to monitor now for a month after that.
Do you get recognized in court? Do people say to you, holy shit, that's Dean Leana, even if you know they're there because they've done something wrong.
Yes, people recognize me and court often and I am often asked for photographs, but I don't do them. I say no, no photos in court. And the main reason being is because people tend to put things on social media and if they do see me in court, and I practiced predominantly in the children's court or the family court, and so a lot of the requests come from children, Yeah, you know, teenagers, and if they posted on social media, they say saw Gina in court? People last and what
are you doing in court? And that sort of gives the game away that maybe there's issues there in their life that so I don't want to burden them with the responsibility of that. But I'm always flattered and if they can catch me outside then I'm always willing and able to do it.
Got photo outside the court, fair game, but not outside the court. Yeah not inside?
Yeah good.
I got to say that podcast we just did with you, part of me was kind of hoping that you'd insult me at some stage because that was my favorite thing about Real house Eyes of Melbourne was your comebacks calling.
You an insignificant ass hair or something or something like that, or snap the fuck out of it.
That one another great one.
Yes, I reckon my favorite disc from housewives and me. Alboum was one of the other ladies said that you had a vulgar mouth.
Well sang hashtag vulgar mouth that you have a vulgar mouth. Well, I don't agree, and I think that you've got a vulgar heart. Oh you liked the vulgar hearsh There you go.
That was my favorite.
There was just something so gentle, classy and elegant about the insult and so hey, we've still got a little bit of time. They feel free to insult me before we wrap this podcast. It would make my fucking day.
She's brewing on one.
Yeah, you don't know what you're asking for him.
I do, and I would have loved it.
I can see the cogs turning in her head, going what can I say?
Just what can I tell him?
Wait?
Do you know where did the idea of the podcast come from? Was it yours? Did I hear't come to you? Where was the idea?
Well?
It was an interesting thing because you know, I've noticed very much on social media that there's still a lot going on with Housewives, a lot of well images of me, voice recordings of things out of the Housewives, my one liners, and so I can see that there's still a big following there. It's trending on Twitter.
I got I get Google notifications, and one of them was that I had had thirty eight point seven million views on It might have even been forty eight point seven million views on TikTok or something. Follow an account that has just constant housewives quote.
Constant they live on Yes and so, and everyone I work with says, oh, you know, my friends and I we send each other messages and we're quoting you all the time. So I thought, okay, well, I've stepped back from Housewives, which I loved, and I met gorgeous people and I adored it. But I thought, well, maybe there's some other things that I can do, and I happened to be having my name. I was getting my nails done.
I was at a nail salon and there's this gorgeous girl sitting next to me and she said to me, on Gina, we love you at work. Are you going to do anything else? And I said well. She said, oh, I shouldn't ask you. I said, don't know, you can ask. And I said to her, well, I'm not going back to housewives at this stage. It was a big decision to step away. I know it is a bit sad, but I said I wouldn't mind maybe doing radio or something like that. She said, well, that's interesting because I work.
At arm Really, what are the odds of that?
And that's how the introduction happened. And we talked about a podcast and I said, well, I've always wanted to do a judge Gina, like an Agony Auntie, where you know, if people not really caught situations, but you know, situations where.
Petty shit like the situation we were in.
Well, just you know, if you've got a beef with one of your friends, or you need to settle a score of some sort, you know who's right who's wrong.
You know.
The beef could be you had a party and you bought all the beer or all the alcohol and your friend's friends drank it. Also maybe hit the friends should contribute to the alcohol, you know, something like that, and we try and quantify things. So I mean, I haven't had a case like that, by the way, but you know that sort of thing where it's usually two friends who have got just this little tiff going on and they need it settled. And most of the people will
walk away and accept the decision that I've made. I try and keep it.
No, no, we won't spoil our vert to go listen, And I think most people are happy or they can see the rationale behind it and accept that that is the final decision and that the argument is now over.
So there's some satisfaction and that's a lot of fun. But what I do find is that while I am going through the motions of cross examining the parties because obviously they're self represented so I need to quiz them, they tend to fall apart pretty quickly, and I think they feel quite intimidated.
As soon as you ask me to recall dates that I was like, fuck me, I don't even know what date is today?
What I've got.
They feel quite intimidated very quickly, and if not, I pulled them into line and make sure they do it.
You called us by our surnames, which made it feel even more real, like I was more of mister Tury you were mister Coombs.
You would have had to have studied for a very long time at UNI or whatever to become a barrass the right I did.
I did three degrees in a batchel of business in marketing, and I did a Bachelor of Arts where I made it actually in visual arts. So really I'm qualified curator, and I did a law degree as well. But I'm also a celebrant, and I did a course to become a celerance.
How many gay weddings do you get asked to do, Gina, I mean, I'm.
Sure I've done many. I've done many same six weddings. So in December, I think it was the seventh of December of two thousand and seventeen, the legislation changed. Oh yeah, and it was no longer the union of a man and woman. It was the union of two people. And generally a couple needs to give thirty days no in order to marry and that's thirty days before the ceremony. And so I actually conducted my very first same sex ceremony about thirty five days after the legislation was ratified.
So I got the notice of intended marriage in that week and we had the wedding pretty much a month later. So I was straight in.
They would have had that notice and that email draft ready, they had the idea of years ago to get Jeane.
Yeah, it was fantastic. So I've done about eighty so far, and I do. I do same sex mainly, and it's mainly boys. Actually, I do get a lot of girls, but I think the girls aren't getting married as much as or as.
Those gay boys. We love it, the gay boys, the matching suits and the bow ties and the dogs walking down there.
But you know, it's a lot of fun. I love it so much, and it's so different to what I do in my day to day job because generally my day to day job there's not a lot of love.
I can imagine, and so this is really refreshing. Travel to do weddings, yeah, I.
Travel as well into stag Yeah, do them all around the Australia.
Does it make you happy watching the seasons after you on Housewives not be as successful knowing you're gone.
Although there's only been one season after I left, and the feedback is that it wasn't quite as successful, to the point really that there wasn't a reunion. Whether or not that was success based or not, I'll give you.
The feedback from my own mouth.
It was fucking dog sheet without you really ruined a series for me, Jana, honestly, But I.
Made a difference. I'll have to accept that.
Did you watch much of it?
I watched a little bit of it, and I didn't find it quite as entertaining as and not because I watched myself and I'm entertained. I think it was just the dynamic of all the girls in the seasons prior to that. I think the girls tried and they you know, they put in a good effort, but it was I think it was just a tough act to follow. We were just a great cast were you know, Sydney struggled, New Zealand struggled, and we were just a great cast.
It was a good dynamic, you know, and everyone could there was no competition really, we all had different things to offer us, so, you know, I think just all round it was great.
So that's disappointing. I suppose I did maybe let a few people downtime.
I'm sorry about that. Hopefully on my podcast I can reconnect with the audience.
Oh you will.
Here's what you can do to make it up to me.
Yeah, what's that.
I've heard rumors that because the latest Melbourne season without you was a little bit rubbish, they're like, we might give Sydney another crack.
So what you need to do.
Is move to Sydney in time for production so that you can be on the revamped house I was a Sydney deal.
Well, I've got a feeling that if I said that I would come back to the show, that they would do it in Melbourne. Wow, and I wouldn't need to move to Sydney.
So okay, could you grab your phone right now and send the text because I need a new thing.
Landy Cohen, get him on the phone and say you'll do it. That's the power that you have Gena to reboot a franchise by saying yes, I mean, come on, make your sleep.
Well, I've got some ideas about what I could do in relation to Housewives, but it's not as a cast member. So we'll keep that in.
I'll keep that in the can and maybe we'll have something else to talk about down the track.
Maybe should we do in the reunion episode.
We got yeah hosted?
Well, that'd be fun. I would actually love to do that too.
You'd call them out on their shit, I would do I.
Would host the reunions. Yes, I would do that for sure. Yeah.
Is it just podcast by a couple of midges. So talk to us.
What have we missed?
You haven't been on house Lives in the most recent season. It's been a few years since then. Apart from you know, its going to work doing the law thing as per usual.
What have we missed? What's happening in jenas well?
So I suppose while being a marriage celebrant and doing you know, practicing in law has been my main gig. And then we were in lockdown for a little while, you know, as you know we all were, and in Melbourne in particular, I think we were in lockdown a lot longer than you guys were in Sydney, and I think we just lost connection with everybody really for about
three years. It feels like so out of the last since since I did Housewives in twenty eighteen, I suppose the last two years have been more than year before Lockdown and the last year has really just been in practice and now doing this podcast and being a celibant.
Did they suspend all of the court stuff during lockdown?
Are you doing zoom trials?
All zoom? Oh god, that we're back's actually we'rebeck so zoom. There was a breach of security with zoom?
Oh my god.
So we became WebEx meetings. Yeah, so I would be sitting with my robe and we're gone in my kitchen with a virtual background doing county court.
Did you find it easier to hand down a verdict digitally? Then it wasn't real life?
Well, I wasn't handing down decisions because my practice is as a barrister. I'm not on the bench, got it, And so I don't hand down the decisions. I cross examined or lead evidence, a make opening and closing submissions, and I run cases from woe to go and predominantly I prosecute in the children's courts. So it was interesting. My dogs loved it.
I apologize for getting your job wrong. This is a true story. Once I applied for a job as a barrister thinking it was barista because I need to work.
So you wanted to make coffee, You want to.
Make coffee, and then I almost doing your line of work, not that I ever could do it right.
Well, that's interesting because they don't advertise jobs for barristers because you're a sole practitioner, so you go into your own business and a practice. So if anyone ever sees a job for a barrister, know that it is not it's it's not.
Yeah, so you have.
To be admitted to practice. You have to pass the bar exam and sign the bar roll and get your practicing cerdivia.
And that's not us. That's not a bit of a process, not really. Well, listen, if you want to get the podcast, you can go and listen to our episode now. It is available Judge Gina on iHeartRadio where you get your podcasts. Great to have you on, Gina, This was so much fun.
Before we let you go, we've got to ask one important question, and we ask all of our guests this same question.
Yeah we do, we do, Yes, We just.
Want to know a little thing in life that you appreciate, a little self care thing something like that. We get all our guests to contribute to this list it's called the list of things better than drugs and dick. Oh okay, we don't want any of our younger listeners becoming obsessed with either.
Of the two.
There's more time things like fresh bed linen, so better than what drugs drugs and dick, drugs and dick.
Essentially, it's just a little thing in life you appreciate.
I'm probably not really in the running for either of those at the moment, so I would say chocolate, chocolate and dogs.
Dog.
No one said that before chocolate and dogs. I'll tell you what if I've got chocolate and my three dogs on the bed and they all lie on their back, snoring, and they're so content and happy, and I say, God, bless you, darling, and I kiss them and I hug them, and they're the happiest little soul.
And then yeah, chocolate.
But when they hear me say you need to snap the fuck out of her. I'm sick of your indulge, bob fucking shit, they run and they hide. I would I recognize my voice from the show.
Oh God.
But yeah, all right, added to the list.
And our last chance to insult me before we go plan. Okay, Well, no, I'm not going to insult you.
What I will say is you better than an insignificant ass here, both of you, So thank you for being on my show and it's been a pleasure to be joining you.
Oh bless you, Gina. That's lovely.
Well I want that on my bloody gravestone. Better than an insignificant measure, a significant aarth here.
Thank you, Gina, I appreciate it. You coming on pleasure?
Thanks?
Is it just me?
A podcast by a couple of mitches. Make sure you've hit follow on your podcast up