First the banks, then the car companies — now, the ailing economy is catching up with reality stars too, like The Real Housewives Of Orange County‘s Lynne Curtin and her husband Frank, who after a botched real estate deal, might have to declare bankruptcy.
The reality TV couple have been ordered by Riverside County Superior Court to pay real estate investor Mercury Manzano $1.26 million for a deal gone bad. The Curtins, making an appearance in the courthouse for a Wednesday case call, said they are taking a long, hard look at declaring Chapter 11.
Bankruptcy, their attorney Franklin Casco Jr. told the paper, is “an option to consider — they need to talk it over.”
The couple told the paper that their jet-setting image is just for show.
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“We are portrayed as being real wealthy,” Frank told the OC Register Wednesday. “It’s a television show. It’s blown out of proportion. The economy took a real beating, and we are still trying to recover from that,” he said.
Lynne said her income from the hit reality franchise “just gets us by.”
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“Most people think we get $100,000 an episode,” she said. “That’s not us — I wish it was.”
