Ready for reality

NEWPORT BEACH — Christine DeFrain-Grocki wants it all, and she wants it now.

At least that’s what the West Newport woman told casting producers for Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Orange County” recently.

For DeFrain-Grocki, 49, this is “her big year” — the year she turns 50; it’s the year she and her husband would’ve celebrated 25 years together if they hadn’t divorced recently; it’s the year her youngest child graduates from high school — but it’s also the year she hopes to make her reality-TV debut.

DeFrain-Grocki may be what Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Orange County” producers are looking for.

A week ago she, her son and her daughter were the subjects of video interviews conducted by Bravo before the final “housewives” are selected.

“I’m really excited,” she said, decked out appropriately in an “OC” T-shirt.

But DeFrain-Grocki isn’t at home slaving over a stove or scrubbing the toilets. She juggles an active social life, dating, operating her own business, playing the real estate market, taking part in her church, doggy duty and playing mom to her son Joey Grocki, 18, and daughter Leah Grocki, 22.

“When you live in the land of the haves and have-it-alls, the kids do think life’s one big party,” she said about some of the day-to-day challenges she faces.

Her life can be hectic, which she said is sometimes a product of just being herself.

“Everything in my life comes to the last minute — it’s the story of my life,” she said as she waited for a photographer, carpet installer, painter and real estate agent Tuesday morning before she had to dash off to work. “But I guess if you want it all, you have to do it all, and you have to do it by yourself.”

And she does it her own way.

“She’s absolutely nuts,” Leah Grocki said. “She’s a lot of fun — we just have a fun family.”

Both her children call their mom “crazy,” but with the warmth of any child describing their mom — with an inevitable “but in a good way.”

DeFrain-Grocki took her daughter to Las Vegas for her 21st birthday and was up for partying with the twentysomethings the whole trip.

“We were in a club, and she was pretty much with just me and two friends,” Leah Grocki said. “All of us were 21 and all dressed up, and she was the one that got hit on — by everybody — nobody talked to us.”

Growing up, their mom was one of the “hot” moms, which DeFrain-Grocki said was at times equally as embarrassing for her as it might’ve been for her kids. Leah Grocki remembered being on the pool deck during her time as a water polo player and hearing her fellow boy players comment about her mom when she’d watch games.

But the attention is something DeFrain-Grocki has apparently become accustomed to. She has worked as a Coors Light Silver Bullet girl and as a lingerie model. She’s focused on getting other people into shape as a personal trainer. She also previously worked as a physical education teacher.

“This is about personal growth and having an adventure…. I had thought I’d be in a whole different stage of my life at 50,” DeFrain-Grocki said. “Not too long ago, I was living at the beach in a four-bedroom, four-bathroom house with two kids, two dogs and a nice car, and then things changed and I’ve found myself at this stage of life looking for fun and adventure.”

She was also once approached to be on ABC’s “Wife Swap,” which her then-husband vetoed.

Casting agents were looking for active women with active children, and although DeFrain-Grocki may be a bit older than what they had originally said they were looking for, she could fit the bill. Her son, Joey Grocki, is gearing up to audition for Canadian hockey teams, and Leah Grocki works at two local hot spots while maintaining an active, partying lifestyle.

“I know my biological age and my chronological age are decades apart,” she said. “I just really have to prove it now because when it comes down to it, it takes a lot of energy to keep up a positive attitude.”

A week ago, producers told Grocki they’d let her know in two to three weeks, and she’s eagerly waiting. Casting producer Katie MacIntosh said she’s all through with casting and was not sure what she could comment on before the network made its decision.