Former “Real Housewives of Orange County” stars Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley are among Sacha Baron Cohen‘s latest prank victims.
“We got punked so bad by Sacha Baron Cohen,” Rossi told Page Six this week. “I don’t know, but we think it’s for maybe, possibly his new movie. We were reached out to by this production company that basically said … we’re doing this series for Israel that’s all about … security and protecting yourself as an American celebrity.”
Smiley, 44, added that the company pitched them by addressing “what challenges you go through as a public figure” by “[bringing] in an Israeli Mossad agent to teach you some self-defense moves and check the security of your home.” The couple vetted the company and confirmed a two-hour filming time, but decided to do it at a rental property instead of at their own home.
“The second we walk through the door there’s two Mossad agents holding guns to each other’s heads,” Rossi said, describing how she was immediately terrified. “They punked us for four-and-a-half hours! You would not believe the stuff they were asking us to do — the weirdest, creepiest, funniest stuff, but at the time it wasn’t funny. We literally thought they were going to kill Slade!”
Rossi, 40, said they took part in the training because she actually wanted to know what to do if someone broke into her home, and didn’t question the strange behavior at first. But she finally hit her breaking point when she was asked, “When Slade is dead, how soon do you start dating?” Meanwhile, Smiley had enough when Cohen brought out zip ties as part of his “training.”
Rossi said she had no idea they were talking to Cohen because he had a well-designed unibrow and face prosthetics. Cohen never broke character, and his staff maintained their composure as well, she said.
“I was freaked out. I was crying — I was hysterical coming home,” she said of what happened after she left. “I’m sure they were laughing their asses off!”
They tried to call the production company afterward, but “everyone went dark” and they couldn’t reach anyone.
“For two days we had no idea that this had really happened,” Smiley said. “We went to a magazine photoshoot and Tito Ortiz was on the shoot. And we were talking about things, and he was like, ‘F–k dude, I think I was punked by Sacha Cohen.’ I go, ‘What do you mean?’ … and he started describing exactly what happened to us.”
“He needs to win an Oscar for his performance,” she laughed. “Incredible!”
It was recently reported that Cohen, 46, paid O.J. Simpson more than $20,000 to appear in his next movie. Cohen is known for his wild getups and pranks in flicks like “Borat” and “Brüno.”
Cohen’s rep didn’t get back to us.