Q&A: Real Housewife Gregoriane Minot on hitting the dance floor and the prospect of a second season

You toured with L’École Supérieure de Danse du Québec until you were 18, and a big part of your storyline this season was your return to the dance studio. Have you been dancing since the show stopped filming?
Not in a studio, but I’ve been dancing at home with my children. I actually just enrolled in a private salsa class next month. When I watched myself dance on the show, I realized again that it is my passion. I feel alive when I’m dancing.

Have you done any ballet?
Not yet. Maybe this summer. I still have a fear of putting my ballet shoes back on. But I’m not closing the door on that.

Your husband, Pierre Jutras, owner of the Spoke Club and Spoke on the Water, is a big deal in Toronto’s hospitality world. How did you meet?
We met 20 years ago when I working as a bartender at De Salvio, a club he owned on Saint Laurent Boulevard, and we fell in love. I was bartending for a few months, but I was not good at it at all. I was just enjoying myself.

You were born in Thailand and adopted as a child. How old were you when you came to Canada?
My father is from France and my mother is from Quebec. They adopted me when I was two weeks old, my father was working for the French Government in Bangkok. I grew up in Montreal with them and three other siblings, including my brother, who was adopted from the Philippines.

I just met my birth mother for the first time last month. I went back to Thailand with my adoptive parents, my husband and our children. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. We had an instant connection. I had been looking for her for years and she was looking for me, too. When I was born, she was a young, single mother. Adoption was not an accepted part of Thai culture at that time. As a mother now, I can imagine the sacrifice she made giving me up for adoption. That was an act of pure love from her. I had to thank her for giving me the opportunity to live this life.

Thailand, Montreal, now Toronto—how do you spend your perfect day in the city?
I’ve lived in Toronto for 17 years, and I love it because I can still do something different every day. I love going for strolls on the beach with my husband and my kids. In the summer, we often spend the day at Spoke on the Water. It feels like a cottage in the city.

In last week’s episode, you surprised Jana with a session with a matchmaker. Do you often spring crazy stuff like that on your friends?
I love to play matchmaker. I want Jana to find her Prince Charming. I love her so much and she works so hard, and I know there is a soul mate out there for her somewhere. If it doesn’t work, that’s okay. If it does, we might be preparing her wedding in season two.

So you’re hoping for a second season?
Oh, yes! I was at the Raptors game this week with Jana and Ann and all of these men were stopping us to tell us how much their wives love the show. Why not celebrate women’s friendship? On The Real Housewives of Toronto, we have all have positive attitudes. That’s what makes this franchise different from all the other ones.

The Real Housewives of Toronto airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. on Slice.