Regina Michelle Bellesario (formerly Madison, called Gina) is a character that appeared on the series, Smythewood and is now a recurring role on the series Harpers Falls: New Beginnings. She is currently played by Robin McGraw, the wife of well-known television personality, Dr. Phil McGraw.
"When I was first tapped for the role," Robin said, "I wanted to make sure that I would play her with grace and dignity. Although my character and Valerie get into some wild and blazing fights, I am more of the matriarch, while Valerie Jo gets more outlandish. Albert writes Gina with such care and grace and I am honored to be on this show. Dr. Phil is also a fan, and he enjoys watching my character's antics. He loves my fights with Valerie also!"
Valerie Jo's arch rival[]
A dynamic and always on the go woman, Gina Bellesario is always trying to be a positive force in the world (much like Ms. McGraw herself in real life is).
Gina, real name Regina, but prefers Gina, grew up in the tony Roxborough section of Philadelphia and vowed that she would make a name for herself. She stood out in high school and graduated with high honors.
While at school at Swarthmore College, she met and fell in love with David Madison, a transplanted Bostonian. She and David were married for almost 26 years. They had one daughter together, Julia.
Julia had an unwise affair with a county prosecutor named Dane Whitfield (who was the birth father of Eric Whitfield Harper by Wendy Schraederman) and was impregnated. She gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Nicholas.
After Dane's death (Julia had shot him after he attempted to rape her again, Dane raped her, and thus how she was pregnant), her boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Haller had adopted the little boy.
However, Julia, because of the rape, never bonded with her baby. Usually it was Clarissa Smythe or members of the household staff of Vestal Ridge, the Smythe family estate in Smythewood, Pennsylvania who watched him.
This concerned Gina, and also forged a temporary truce with her hated sister in-law, Valerie. Gina and Valerie had NEVER got on, even when she was married to David.
During an intervention that she and the rest of the family staged, Gina suggested she get some help at a clinic in Bala-Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Julia reluctantly agreed, and went in. She met a male nurse there, and married. However, Julia got pregnant again, and because of the horrors of what happened, and in the throes of post-natal depression, she killed her child.
That act sent her over the edge and placed her in a mental hospital. While there, Julia succumbed to her demons and she killed herself by overdosing on her medicine. Gina was devastated.
Her marriage over, her daughter dead, it was clear that she had nothing left in Pennsylvania. So Gina moved to Boston and she bought the old house that Samantha Bennett had lived in prior to her marriage to Steven.
She moved in immediately, and it does her heart good to be able to be close to her grandson. She also has taken to Jacqueline Haller, Nicky's half-sister, and loves her as much as her grandson.
She spends time with Amy Smythe-Jablonski and her husband, Cody. She also spends time with her old friend, Clarissa. While she and Valerie are still at odds, they do meet on occasion to talk and also argue, with their truce ended, they are back to their volcanic arguments. With those two, that will never change.
Recently, Gina finally realized that her last name needed to be her maiden name once more. She is now once again, Gina Bellesario, to Valerie's utter glee.