Gina Russo

Gina Russo is a fictional character in the American television series Nip/Tuck. She was portrayed by Jessalyn Gilsig.

Character history

Gina Russo is a bitter, troubled sex addict, and is often the foil to Christian Troy. She and Christian have a love/hate sexual relationship initiated by Christian when he sleeps with her; she blames him for breaking her vow of celibacy, and holds a grudge against him for months.

Gina has borderline personality disorder. She alternates between adoring Christian and calling him names. She also suffers from bulimia, and frequently engages in self-destructive behavior.

Season One

She and Christian meet at a Sexaholics Anonymous meeting, where they begin a love/hate sexual relationship initiated by Christian. She admits to having anonymous sex with multiple partners. Her Sexaholics Anonymous group calls this "Blackout Sex".

At one point, Gina gets pregnant and believes the baby is Christian's, conceived from their one-night stand. This sparks a tremendous change in Christian, who decides to be the best father he can. When she gives birth, however, the baby is half black, proving that someone else is the father. Regardless, Christian decides to help Gina raise the child, whom she names Wilber.

Season Two

Obsessed with motherhood, Gina tries to have a second child by inviting a group of men over for a "conception party", in which they have group sex - the idea being that a large volume of semen from multiple partners ensures conception. When Christian finds out about this, he threatens to take sole custody of Wilber. She responds by tracking down Wilber's biological father, James Sutherland, an older married man from Arizona. James initially takes Christian's side and agrees to give up custody rights, but he later recants and wins custody of Wilber.

Gina eventually reveals to Christian she is HIV-positive, which forces Christian to rethink his life. He calls every woman he had sex with since his relationship with Gina to warn them, and then tracks down James and Wilber so they could be tested - all three are HIV-negative. James convinces Christian to see the good in Gina, and he eventually forgives her. Christian ends up paying for Gina's HIV medication, as well as the rent for her apartment.

Season Three

Due to money troubles, Christian is forced to stop supporting Gina's HIV treatment, but she soon finds a way to support herself by embarking on an ambitious business venture with Julia McNamara: a surgical recovery spa called "De La Mer". Gina finds a creative way to keep down costs: she offers oral sex to contractors and construction workers in exchange for reduced fees. Julia is horrified and, for perhaps the first time, tells her she is too good to be doing such things to herself.

Later, Gina becomes the final victim of The Carver, a masked serial rapist, in Miami. She later explains to Sean and Christian that she had shown up at McNamara/Troy to ask Christian to be her date. Christian had refused, saying that he did not want to ruin their friendship.

Season Four

Christian is given legal guardianship of Wilber, after James Sutherland and his wife die in a car accident. Gina returns to fight for her own rights to her child, despite the fact that James' adult son explained that his father's will explicitly stated Gina was to have nothing to do with the boy. Gina has since become a successful real estate developer, and has sold Spa De La Mer for a large profit. She therefore believes she can give Wilber the life he deserves. When Christian asks her how she intends to raise a child while having HIV, she replies that "HIV is the new diabetes". While Christian, Michelle, and Wilber are having dinner, Gina returns and tries to visit her son. When she discovers that Michelle is to be Wilber's adopted mother, she becomes enraged and swears that she will get custody of Wilber. Later in the episode, Gina kidnaps her son, but later returns him to Christian, saying that Wilber is too much for her to handle. She leaves him with Christian after giving him a toy firetruck.

Season Five

When Sean discovers that Christian and Julia are having an affair, he tries to get back at them by hiring Gina to be McNamara/Troy's new receptionist. Despite once again claiming to be reformed, Gina tries to get her claws into Christian and begins to watch him have sex with other women, before cruelly taunting Julia about his infidelity. Inviting Christian up to the McNamara/Troy roof for a candle-lit dinner, Gina tells him she wants to get back together. Christian is initially wary, but eventually they begin to have sex. Gina climbs onto the ledge as she reaches orgasm, and falls backward off the ledge to her death.