Shannon Beador isn’t happy about the things Gina Kirschenheiter and Emily Simpson said about her drinking on the 17th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Months after being charged with DUI and hit-and-run after hitting a house in Newport Beach, California, Shannon, 59, appeared on Bravo’s podcast, where she took aim at Gina, 39, and Emily’s suggestions that she had a drinking problem, saying that her co-stars “don’t know anything.”
“If the concern from my cast was genuine, then I appreciate it. I don’t know if it was genuine in all cases. And we’ll just leave it at that,” Shannon said on the December 26 episode of Bravo’s Hot Mic podcast, via Heavy.
As RHOC fans may recall, Gina and Emily, 47, alluded to Shannon’s potential drinking problem amid the 17th season of the show, which was filmed prior to Shannon’s arrest.
“I did get a DUI — I understand that, I’m still upset that Emily made a joke that I needed a breathalyzer for my phone, or Gina said that I needed rehab because they don’t know anything about my social life. Or what I do on a regular basis,” Shannon said in response. “I had a call in 2020 where I drank too much with Gina — okay say I need rehab.”
In addition to suggesting that Shannon’s drinking had become a problem on RHOC, Gina also spoke of her castmate’s habits during a September 2023 episode of her podcast, Orange Country.
“It’s obviously the worst mistake you can make. I am a wholehearted believer in that, having made that mistake myself. So I’m just glad everybody’s okay. But like, it sucks. You know, it’s hard. I feel bad,” Gina admitted. “This is the worst thing that could have happened to her right now in this moment, and I feel bad for her. It was her choice, she put herself there, she definitely made this bed. But I believe that she should have the opportunity to right this wrong.”
Months later, Gina appeared on a December 2023 episode of the Sarah Fraser Show podcast, where she hinted that Shannon was still drinking after her arrest.
“I don’t like speaking to things that I’ve heard through other people. And I don’t know that directly but I would be very curious. I was shocked that nobody just point blank asked her that at BravoCon,” Gina stated.
“My take on it is, why don’t you just try [sobriety]?” Gina continued. “I mean, what do you have to lose? And if you’re not an alcoholic and you don’t have a problem with drinking, it should be very easy to simply just stop drinking for a bit.”
Although Gina seemed to think that Shannon wasn’t sober, Shannon said on Bravo’s podcast that she is no longer drinking.
“I made a horrible mistake in all of this. But I know what’s best for me. And choosing alcohol to cope when you are not happy is not a good thing. So I’m aware of that. And right now, I am not drinking and I haven’t drank,” she confirmed.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 is expected to go into production sometime later this month.
