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Emily Simpson admitted that despite the sympathy she felt toward Shannon Beador amid production on the 18th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County, there was one thing she did that she found “vile.”
As she also weighed in on Alexis Bellino‘s antics against Shannon, 60, revealed what a producer told her about the videos taken of Shannon pre-DUI, and criticized Alexis, 47, for acting as a spokesperson for John Janssen, 62, Emily, 48, admitted that she wasn’t a fan of the alliance formed between Tamra Judge, 57, and Heather Dubrow, nor did she like the digging Shannon did regarding Gina Kirschenheiter, 40, and Travis Mullen.
After being asked about Shannon hunting for information about Gina and Travis ahead of the season 17 reunion during an October 31 interview with Variety, Emily admitted that her castmate “100 percent” crossed “the line.”
“Trying to find something about Gina that’s going to make her look bad at a reunion. Then to reveal it in a way where it’s shocking, or like it’s a huge bombshell … So she looks bad and it’s bad for her relationship with Travis and her family? That’s vile,” Emily noted. “That’s what we shouldn’t be doing.”
While Emily acknowledged that there were already “a lot of stories” out there about Ryan Boyajian, 46, the fiance of Jennifer Pedranti, 47, and even admitted to Googling him herself, she said she didn’t like to see too much digging into her co-stars’ pasts.
Emily also didn’t like the ongoing feud between Shannon and Tamra.
“We’re at this point where their vitriol for each other is so deep and so out of control, that they’re just going to go through their phone and find things to throw back and forth at each other. And that’s scary when you’re everyone else at the table,” she noted.
While Emily expected Shannon to receive a substantial amount of backlash from viewers due to her September 2023 arrest for DUI, she applauded her co-star for apologizing and talking openly about it.
“Honestly, coming into this season, I would say I wasn’t the biggest Shannon fan. I didn’t really have a relationship with her, and I had lots of ups and downs with her,” Emily shared. “The fact that Gina and I had genuine sympathy for what she was going through, I think, is really telling as to how deeply she was hurting. And not just the DUI — I felt so badly that the woman couldn’t even move on from the DUI before she got sued, and then she couldn’t even settle the case because he wouldn’t settle it.”
“Not only are you dealing with active litigation while you’re filming a TV show, but your ex’s new girlfriend is in your face and friends with the people that you used to be friends with. I can’t even imagine dealing with all those things all at one time,” she continued.
According to Emily, she didn’t have a problem with Alexis returning to RHOC, nor did she have an issue with Alexis dating John. In fact, she thought it would make for “good TV.”
“But at the time, I didn’t know that the plan was a total takedown of Shannon and public humiliation,” she added.
Following Alexis’ threat to release videos taken of Shannon before her DUI, Emily said she filmed a scene about the matter with Katie Ginella, 40, before getting a call from a producer, who instructed her against further discussion of the topic.
“I filmed a scene with Katie at the candy store and I was literally blown away by it. I honestly didn’t really know what to say at that moment,” she recalled. “I thought: ‘This was blackmail. This sounds like extortion. This is disgusting. I don’t want anything to do with this. If it’s going that route, then I’m going to do what I’m told to do, because it’s being handled by the legal department.’ And that is why I don’t say anything again.”
Although Emily had no plans to regurgitate the issue, Gina later brought it up.
“So when Gina brought it up, I didn’t know what to do. I was so confused at that moment. I wondered whether I was the only one to get the call, or whether she was the only one not to get the call,” Emily admitted.
Because Alexis did so much defending of John throughout the season, many felt as if she was his unofficial spokesperson — and Emily was part of that group.
“It was so annoying — and it was obnoxious … I think she did herself a complete disservice by constantly being his mouthpiece, and constantly bringing up the lawsuit at any possibility she could. Even when she wasn’t invited to London, her response had to do with the lawsuit and John, not herself,” Emily stated. “And I think it was a disaster that she was never her own person. It was just John, John, John, John, John.”
In addition to her frustrations with Alexis, Emily also felt that certain cast members struggled to apologize when in the wrong.
“With Tamra, I don’t know if it’s just because she’s always so dramatic that she never thinks how the other person feels, and puts herself in their shoes. And with Heather, she just has this constant need for perfection, so a genuine apology would mean that she did something wrong,” Emily noted. “And I don’t think that she’s the type of person that likes to ever admit that she’s done anything wrong — ever.”
Overall, Emily felt that Tamra and Heather’s alliance toward one another was “disappointing” and “not a good combination.”
“I don’t think it was good for either one of them. Heather has the ability to be a voice of reason with Tamra, but that didn’t happen,” she explained. “And I really didn’t understand Heather — I couldn’t figure out what she was doing, or why she was going after Shannon so hard.”
Moving on to her recent babysitter drama with Katie’s daughter, Kaili, who allegedly told her kids that Heather was “mean” while watching them, Emily confessed to being upset that her children were dragged into a storyline she suspected was made to come between her and Heather — and portray her as a bad parent.
“I was really shocked when my children were brought up, because Shane and I had made a pact after Katie’s daughter had spent the weekend with my children … Shane was like: ‘She can’t ever babysit again.’ And he also said: ‘This conversation doesn’t leave the room, because it has to do with children, and it just dies here,’” Emily revealed. “And I was like: ‘Absolutely.’ … When I heard, a couple weeks later, that it was being spun like that, I was just flabbergasted. One, I can’t believe that you thought that was OK to bring up. And two, it’s a lie. So it was shocking to me.”
Looking ahead to the future of the series, Emily said she felt it had a “really good cast.”
“It’s very strong. The reason it’s good is because you actually have genuine relationships and that’s what makes a good show,” she explained. “There’s a lot of crossover in relationships and that makes for a good cast, because when you start filming, it’s not like you have people who haven’t seen each other for six months and have to all of a sudden make a show.”
As for the two newest members of the cast, Jennifer and Katie, Emily had different feelings toward each of them.
“Jenn is really coming into her own. I think she’s starting to feel comfortable and she clearly has issues with Tamra that she has no problem bringing up, which is amazing,” Emily noted. “With Katie, for me I see her differently, because I felt like she didn’t want to get involved and didn’t have a lot of opinions, then it felt like they were trying to rehabilitate her in her confessionals.”
Emily went on to say that when it comes to the show, she’s a “team player.”
“To me, the show is the most important thing, so I don’t want to see us end up somewhere like [The Real Housewives of New Jersey], where you have a very divisive cast and people aren’t filming together,” she explained. “We’re always a cast, as opposed to three people over here and three people over here who won’t be in the same room together. That’s when the show is dead.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 reunion begins Thursday, November 7, at 9/8c on Bravo.
