Now that the dust is settling on The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 18, all eyes are on what the long-running Bravo series does next to keep viewers entertained.
As Monsters and Critics previously reported, Alexis Bellino was fired after one season back.
While RHOC’s avid fan base has celebrated the news, Alexis’ actions were nothing compared to Tamra Judge’s, who is expected to remain on the show into Season 19.
There’s no debate about whether Alexis was a bust during Season 18. Still, she brought plenty of drama for a friend of the housewives as she made it her mission to discredit everything Shannon Beador had to say about John Janssen.
If anything, producers failed Alexis because they had to know how this would go.
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They brought Alexis back to challenge the more vulnerable Shannon and allowed the returning star to show up to every party with a seemingly endless supply of ammunition to use against her, which explains why viewers immediately sided with Shannon.
If RHOC Season 18 taught us anything, it is that viewers connect with underdog stories, and Alexis could have had that kind of storyline if she had gotten another chance to return to the show and try to right those wrongs.
Alexis had a lot of potential to have a remarkable comeback
Alexis had connections with Tamra, Heather Dubrow, Katie Ginella, and Jennifer Pedranti, so there was an opening for her to remain on the cast for another year, even as a part-time cast member.
Alexis put in more work than most of the full-time housewives during Season 18, so she earned a callback, which is more than can be said for some of the other women.
There were reports that Shannon threatened to walk away if she had to film with Alexis, which generally feeds into a broader problem with the Real Housewives entries.
Over the years, many ladies have refused to film with each other, and producers clearly didn’t want to part with Shannon because she emerged as the runaway star of Season 18 despite some unsavory things transpiring before filming kicked off.
Alexis was delusional in her quest to do John’s bidding. Still, we think she could have staged a comeback in Season 19 and allowed more of her personality to shine through without relating everything to Shannon and John.
RHOC producers failed Alexis
There was so much left on the cutting room floor of Season 18 because we didn’t get to a three-dimensional portrayal of Alexis’ life nowadays.
Producers wanted to perpetuate the narrative that her sole goal was to take down Shannon because it was an easy way to earn Shannon fans when, quite frankly, she didn’t deserve them.
Looking back on Alexis’ firing, it’s a shame we’ll likely see a redemption season for Tamra instead.
Tamra has had many chances to change her ways, but she only does so briefly before her mask slips, and she hurls ridiculous insults about her co-stars again.
It’s her schtick at this point, and there’s no way that will change while she’s on the show. The recent three-part reunion signaled that she was doing damage control to secure her spot, but she must think viewers are fools.
With another chance, Alexis would be far more entertaining because she could show off her life more now that the drama between John and Shannon is over.
What are your thoughts on Alexis being made the scapegoat after Season 18?
The Real Housewives of Orange County is currently on hiatus. Stream Seasons 1-18 on Peacock.
