Season 18 of The Real Housewives of Orange County recently returned, and fans have quite a bit to devour. Among the storylines from the show that made headlines was Jennifer Pedranti‘s fiance, Ryan Boyajian, being linked to a massive gambling scandal.
As was previously reported, filming for the season picked up after it had concluded in order to catch the goings on with the situation. Now, she’s opening up about the scandal, the issues with Gina Kirschenheiter, Tamra Judge, and more.
As fans know, Jennifer joined RHOC during the show’s 17th season. This means she’s still a fairly new housewife, but she is expected to dominate much of this new season due to the gambling scandal, which involved money being wired illegally to multiple accounts and then laundered through casinos. Jennifer and Ryan started dating in 2020.
Recently, she sat down with Housewives Nightcap from Access Hollywood and discussed RHOC, the gambling allegations against Ryan, and much more.
She starts by discussing how this season is different than her first. She says, “There was a lot that went on in my life, like, I’m telling you, I think everything that could happen to a person probably happened in this last season of filming.”
Regarding what made season one difficult, she says, “Season one was hard because my friendship with Tamra was very difficult, and Tamra is a very strong personality, so I was navigating that and finding a new normal within a friendship.”
She goes on, “Season two is hard because my real life really got shaken up and it affected me, it affected my kids, it affected my relationship, it affected my ex. I mean truly, like, everything kind of got pulled out from under me, and I lived it on camera. “
However, she also says that navigating the drama on camera was an afterthought to how she and her family were going to handle it.
The topic of Jennifer being evicted from the home that Gina helped her get also came up, and she said she understood why Gina was upset. She also says she believed she was doing all she could.
Regarding her drama with Gina, she says, “I understand her side. The thing that’s hard for me is I’m not a woman who would take down another woman’s career. I respect Gina’s career and I respect what that girl has done at her young age.”
The conversation then turns to Jennifer finalizing her divorce from ex-husband William Pedranti. When asked how she’s feeling, Jennifer responds by saying, “Wow, that took four years. Unfortunately, I have no communication with my ex, and so it’s hard, it’s hard. I’m so grateful that it’s finalized.”
JENNIFER PEDRANTI’S CHILD SUPPORT AMOUNT IS REVEALED
She then said that being married to her ex made her and Ryan feel tethered to the past. She also hopes that she and Ryan can now be friends with her ex-husband.
Regarding the gambling scandal, Jennifer had this to say about why she’s sticking by him, “I would stick by him through anything. I know Ryan, and I communicate about everything, so this was not like some bomb that dropped on Ryan and I. We’ve been going through this with our best friends for a long time.”
She then says, “You just have to give it time. Ryan’s not involved in it.”
Jennifer also expresses that she felt guilty over her stardom “shedding light” on him for something he didn’t do.
Regarding how she felt about some of her castmates meeting and discussing the situation, she says, “I met with Katie and Gina, and they had concerns; anybody would, but you know what they did? They sat me down, and they’re like, girl, what the heck is this guy doing? Are you okay? Are your kids okay?”
She goes on to say who she didn’t hear from.
“I did not hear from Tamra, and I didn’t hear from Emily, but Tamra doesn’t surprise me. Emily, I would have liked to have heard from, but I didn’t.”
She then talks about how this changed things for her and Ryan.
“When it printed, we were like, oh my gosh. It was like we were on the biggest high and then the lowest low, and we had to just come back together and say we know the truth, we’re good.”
The interviewer asked for her take on the Shannon Beador and Alexis Bellino situation. She says, “I can’t.” She goes on to say that Alexis and John Janssen have real love, and she believes they will go the distance. However, she also supports Shannon.
Regarding Tamra, Jennifer says, “Tamra and I were in a great spot, like, we were really moving forward and even so much we wanted the guys to move forward.”
She continues, “Tamra does what Tamra does, and you’ll have to see it.”
RHOC Live Viewing – This is also the live viewing thread for tonight’s new episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18, so feel free to comment and chat as the new season airs at 9/8c on Bravo.
