Shannon Beador looked back on her decision to make her bloody DUI photo public after last week’s episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
As Heather Dubrow, 55, shared her reaction to the shocking crash and Emily Simpson, 48, suggested the incident was “karma,” Shannon, 60, admitted to being fearful of revealing the image publicly as John Janssen, 61, was accused of trying to extort her with threats of releasing videos taken prior to her arrest.
“I was shaking when I pushed that button to show [Heather] the picture because I knew that at the moment, being that that photo was being filmed, it was gonna forever change,” Shannon noted to Bravo HQ on September 5. “If anyone Googles my name, that photo’s gonna come up. But at the same time, I want to be honest and truthful.”
According to Shannon, she’s made it a point to be forthcoming with her mistakes as she continues to take accountability and learn from the decision — even if it meant she would be further “humiliated.”
“I was injured and I don’t think people knew that. And I’m not looking for sympathy. I take responsibility for the very stupid choice that I made that night,” she explained. “I do talk about this in my interview confessionals. I made a commitment right after my DUI, I posted on my Instagram a video saying when I can, I’m going to share and be open and honest about everything that happened with the DUI, and so that was me doing it. I’m horrified and humiliated that I got a DUI, that I made such a horrible decision.”
“I think about it still to this day, every day,” she added.
As for Heather’s reaction, she said she was “horrified, upset, all the things,” when she first learned of Shannon’s DUI.
“[I was] glad she was okay, glad no one else was hurt, and worried about her,” Heather shared. “[Then], when Shannon showed me the photo of her bloody face, I mean, how do you not have a visceral reaction to that? I had heard the story of Shannon thinking John had heard the accident before. That wasn’t really a new story for me, but her telling it to me coupled with that photo, that was a lot.”
Although Emily didn’t want to be “mean,” she admitted to feeling that “karma” was at work due to Shannon’s past treatment of Gina Kirschenheiter, 40.
“I felt like maybe there was a bit of karma there when you’re constantly harassing someone else and making fun of someone else and digging at someone else,” she stated. “It comes back, but I felt badly for her. I don’t wish ill will on anyone. I don’t wish anyone to have to go through something like that, and to have to do it publicly and to be humiliated and talk about it with friends and talk about it with her daughters and admit that she’s embarrassed and she’s humiliated, that’s a very humbling experience.”
Emily also felt badly that Shannon was having to deal not only with the DUI but also with the potential release of John’s videos and his lawsuit against her.
“The first time I heard about the videos, I actually heard about them from [Katie Ginella], and she told me that after they had gone to Big Bear, there was a conversation between [Alexis Bellino] and John that had something to do with the lawsuit. And I guess Shannon didn’t pay the amount he was asking for. I think she countered at a lower amount or something. And my understanding, when that happened there was some conversation of like, ‘Gloves are off now. We’re gonna release these videos,’” Emily recalled. “Apparently, there’s some videos that show Shannon at home with John in not-so-great of a light.”
“To me, it sounded very threatening. It sounded very extortion-like. It sounded very blackmailish, and I did not like that, that when you do not get the outcome that you’re seeking immediately, that your first resort is to humiliate someone,” Emily continued. “And I thought that was really disgusting.”
Heather, too, was put off by the idea that Shannon was being threatened with the clips.
“I just feel like at some point, it’s too dark. It’s too dark,” she stated. “I don’t know why there’s videos. I don’t know why Shanon needs to know there’s videos. It’s a lot.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
