Shannon Beador revealed what wasn’t shown on the 18th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County during a podcast appearance on Thursday.
As she spoke of being called the C-word on a number of occasions, recalled John Janssen, 62, requesting she defend him on a past season, and shared what she wished she had said to Alexis Bellino, 47, at the recently-taped reunion, Shannon, 62, clapped back at claims of playing the victim and reacted to the DUI video threats.
“It was really surprising to me how deep it went and unfortunately, you don’t see all of it,” Shannon began on the October 31 episode of The Viall Files after being asked about the harsh criticism she received from certain cast members. “There was more … being called the C-word multiple times and being talked to like mafia, gangster, it’s like, ‘Who talks that way?’”
After confirming she was referring to her former friend Tamra Judge, 57, and admitting to crying a lot during production, Shannon said she’s in a better place today.
“I feel pretty strong that it’s over, and I’m still okay. It didn’t kick me down. I’m still moving forward,” she declared.
The latest season was especially hard for Shannon due to John’s lawsuit against her and his relationship with co-star Alexis, who seemed to be doing his dirty work at times.
Looking back at her own years-long relationship with John, Shannon recalled her ex-boyfriend coaching her ahead of a reunion.
“When I was in the reunion last season, I was so stressed out because it was like, ‘You gotta defend me,’ and then when I came back and went through the list of things I said, it wasn’t good enough,” she revealed.
Although John has moved on from Shannon and is now engaged to Alexis, Shannon believes her name often comes up between the couple. In fact, she was recently informed by a fan that they had run into John and heard him speaking about her.
“It’s like yikes, but I don’t know. I wanted to ask Alexis at the reunion, but I didn’t have a chance to say, ‘If you sleep in the same bed with John, how many minutes go by before my name is uttered?’ I wanted to ask it … Five max … They keep saying for me to move on and I have. I don’t want to talk about them. I don’t want to think about them,“ Shannon stated.
When host Nick Viall, 44, wanted to know her thoughts on John claiming she’s good at playing the victim and wondered why he’s so “obsessed” with her, Shannon admitted she wasn’t sure.
“I really don’t know because a victim actually is someone who sits back and blames other people and doesn’t do anything. I’m still trying to make myself a better person. I’m not a victim,” she stated. “Tamra has put out that ‘victim, victim, victim’ out there for years and I’m tired of that.”
Speaking of John’s claims that she owes him $75,000 for her facelift, Shannon suspected his case was not about money.
“I think it’s about his reputation … He wants people to think he’s a generous person,” she explained.
As for John and Alexis’ statements regarding the videos John has of her on the night of her DUI, Shannon confessed, “I had a lot to drink.”
“I don’t remember things that happened during that night. It’s hard because I’ve come so far … why bring that up?” she wondered. “I don’t know what’s on it. He says he’s not gonna release it so I’m hopeful … I don’t think it would be a good look for him to release it. The whole thing is bad and I’m so horrified about it. I try to lead for example for my kids so it wasn’t a good look.”
Shannon was then asked if she found John to be a housewife chaser.
“I don’t know. John hadn’t watched any episodes when he met me but I think he did a crash course and watched a lot. But I don’t know that,” she noted. “It’s a really small town. I’m not out there on the scene so I don’t really know a lot about that.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
