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Shannon Beador sat down with “Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi to dish on what’s in store for “The Real Housewives of Orange County” Season 19.
Beador reflected, “I thought I was starting so late in the game at Season 9, but it’s been a journey and I’m grateful for it. There’s not many people that can say they’ve had an adventure like I have, and there have been ups and downs, but in the end, the ups outweigh.”
The reality star added, “I was just thinking about the fact that my twins were 9 years old when we started and they just turned 21. So, it’s like everyone’s been able to see my kids grow up and, hopefully, me growing up finally at 61.”
Shannon said of the new season, “I had a kind of a rough-ish year last year, which was from my own doing, but it could only get better from last year. So, I really have some fun and silly times, which I’m excited about because that’s when I have fun.”
She went on, “But the drama, it is nonstop this season, but it comes from nowhere. Like, I call it ‘unique drama.’ It’s stuff that you would go, ‘What? That’s happening?’ But it happens.”
Detailing the trips they went on, she said, “Well, Amsterdam is known for certain legal things that I don’t partake in, but I might have. So, that was kind of silly… They have stores where it’s legal. You buy baked goods with marijuana in it. So, yeah, I might have… I don’t know… Is it called a ‘medicinal mushroom’? I took a little bite.”
She went on, “New Orleans was very fun. Very fun. I’d never been before, but it ended in drama… which is typical, but this was kind of over the top.”
Shannon said she bonded with Jennifer Pedranti this season, sharing, “I came in really in a decent place with everyone, so that was nice. What I think is fun is that I get extremely close to Jen Pedranti this season, and she is a kick in the pants. She is so funny… I look at her and we’ll start laughing. So, I’m glad that people will see those moments.”
Gretchen Rossi is back in the mix, and Beador said, “I really have enjoyed getting to know her. I think she’s a great addition. And what I love is that people are going to see her and Slade’s relationship, because there was so much criticism years ago, but they’ve been together 16 years and have a beautiful daughter and they’re very happy. We all wish to have 16-year relationships the way that they have, so, and she’s a lot of fun.”
Shannon Beador Admits Shame After DUI & Calls Tamra Judge ‘Cruel’ (Exclusive)
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Where do things stand between Shannon and Tamra Judge?
Beador said, “She’s working on herself and I think that’s great and I wish her well in doing it, but as I work on myself, there is a part where I look back and see some non-healthy or toxic traits to our friendship. So, while it was important to me to not create the tension that happened last year, a lot of the cast members said, ‘We don’t know what to do because you don’t get along with these certain people.’ So, it was important for me to get to that place where we can coexist and even laugh together. But that doesn’t mean that we’re going to ever be as close as we were.”
She added, “As harsh as that may sound on my end, I’m doing it because it’s the healthiest thing for me.”
When asked if there’s ever been a time she almost walked away from the show, Shannon admitted, “Well, at the end of last season, I was burned out and I was kind of at an emotional low, but at the same time when I started the season, I didn’t know if I’d be able to get out of it because so many negative things had happened to me. And then you couple that with a lawsuit and Tamra, my relationship with her, but I was able to get through it. And so, for me, that kind of showed me that I have the strength to keep going.”
Overall, Beador said, “I’m actually proud of how last season turned out, and I’m continuing to work on myself and so I’m good. I like to say it can’t get any worse than it was last year.”
She dished on her time on “Love Hotel” and dating Earl Thompson, saying, “It was perfect timing for me to go on the show because it had been a year, and since my DUI, and I hadn’t dated anyone. So, I went on thinking, ‘I’m just going to have fun. I’m not going to meet anyone.’ I ended up meeting someone and he was different than anyone I’d ever dated. He continually called himself a ‘simple man’ and I would say, ‘I’m a not-so-simple gal,’ but I kept thinking, ‘Is that maybe what I need?’”
She continued, “So, I really tried and there were so many red flags, but I kept trying and especially, like, if I’m a viewer, I want it to work out. So, you know, we visited each other and in the end, it didn’t. And I haven’t dated anyone since because, I’m not gonna lie, it was kind of hard to put myself out there and make myself vulnerable and have it not work.”
Shannon insisted, “I’m happy where I am now. The fact that I can say I’m happy being by myself, and I want a partner, but if I just continue living like this and see my daughters and visit them, then I’m good.”
Beador also addressed recent news she has had another run-in with the police.
“Well, I was coming from an interview confessional,” she said. “I was at a red light and my phone buzzed and I got a new puppy. So, I looked, I saw it was a political text, and I put the phone down when I was at the red light. The no-touch law hadn’t come into effect yet, but he said I was texting… I paid a fine. It wasn’t a moving violation. It wasn’t like a DUI or anything like that, but, you know, everyone’s going to, I guess, find out. I was going to try and fight it, but then I thought, ‘No, I don’t want to bring light to it,’ but somebody else did.”
Shannon, who was on probation because of her DUI, added, “I was going to fight it because the law wasn’t in effect, but you know what? I am a careful person. I made a horrible choice the night that I got into the car and drove, and I think about it every day to this day and I’m so grateful I didn’t hurt anyone because I wouldn’t be in a more blessed and happy state if that were the case.”
Mona asked her what chapter she is in now, and Shannon said, “I’m going to say the productive era because… I typically have formed my schedules and my life around relationships, and I don’t have that right now. So, I’ve had dreams over the years of things that I want to potentially accomplish. So, I’m going to focus on that. So, it’s the productive era.”
“RHOC” premieres July 10 on Bravo.
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