Shannon Storms
Beador
is set to return to Real Housewives of Orange County nearly four months after being
arrested
for
DUI
and
hit-and-run
.
On Wednesday, the 59-year-old reality star uploaded a snapshot of herself with her three children Stella, Adeline, and Sophie, as well as Bravo staff colleagues.
Beador is clad in a black sweater and matching slacks in the photo. She captioned the shot with two emojis.
According to the source,
filming
for season 18 of RHOC officially begins next week, but cameras went up to capture Beador and her three daughters before they head back to school.
Tamra Judge, Heather Dubrow, Emily Simpson, Gina Kirschenheiter, and Jennifer Pedranti were all welcomed back for another season, according to earlier reports. Taylor Armstrong, a friend, announced her departure from the show in November.
Bravo, as is customary, does not comment on casting, but producers have made an offer to RHOC veteran Alexis Bellino to return as a Friend, according to a source. It will be her first appearance on the show in ten years, having left in 2013 following season eight.
Beador will find Alexis' return to RHOC especially tough because the former Alexis Couture owner has now found love with Beador's ex-boyfriend,
John
Janssen. Alexis' ex-husband, Jim Bellino, had sued Beador in a highly publicized 2018 defamation action (Beador won the lawsuit in October 2020, but still spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending herself).
That makes Alexis's affair with her ex all the more painful. "John is very well aware of a lawsuit that I was involved in with Jim Bellino, and Alexis was involved in that lawsuit," Beador previously told E! News in December. "For years, I was financially and emotionally devastated." And I triumphed. But it bankrupted me financially. I'm also a single mother. John is aware.
"I've been hurt a lot in the last couple of weeks because, No. 1, John said that he didn't want to be in the public eye, and he's thrust himself more into the public eye at this point,” she added. “So, I'm quite confused about that."
In addition to dealing with the fallout from her DUI, Beador will have to confront Judge on RHOC, with whom she is no longer communicating.
The ex-best friends had a squabble over Thanksgiving that has yet to be addressed. Many people believe it's because Judge has reconciled with Alexis, however the Vena CBD owner revealed on social media earlier this month that she and Alexis mended at BravoCon in November 2023, weeks before Alexis even met Jansen.
Vicki Gunvalson, a former co-star and judge, has also had a public falling out. The three had created a stage play based on their "Tres Amigas" character, but Judge stepped out, revealing on her successful podcast Two Ts and a Pod this week that the production didn't fit her schedule.
Gunvalson
and Beador then announced their own stage concert, while Judge and Teddi Mellencamp announced a live broadcast of their iHeartRadio podcast.
But, according to Judge, Gunvalson was irritated when he dropped out of the Tres Amigas event. She recounted getting a series of unpleasant, character-targeting text messages from Gunvalson before he began attacking Judge and the media. Judge responded, and the two began exchanging online messages, with Gunvalson labeling Judge a "traitor" and Judge saying she felt "so refreshed and so relieved" to have Gunvalson out of her life.
"It's been a long time coming," stated Judge on Two Ts. "I don't want toxic friendships, 2204." I don't want anyone gossiping about me behind my back. That's exactly what I don't want."
"The show's a whole different animal but off the show — me, Shannon and Vicki — there was a lot of s----talking about me," she went on to say. "And I had a conversation with them, and I told them, 'If I find out one more time that you were talking s--- behind my back, I'm done.'" And it was reported that something was spoken. And I'm done."
Gunvalson is not presently scheduled to return to RHOC for the upcoming season, but there appears to be plenty of drama without her.
Andy Cohen recently told that the RHOC cast would have the greatest shocks this year. "I mean, I think with all this stuff going on off-camera in Orange County right now, I think you're looking at what's going to be a really dramatic season," he told reporters.
English (US) ·