Shannon Beador is the first cast member of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” to confirm her return for Season 18, despite her hit-and-run arrest back in September.
Beador, who joined Bravo’s longest-running “Real Housewives” show back in Season 9 (2014) confirmed the news to The Messenger on Wednesday at the premiere party for her friend Jeff Lewis’ Freevee series “Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis.”
“I’m coming back,” she told the outlet. “I will be back for Season 18. I am excited. I want to be as authentic as possible and I’m going to show what I’ve gone through. I’m picking myself up and I’m going to become a better person from it.”
Beador was arrested for drunk driving and hit and run after crashing her car into a Newport Beach home on Sept. 18, ten days after filming the show’s Season 17 reunion.
She plead no contest to driving under the influence and sentenced to three-years unsupervised probation.
In November, Beador appeared with her “RHOC” castmates at BravoCon in Las Vegas, where she admitted she made a “terrible mistake.”
“But I on my own just completed a 28-day behavior wellness program with an alcohol component, and I have been able to focus on elements on my life that were unhealthy and toxic and i believe that today I’m going in a good and positive direction. So thank you for the support,” she said at the fan event.
The new season will likely focus on Beador’s rehabilitation as she moves on from the accident.
Another potential storyline is her ex John Janssen’s new relationship with former “RHOC” cast mate Alexis Bellino. Bellino appeared on Seasons 5-8 and never overlapped with Beador on the show.
“It hurts. I’m not going to lie. It hurts. It hurt a lot,” Beador told The Messenger. “Number one, John Janssen said that he didn’t want to be in a public relationship, so this is quite ironic. And secondly, Alexis’ ex-husband sued me for defamation. It was financially and emotionally devastating for me, and John knows that and Alexis was involved in the lawsuit. So it’s a lot.”
Bellino has reportedly been offered a spot on the Season 18 cast, but Bravo does not comment on casting. The status of the other “OC” housewives — Heather Dubrow, Tamra Judge, Gina Kirschenheiter, Jennifer Pedranti and Emily Simpson — is also unknown.
Last week, “friend of the housewives” Taylor Armstrong confirmed that she would not be returning for Season 18.
Bellino told TheWrap last week at the DIRECTV Celebrates Xmas at Kathy’s event that she and Janssen “are becoming friends and I do appreciate his friendship.” Apparently, things have progressed very quickly since then.
All 17 seasons of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” are currently streaming on Peacock.
