‘Tis the end of Season 18 of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” but before the ladies hang up their oranges, they need to be put in the hot seat. There was so much drama this season, especially with Shannon Beador’s DUI so there’s a lot to discuss.
Host Andy Cohen first addresses Shannon and Tamra Judge’s ongoing feud over the DUI. Tamra says she’s also “hurt” by Shannon and wants to find some sort of resolution.
“We don’t have to be best friends but I don’t want it to be uncomfortable and I don’t want it to be toxic,” she tells Shannon after yelling at her and calling her a drunk all season.
“I mean, the way I was treated by you this season is unacceptable. You attacked me and I really don’t have an interest in being friends with you,” Shannon responds. Lines have been drawn.
Heather Dubrow also chimes in and thinks Shannon’s relationship with alcohol was unhealthy. She brings up her blood alcohol level at the time of the DUI and stated that a person with that high of a number drinks a lot.
As for Gina Kirschenheiter, she’s forgiven Shannon for throwing her DUI in her face years ago and has her “RHOC” castmate’s back, as does Emily Simpson.
After her DUI, Shannon went to a treatment facility for a month, during which Tamra claimed she called her drunk. Shannon argues that the place did random drug and alcohol testing. “I didn’t drink during the program. You don’t know anything about me,” she says.
Andy asks Tamra why she can’t just let Shannon’s drinking go and she claims that they talk about the subject every year. Flashback to Shannon defending herself season after season. Yikes.
Shannon Beador and Heather Dubrow make a truce
Shannon’s relationship with Heather also took a hit after she showed her the aftermath of the DUI. While they were in Sonoma, Shannon confided to Heather about getting into the accident and then wondered if John Janssen heard the crash from his house.
Heather’s response to seeing Shannon’s bloody face was absolute shock but apparently, she had known about it from Tamra. “Bravo then, for the acting because you acted like you’d never heard the story before,” Shannon says.
“It’s different having someone tell you a story thirdhand and the person that was involved in it tell it to you,” Heather explains. “I knew that Tamra had told me she had seen that photo before. I had never seen that photo before.”
In what was supposed to be a private moment, Heather told the other ladies about Shannon wondering if John had heard the accident but after hearing her talk about it on Jeff Lewis’ show, she thought it was public knowledge.
Heather apologizes for breaking Shannon’s trust and tells her that if she doesn’t want stuff being spilled, then don’t tell her. It’s a weird pact to make but that’s reality television for you.
Katie Ginella gets thrown into the fire
Katie Ginella’s rookie “RHOC” season started off very shaky, especially after she accused Heather of calling the paparazzi on her Disney trip.
Before Andy gets into that, Gina accuses Katie of lying to her about owning her home in San Diego. Katie explains that it was a lease-to-own and that the owners wanted two years of rental income before selling.
For some reason, Emily harps on whether or not Katie lives in San Diego or Orange County. Katie reveals that she lived in OC for a while because her father-in-law was dying and they needed to be close to him. Does she need a reason to live in two cities?
Heather then talks about supposedly snubbing Katie at Sutton Stracke’s party. She brings up three stories that are going around and they argue about who’s right.
Af for the paparazzi-gate, Katie clarifies that her source stated that Heather never called the photogs but someone in her camp did. She apologizes to Gina for thinking she set her up with Heather, who then accuses her of “falsely accusing people.” Things get nasty.
Katie Ginella defends her past
Heather alludes to an incident that happened years ago when Katie got into an altercation with a road rager.
Katie explains that she had been driving in Georgia with her three children when a man suddenly yelled at her from his car. She pulled over but he followed her and tried to film her with the kids. Katie called the cops, who then tasered the man because he was allegedly acting belligernt.
Heather jumps in and says that the police account was different. Emily agrees that the cops would never lie. Seriously? This is coming from the attorney who is helping convicts wrongfully accused of crimes.
The man ended up suing Katie and she got served through her ex-husband because she had left him and was homeless.
Instead of sympathizing with Katie’s situation, Emily accuses her of coming up with excuses. She then asks her why her ex had physical and legal custody of their kids during the divorce. Not your business, Emily!
Instead of telling Emily to go stuff a turkey hero up her piehole, Katie explains that she was living in a facility in Atlanta because her parents wouldn’t support her through her divorce with the ex. Because she didn’t have a place of residence, the court gave her ex-husband custody of their kids.
Katie then fought it when she had the chance 18 months later and was awarded joint custody. “I never missed a time with my kids. That was a horrible, horrible time,” she cries.
Heather feels bad at this point and tells Katie she’s sorry about what she went through with her kids. Katie accepts and hopefully, they can move forward.
Emily Simpson puts her attorney pants on
Next up is Jennifer Pedranti, who has had to defend her relationship with Ryan Boyajian this whole season. Ryan’s friend Matt was caught in some illegal gambling dealings and somehow millions of dollars were transferred into Ryan’s bank account.
During the reunion, Jennifer explains that she feels guilty that Ryan has been in the headlines because she’s on “RHOC” and that he was never involved in Matt’s bookie business.
Emily jumps in to say that Ryan is involved in some way because he had gotten immunity from the feds because he cooperated with them. She thinks he gave up information about Matt but Jennifer exclaims, “That’s his best friend!” Oh Jennifer.
Even Andy says, “But that’s how you get immunity.” Emily explains, “When you get immunity it’s because you’re exchanging information.” In case no one knew, Emily is an attorney, which she announces just in case they all forgot.
Emily acts like she’s on “Law & Order” and tells everyone everything she read about Ryan’s case. She’s convinced he knew that Matt was laundering money because he accompanied him to Las Vegas many times and cashed the money for chips.
Jennifer tries to defend Ryan and Emily tells her she’s like Tammy Wynette because she always stands by her man. “Sometimes you just need to be accountable,” she yells. “I am very accountable!” Jennifer shoots back. The episode ends with Emily’s side-eye and the “RHOC” Season 18 Reunion continues next week…
