Shannon Beador has really REALLY turned the other cheek this season on Real Housewives Of Orange County – or maybe she actually got a new set of cheeks?! Shannon recently shared a series of photos of her hanging out with last season’s enemies Heather Dubrow and Tamra Barney, hashtagging the photos #ThreeMusketeers. This prompted many to wonder: What about Vicki Gunvalson?
Vicki has had a traumatic year – she lost her mother suddenly, and boyfriend Brooks Ayers revealed his cancer had returned and treatments were unsuccessful. In addition to all of that has Vicki lost all her friends on RHOC?! It looks like it, sadly.
Fans questioned Shannon about her friendship with Vicki and also her new-found buddy-buddy relationship with Tamra and Heather who treated her so despicably last season. Shannon emerged as fan-favorite in light of the backstabbing. Has she now joined Club Mean Middle-Ager?
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Shannon responded denying that her friendship with Heather and Tamra were storylines, and insists it’s all authentic! “I am not an actress at all. I am not fake. I am a strong person and without telling you about the entire season, I can only say you will understand as you watch (if you choose to),” she answered on instagram.
Shannon continued, “I said to tune in because it will explain how I have moved forward in certain relationships. We were having fun. Simple as that,” she insists. Hmmm… should we read between the lines to presume Vicki is on the outs with the girls, or is it just three wannabe gals having fun … for the cameras.
Moving on Lydia McLaughlin joined RHOC for one season and then quickly departed. With a new book, Beyond Orange County, and a new baby, she reveals she’s very happy being out of the glare of the reality TV cameras and explains that observing how the show affected families is what led to her decision to quit.
“I was asked to come back. I just decided not to,” explains Lydia. “Filming got harder and harder. Then, on the reunion show just seeing Briana and Vicki because I am so close with my mom so I obviously really related to a mother/daughter on TV as entertainment but it’s still a real relationship, and they got into a big battle in the middle of the reunion, and they were just fighting. I remember thinking, ‘Why am I here? I don’t have to be here right now.’ So I felt inside the Lord telling me to get up and leave. So, I just got up and I walked out of the shot.”
Lydia reveals that after wrestling with whether or not to return she made the “really hard decision” not to re-sign her contract. “I don’t know why that would be controversial or anything like that. I guess people can’t believe that someone would walk away from it but I definitely was asked to come back.”
While she believes some people can successfully juggle fame and family, for Lydia, at this point in her life, it’s not possible, and family came first. “I did have to choose at a certain point and who knows maybe in two years I’ll be a housewife again.,” she elaborates. “But right now it’s just not for me.”
Since leaving the show Lydia shares that none of the current RHOC have remained in touch, although she still counts on Gretchen Rossi and Alexis Bellino as friends. The Ex-Housewives Club, y’all! “Pretty much once I said I wasn’t going to do the show the text messages from all the other girls were gone,” she tells Fox 411. “I was friends with them because I was a housewife and when I didn’t have that any more I think I wasn’t worthy to be their friend.”
Lydia also speaks out on the recent drama with Kim Richards, a long-time friend of Kyle Richards (!!) Lydia is deeply sympathetic to the family and believes Kim needs to leave Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills for her health.
“Watching the [RHOBH] reunion I had to turn it off. It’s one thing as entertainment but once you’ve been on it you know that it’s real and seeing that there’s so much drama in that relationship that it was hard for me to watch it,” Lydia expressed. “These people become your friends. They’re not just people you see on TV they are people that are a part of your life so it’s not entertainment it’s real drama. It’s hard to be around and stomach.”
“I wish Kim the best,” Lydia continues, adding that she hopes Kim “finds the Lord” but also gets the help she needs. “I just feel bad for her and her family. Maybe she needs to take a step away from the cameras because I think that would be good for her because, honestly, it’s so much pressure, ” explains Lydia. “I can’t imagine if you’re dealing with an addiction or anything like that she needs to take care of herself. I’m hope she can choose that over fame.”
Amen, sister. Amen!
Well I personally enjoyed Lydia’s spunky, quickly presence on RHOC, but I agree with her that her personality and the toxicity of that show were not a good match. I could see her becoming jaded with the process and losing the elements of fun and goofy that made her interesting on the show. I also totally agree with her about Kim!
[Photo Credits: Instagram & Instagram]
TELL US – DO YOU THINK VICKI AND SHANNON ARE STILL FRIENDS? IS LYDIA CORRECT ABOUT RHOC BEING BAD FOR FAMILIES?
