Real Housewives of Orange County‘s Shannon Beador denied costar Gina Kirschenheiter‘s accusations about her drinking just days before being arrested for driving under the influence.
Beador, 39, defended herself during a joint interview with pal Vicki Gunvalson on Wednesday, September 13, calling out the “inaccurate” claims about her alcohol intake. “Let’s look at other people on the show this season who’ve been drinking a lot,” Beador exclusively told Us Weekly.
Gunvalson, 61, chimed in with her own perspective. “The show, I hate to say it, does promote having fun and some alcohol,” she told Us. “And we can control what we put in our body. … It’s just when you film seven hours in a day and one [hour] of it or a half hour of it is whooping it up on a high level, that’s what they’re going to show because that’s fun.”
The former OG of the OC teased that Beador “knows how to whoop it up” for the cameras but argued that her behavior shouldn’t be used by other cast members for a “story line.”
Beador was booked for a hit-and-run and DUI less than one week later after driving erratically through Newport Beach, California, on Saturday, September 16. According to TMZ, Beador drove onto a residential property and clipped the house with her vehicle. She was released without bond, but her car was seized as part of an investigation.
The drama began earlier this month when Kirschenheiter, 39, exclusively told Us that she had “mixed emotions” about season 17 of RHOC, which began airing in June, but was “very angry” at Beador overall.
The duo have butted heads throughout the season, reaching a boiling point during an August episode after Beador claimed to costar Jennifer Pedranti that she saved Kirschenheiter’s kids from being taken by Child Protective Services following her DUI arrest in 2019. When the allegations were brought up in front of a larger group, Beador claimed she “would never say that.”
In a confessional, Kirschenheiter got emotional about the drama. “Shannon says s–t, and then she wants to pretend that she didn’t do it, and if you can say things that are that f–king hurtful and not even remember you said it, you need to go f–king check yourself into rehab,” she said.
Kirschenheiter told Us after the heated exchange aired that she hadn’t received an apology from Beador. “I was shocked by that,” she noted. “I’m like, if nothing else, you send the text to save face. You know what I mean? Just check the box.”
Kirschenheiter didn’t drink at all while filming season 17 but thinks it’s “very clear” that Beador is crossing a line. “I don’t care if Shannon wants to say she has a problem with alcohol or not. I’m not here to judge anybody or diagnose anybody but … her drinking is a problem for everybody else,” she told Us at the time.
Beador, for her part, confessed on Wednesday that she does “regret” dragging up the CPS drama. “I think it was taken out of context or expanded more. … So I apologize for that,” she told Us.
She continued: “But for her to come at me and say that I need help and I’m not looking at my life and that I have a drinking problem … I think she needs to take a little step back and maybe not make Shannon Beador her story line every season.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
