It’s Shannon Storms Beador and her relationship against the world.
On Wednesday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, the 59-year-old reality star had had enough with Heather Dubrow of spread rumors about her relationship with John Janssen.
As Shannon and Vicki Gunvalson got ready to attend the bewigged “You Do Me and I Do You” party, Shannon told the “OG of The OC” about her grievances with Heather’s amplifying Shannon’s confidential business to the rest of the women.
“I’ve had conversations with Heather about normal relationship issues,” she said in a conversation with cameras. “But for her to allude that it’s serious and it’s really bad? No.”
Later that night, Emily Simpson revealed how Shannon had hurt her feelings by choosing to tell Heather, and not her, about her relationship problems with John.
“Remember what Heather told us about Shannon and her relationship with John?” Emily asked before confiding in Gina Kirschenheiter. “I talked to Tamra, but she knew about it. This is kind of what hurts my feelings. I open up to her about [my husband] Shane and I share all of these things about my family, then you need to be honest with me.”
“I can help her,” Emily added. “I can advocate for her, but she won’t let us.”
Gina also chimed in to note how Shannon has had no problem getting involved in other people’s lives after “a couple cocktails” — even though she’s simultaneously been very protective of her own relationship.
Deeper into the night, which included a round of drinking games, Tamra Judge accused Heather of overstating Shannon’s relationship woes with the other ladies — which Heather denied. Shannon overheard the conversation and pulled the former actress aside to grill her about what she’d shared with the others.
Shannon told Heather she was “beyond upset” to hear through the grapevine that Heather had told Tamra, Gina and Emily “generalities” about her relationship being “really bad.”
“I have not told any of these girls your story,” Heather said. “I’m always very neutral about you and John — always.”
In a confessional interview, the That’s Life actress claimed that Tamra was “trying to drum up something as if I can’t keep a secret.”
She continued, “I don’t like that. But also, I think that Shannon is way too concerned about who is talking about her relationship and [should be] concerned about her actual relationship.”
Shannon explained her apprehensions about discussing the details of her private life with John, sharing that he liked to keep himself out of the public eye. She added that she expected their fight about the subject to be “devastating.”
“I have never cared about a person more in my life,” she said in a confessional. “John is, like, supportive, loving, easygoing, affirming good to my kids — like, the list goes on and on. I certainly don’t want to lose that.”
Offended by Shannon’s accusations, Heather explained that she’d “been a really good friend.”
“I care about your relationship,” she said. “I care about your children, and I wouldn’t spread your private information and anything you told me in that vault I would ever repeat.”
She concluded, “I have done what I need to do, but I am not taking fall for defiling our friendship because I didn’t do that and I refuse to be held to the fire for something I did not do.”
In the midst of their castmates’ tense confrontation, Tamra whispered to Gina and Emily to ask whether or not they’d heard the rumors from Heather. The only problem was, Heather overheard Tamra’s digging and pointed her finger at them for breaking confidentiality.
After Emily countered that it wasn’t “fair” for Heather to “blame it on us when you’re the one who talked about it,” Gina attempted to diffuse the situation by assuring Shannon that the group was simply coming from a place of concern.
This enraged Shannon.
“You owe my boyfriend a huge f — -ing apology,” Shannon screamed at Gina.
“Your boyfriend owes you a thousand apologies apparently from what everybody else is saying!” Gina shot back.
Seeing red, Shannon said the group didn’t know “anything” about her relationship and insisted she had never felt “more in love.” In a confessional later, she admitted she felt like the confrontation was more like an “ambush” and described it as a “rat feeding frenzy.”
As the clash continued, Heather said in a confessional that Shannon and John were not in an equal partnership: “Shannon pays for everything, the family dynamic isn’t great, and he’s never slept over and his son lives with him so she doesn’t go over there.”
Emily added in her own confessional that John had “called [Shannon] names and said that she’s fat or unattractive.”
“I don’t feel like he’s invested in their relationship,” she continued. “And I feel like she’s wasting her time and I feel like she can do better.”
Things eventually proved to be too much for Shannon, who walked out of the party and into the producers’ tent in an attempt to clear up any confusion.
“This is my life,” she said, clearly emotional. “I have normal fights with my boyfriend that paralyze me, and I have talked about that on camera. [Now] I have to go home and figure out how to tell my private boyfriend that everyone is f — -ing talking about us and making judgments.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.