Emily Simpson is sharing her thoughts about Real Housewives of Orange County costar Alexis Bellino‘s intentions with Shannon Beador.
While speaking exclusively with Us Weekly ahead of the Thursday, August 8, episode, Simpson, 48, recalled Bellino, 47, and Beador, 60, coming face to face for the first time at Heather Dubrow‘s Wishing Wall party, where Bellino brought alleged receipts about Beador’s $75,000 face-lift. (Bellino is dating Beador’s ex John Janssen, who sued Beador in March for the money she allegedly borrowed from him for the procedure.)
“I think what was bothering me was I never had a problem with Alexis being with John,” Simpson began. “And then the first group outing we went to, which was Heather’s party at the Balboa Debate Club, I actually rode there with Alexis and I felt like on the way there, she was very reasonable. She was like, ‘I don’t wanna fight with Shannon. I don’t wanna be in a bad place with her.’”
Noting that she thought Bellino’s attitude about the situation was “mature” at the time, Simpson continued, “Then [when] we are there, it’s, like, she says one thing, but then she acts completely different. She’ll say, ‘I wanna be friends.’ But then she’ll humiliate her. She’ll say, ‘I just wanna get along with this woman.’ But then she’ll constantly talk about John in front of her. And it’s like, it doesn’t make sense.”
She added, “I mean, when you show up at a dinner and there are a bunch of people there and you have copies of receipts, there’s nothing else [you’re trying to do] except trying to humiliate her.”
The reality star also told Us that watching Bellino interact with Beador in the way that she did changed how she looked at her.
Emily Simpson. Andrew Eccles/Bravo
“I feel like I saw a completely different Alexis,” Simpson explained. “I had always known her as a girl’s girl. And very sweet. And then to see this other side of her where I felt like her main goal was just to sabotage Shannon and to make her look bad – that’s sad.”
Bellino made her return to Bravo during the season 18 premiere of RHOC in July. When fans were first introduced to Bellino during season 4, she was married to now-ex-husband Jim Bellino. The former spouses wed in 2005 and finalized their divorce in 2018. Together they share three children: son James, 18, and twins Miles and Mackenna, 16. (Alexis left the franchise as a main cast member after season 8.)
For his part, Janssen, 62, has a long romantic history with Beador. The twosome dated on and off from 2019 to 2023 after her split from ex-husband David Beador. The former spouses share three daughters: Sophie, 22, and twins Adeline and Stella, 19.
Alexis and Janssen first sparked romance rumors in December last year after they were introduced through mutual friends. The newest season of the long-running Bravo series marked the first time Alexis and Shannon have filmed together.
“There were other reasons, John aside, that I don’t want to pursue a friendship with [Alexis],” Shannon previously told Us while discussing season 18. “There’s the clip of her going, ‘You’re not going to win my man,’ or something. It’s like, I’m not in the competition. Enjoy!”
New episodes of RHOC air on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET and can be streamed on Peacock the following day.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi