Gina Kirschenheiter and Emily Simpson are revealing how Shannon Beador has been coping with ex-boyfriend John Janssen‘s engagement to Alexis Bellino and his $75,000 lawsuit against her.
As the drama between the exes continues to play out on The Real Housewives of Orange County, Gina, 40, and Emily, 48, praised their castmate’s handling of the “traumatic” drama she’s sustained from John, 61, and Alexis, 47, while also sharing whether or not they believe they’ll be present when John and Alexis ultimately walk down the aisle.
“She is happy,” Gina told E! News on September 26. “For somebody who went through a lot in a small period of time, I feel like Shannon has handled it very well.”
According to Gina, she would not have been so composed if someone pursued her boyfriend, Travis Mullen.
“If I break up with Travis and then a new woman comes on this show and says all of a sudden she’s dating Travis, I would lose my frigging mind!” she admitted.
Gina also would’ve flipped if she’d been faced with a lawsuit — and threats from Alexis to reveal videos filmed at John’s home on the night of her DUI arrest.
“I would lose my mind,” Gina shared. “So, I actually think she did a pretty good job, all things considered, of even just getting through it.”
As for Emily, who described Shannon’s situation with John as “traumatic,” she felt his and Alexis’ behavior amid season 18 was “completely out of line.”
“On a show, there needs to be a level of drama among the women. I think it needs to be interesting drama, real drama. I think this drama goes beyond boundaries,” she stated. “I think this is more of a methodical way to destroy her. And it’s cruel and I don’t back that up.”
Because they are not currently close with Alexis, neither Gina nor Emily believes they’ll be invited to her and John’s wedding.
“I wouldn’t expect to be. I don’t have a relationship with Alexis,” Gina noted. “I never knew Alexis prior to this and I didn’t really even get to know her during this. Also like I’ve been pretty vocal about her groom, so I really wouldn’t expect to have that invitation.”
Meanwhile, Emily said she is “fine” with missing the event.
“If I was invited, I would be shocked,” she added.
In other RHOC news, court documents obtained by In Touch Weekly on September 17 have confirmed that Shannon and John will not be participating in mediation amid his lawsuit against her.
“At this time, the parties do not believe mediation or arbitration would be fruitful,” lawyers explained, noting that they had “exchanged initial discovery” and are “waiting to receive discovery response.”
As fans will recall, John claimed Shannon asked for $40,000 for a facelift and then another $35,000 months later, but she failed to repay him for the loans. Then, in response, Shannon stated that they were not loans and that there was no agreement in place for them to be repaid.
“[John] and [Shannon] were in a romantic relationship for over 4 years. During the relationship the parties regularly shared their finances and assisted each other with certain financial contributions,” her attorney stated. “After the relationship soured and eventually ended, [John] now claims that $75,000 he provided Defendant during the relationship were loans, subject to specific yet unidentified loan terms such as interest, attorney fees, repayment timing and the like. Defendant denies that said monies were loans, but were simply monies shared during the relationship.”
Shannon is requesting that all claims against her be thrown out, and for John to pay her court costs.
“[Shannon] has engaged attorneys in defense of [John’s] frivolous, unfounded and unreasonable claims and are thereby entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees pursuant to applicable law upon judgment in [Shannon’s] favor,” her lawyer said.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.