Alexis Bellino and John Janssen appeared together on a podcast on Tuesday, where they addressed swirling rumors about John, his past relationship with Shannon Beador, and discussions that were had about John amid the 18th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
After being asked about claims that John, 60 is a “camera whore” and using her for screen time on the Bravo reality show, as well as Shannon’s suggestion that John wouldn’t pay for certain things, including dinners, Alexis, 47, revealed that he actually offered to pay her season 18 salary to keep her off the show.
“This is one of the most misconceptions, most aggravating rumors out there about him,” Alexis began on the July 30 episode of Reality With the King, via Bravo Snark Side on Instagram. “First of all, John offered to pay me the full salary that Bravo was going to pay me, not to do the show. So if he’s Mr., you know, doesn’t have money, and she pays for everything, he’s not going to do that, number one. Number two, it’s a lie … She says he love-bombed her … How does he love-bomb you if he’s broke and doesn’t give you anything and you’re paying for everything?”
“Nothing she says makes sense and nothing she says [has] credibility anymore because it’s going to keep getting profusely shown throughout the season, her words don’t have any merit,” she added.
When John joined the interview, he revealed that the only reason he agreed to film, after initially declining to appear on RHOC, was for the sake of Shannon and her finances.
“I ended up making the decision saying I’m not going to film. Now, at the time I’m with Shannon, I care about her. She wouldn’t survive if she didn’t have the job. So I was put in a very difficult situation and I agreed to film,” John revealed, per Bravo Snark Side on Instagram. “So then people say I lit up on camera and stuff. I’m shy, actually, and I was trying to make the best of it.”
According to Alexis, she believes that viewers will soon understand John better.
“He isn’t eager to jump on the camera this season with me, and I filmed the whole season, so it’s just going to take time, and yeah, he did a red carpet with me, who cares? I asked him to,” she explained. “We’re not going to crawl in a hole and die, just because there’s a rumor out there that he’s a fame wh*re. He’s not a fame wh*re. He’s been asked to do a million interviews, [and] the guy said no up till now.”
While John previously declined interviews, he admitted that it had presented a dilemma because his silence made people hate him and think he was a “bad person.”
“All of these things that have been said about me have taken hold as truth over the last four or five years. And it’s hurt me. It’s hurt me,” he admitted, noting that it even hurt him financially.
Looking back at his relationship with Shannon, John confirmed the romance was “real.”
“She has a wonderful side to her. But I think people out there just assume like, ‘John was the problem in the relationship,’ and I would just challenge people to think about what it might be like to be with Shannon,” John stated, also via Bravo Snark Side on Instagram. “What is it like to fail every day, all day, every day, to fail at everything? That’s what it felt like to date her. But there were fun times, there were good times.”
“It was real. I tried very, very hard. I did,” he continued. “But we were never meant to be together.”
As John admitted that his life is less stressful post-Shannon, Alexis joked that she “brought some new stress with some more media and some bad coverage and all the haters.”
“It’s not that there’s no stress. I’m not on the show, but I think I’m talked about more than anybody else, which is pretty surreal,” he replied of being a hot topic on season 18.
“It’s really hard on him, that part of he doesn’t have a voice. And it’s like he’s mentioned in every scene, whether I’m there or not. And always negative,” Alexis noted.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.