"The stupidest thing that could happen to anyone is getting a DUI," Bravo star Shannon Beador declared back in a 2020 episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County. Call it a bad case of irony, then, that Beador herself was found driving under the influence in September 2023, just 10 days after filming the show’s Season 17 reunion in Culver City, Calif.
“Do I go out and drink sometimes?” Beador stated during the reunion, after her RHOC co-star Heather Dubrow revealed that sometimes Shannon would “tend to drink and call” her castmates. “For you to say I need rehab, for you to, like, paint a picture so that I’m calling people every single night, for you to say that I can breathalyze…” However, her diatribe was put on pause by Gina Kirschenheiter questioning: “You don't want to look at that at all, Shannon?"
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Given what happened, her relationship with alcohol is definitely something that Beador and co. will be looking at (and discussing at length) in Season 18. The long-running Bravo series premieres on Thursday, July 11 at 9 p.m. ET. Ahead of the new episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County, here’s everything you need to know about Shannon Beador's DUI in 2023.
When was Shannon Beador’s DUI? Get the Juicy Details
On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, Beador was arrested at 11:45 p.m. for driving under the influence and a hit-and-run after she allegedly clipped a Newport Beach, Calif., house with her pet dog in the backseat and fled the scene. She was cited and released from jail the following morning after paying a $2,500 bail. “She is extremely apologetic and remorseful,” the reality star’s lawyer, Mike Fell, told Page Six at the time. “We will be awaiting the official information on this case as it becomes available, and Shannon is prepared to accept full responsibility for her actions.”
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Was Shannon Beador sentenced for her DUI?
Yes. The 59-year-old Bravo star was sentenced to three years of probation and 40 hours of community service, and was required to complete a nine-month alcohol program and pay restitution for the damage she did to the home she hit with her car.
In a statement, her lawyer said, "Shannon pleaded no contest/ nolo contendere this morning to Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and driving when she had a blood-alcohol level of .08 or above. The Orange County District Attorney's Office argued that Shannon should be sentenced to jail and be convicted of DUI and a hit-and-run. But after receiving legal arguments from both sides, the judge denied the prosecutor's request and dismissed the hit-and-run."
Will Shannon Beador's DUI appear on The Real Housewives of Orange County ?
While Bravo was not filming when the DUI itself took place, the incident will be discussed on the show and has become a central plot point to Season 18. Beador gives more details of what actually happened that evening during the Season 18 premiere. In a confessional, she explains how that evening, she had driven to the home of her then-boyfriend John Janssen . (Controversially, he later moved on from his relationship with Beador to date another RHOC personality, Alexis Bellino , who is back this season as a “Friend Of” the show.) After the couple got into an argument, Beador jumped into her car even though she had been drinking. “I got in an accident seconds later because I rev'd up the engine so that he could know how mad I was and I lost control of the car immediately."
In one scene from the premiere, Beador tearfully apologizes to her three daughters, 22-year-old Sophie and 19-year-old twins, Stella and Adeline . "I've never broken a bone, I've never had a concussion, I've never been in an accident, I've never been arrested, I've never had a DUI—and I did all that in 10 seconds,” Shannon tells them. However, she assures them that she’s moving on positively from the incident. “God has a plan,” she says. “I absolutely believe that.”
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Did Shannon Beador go to rehab?
Yes and no. As a part of her sentencing, Beador did attend a nine-month alcohol treatment program that could be classified as out-patient rehab. However, she was never checked into a rehab facility in the traditional sense.
Has Shannon Beador continued to drink after her DUI and rehab?
Yes. The Daily Mail initially reported that Beador had continued to drink even after her court-ordered alcohol treatment. This will also be a major plot point during the new season of The Real Housewives of Orange County and is discussed in the premiere.
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What have the RHOC cast said about Shannon’s alcohol use?
The extent of Shannon’s drinking has frequently come up in conversation among her RHOC castmates, which this season include Tamra Judge , Heather Dubrow, Emily Simpson , Gina Kirschenheiter, Jennifer Pedranti and newcomer Katie Ginella . In fact, one of last season’s most explosive fights was between Beador and Kirschenheiter, after Shannon claimed that she protected Gina’s kids from being taken by Child Protective Services following her own DUI arrest back in 2019. (Kirschenheiter stopped drinking alcohol following the incident.)
Beador walked back her claim in the reunion episode after Kirschenheiter asked her to list her children’s names. Beador then said that she didn’t remember saying the “unkind thing.” “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,” said an emotional Kirschenheiter in a confessional.
And while Gina had surprisingly supportive words for Shannon in the Season 18 premiere, she was quick to acknowledge the karma of it all. "Seeing all the news coming in on the morning of Shannon's DUI, I mean, this ain't Hammurabi's Code but…an eye for an eye,” Kirschenheiter declared.
The Real Housewives of Orange County S eason 18 premieres Thursday, July 11 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
Next, 'Real Housewives of Orange County' Season 18 Gets a Release Date and Trailer
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