Real Housewives of Orange County star Shannon Beador was spotted with ex-boyfriend John Janssen for the first time since she was arrested for a hit-and-run and driving under the influence on Saturday, September 16.
Shannon, 59, was seen walking into her Orange County, California, home on Tuesday, September 19, as John, 59, opened the front door, according to photos obtained by the Daily Mail.
The sighting came days after TMZ reported that Shannon drove onto a residential property and clipped a home in Newport Beach while driving erratically on Saturday. She then reportedly parked her vehicle in the middle of the street before getting out with her dog, in a supposed attempt to make it look like she’d been walking her pet when police arrived on the scene.
The Newport Beach PD confirmed to Us Weekly that Shannon’s car had been seized as part of an investigation into the damage of the Newport Beach House and that the Bravolebrity had been cited and released.
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While Shannon seems to have the support of her ex-boyfriend after her arrest, the former couple have had a difficult year. In January, Shannon confirmed that she and John had ended their relationship after wrapping season 17 of RHOC, which premiered in June.
“All I can do is repeat in my head what he said to me while we were filming. We were in a great place. But seven days later, when the cameras were down, it was a completely different story,“ she said at the time, adding that she was “blindsided” by John’s decision to end their romance.
Despite the painful split, Shannon came to John’s defense last week when her costar Taylor Armstrong alleged that John made body-shaming comments about her during their relationship. (Armstrong, 52, made the claims during the September 13 episode of RHOC.)
“When we would wake up in the morning, he’d say, ‘Why you got to be so pretty?’ That was his little thing,” Shannon exclusively told Us. “He never fat-shamed me or criticized my appearance at all. And that’s hurtful because I don’t want him to have that bad cloud over him, and it’s hard for him.”
She added that the “laundry list of allegations” that her other costars have made against John, whom she started dating in 2019, are inaccurate.
“There are issues with him breaking up with me, and I think people will be upset about that, but he didn’t say or do a lot of the things that have been alleged by my cast members,” she said.
Shannon may have seen John the night of her hit-and-run-arrest, according to a resident who lives at the scene of the crime. The tenant exclusively told Us on Tuesday that John lives a few houses down from where the accident took place — and some neighbors allegedly “heard them screaming at each other” the night of the crash.
While Shannon has not spoken publicly about the arrest, her attorney Michael Fell issued a statement to Us on Monday, September 18. “I spent quite a bit of time with Shannon yesterday. She is extremely apologetic and remorseful,” Fell told Us. “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.”
The reality star’s close friend Jeff Lewis shared a similar sentiment on his Sirius XM show “Jeff Lewis Live” that same day, noting that Shannon is “ashamed” of herself.
Lewis, 53, added that Shannon is “gonna be entering counseling this week,” but said he doesn’t think that she is struggling with alcohol addiction.
“As her close friend, I think she’s going through a lot of personal struggles right now, and I think that she probably has been leaning on alcohol, but I don’t believe she’s an alcoholic,” he said.
Shannon also defended her alcohol intake just days before her arrest. “Let’s look at other people on the show this season who’ve been drinking a lot,” she exclusively told Us last week in response to costar Gina Kerschenheiter calling her drinking “a problem” while speaking exclusively to Us earlier this month.
Shannon previously took issue with Tamra Judge calling her a “drunk” during a June episode of RHOC.
“It’s hard. I know that that’s not who I am,” she told Us after the episode aired. “My kids watched the episode with me and they were pretty upset about it. They’re like, ‘Mom, that’s not who you are.’”
Shannon shares daughter Sophie, 21, and twins Stella and Adeline, 18, with ex-husband David Beador.