Shannon Beador slammed “inaccurate” claims about her drinking just days before her arrest for a DUI and hit-and-run.
The “Real Housewives of Orange County” star defended herself during an interview with US Weekly on Wednesday after castmate Tamra Judge accused her of being an alcoholic on the show and Gina Kirschenheiter alleged her “drinking is a problem for everybody.”
“Let’s look at other people on the show this season who’ve been drinking a lot,” Beador told the outlet during the joint sit-down with fellow Housewife Vicki Gunvalson.
Gunvalson, 61, also shared her opinion, saying, “The show, I hate to say it, does promote having fun and some alcohol.”
She added, “When you film seven hours in a day and one [hour] of it or a half hour of it is whooping it up on a high level, that’s what they’re going to show because that’s fun.”
The interview came after Kirschenheiter, 39, claimed Beador’s drinking was a “huge problem” during an interview with US Weekly earlier this month.
“I don’t care if Shannon wants to say she has a problem with alcohol or not,” Kirschenheiter said. “I’m not here to judge anybody or diagnose anybody but … her drinking is a problem for everybody else.”
She also suggested Beador needed professional help for her drinking during an August episode of “RHOC.”
“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—ing hurtful and not even remember you said it, you need to go f—ing check yourself into rehab,” Kirschenheiter said in a confessional.
Beador, 59, was arrested for DUI and hit-and-run on Saturday at 11:45 p.m. local time after she allegedly clipped a house in Newport Beach, Calif., and fled.
Sources told TMZ that the reality TV star drove for a little while before parking her car in the middle of the street and getting out with her dog, Archie.
Police were called to the scene and took her into custody after realizing she was intoxicated.
According to the arrest report obtained by Pvnew, the Bravolebrity was booked for two misdemeanors: DUI alcohol and hit-and-run.
Beador was released from jail early Sunday morning after posting her $2,500 bail.
“She is extremely apologetic and remorseful,” her lawyer, Mike Fell, told us Monday. “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.”
Beador’s close friend Jeff Lewis also weighed in on the arrest, saying she’s currently seeking therapy.
“I am happy to say that she is gonna be entering counseling this week, so I’m happy about that,” he said on Monday’s episode of his SiriusXM show, “Jeff Lewis Live.”
“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 added.
