Gina Kirschenheiter has Shannon Beador’s back.
The sober “Real Housewives of Orange County” star, 40, tells Pvnew’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast that she is holding space for castmate Beador, 60, as the latter navigates a new relationship with alcohol in the wake of her headline-making DUI.
“I think that everybody’s relationship with alcohol is their own,” Kirschenheiter explains, calling Beador’s a “social experiment” as the “RHOC” vet figures out her future with drinking.
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“Shannon at least being able to look at it is a good thing. Now if she’s in this space where she’s like, ‘Look guys, I’m willing to accept that my relationship with alcohol was not good. Right now I’m in a space where I want to see if I can responsibly, socially drink,’” the real estate agent elaborates. “That’s her right to do that.”
As previously reported, Beador was arrested after crashing her vehicle into a residential building in Newport Beach, Calif., while intoxicated in September 2023.
Beador has said on the reality show that she now only allows herself two alcoholic beverages per outing following the incident.
This change came after she chose to prioritize her well-being by spending time at “a behavioral wellness place with an alcohol component in it.”
In the “RHOC” Season 18 premiere, Kirschenheiter expressed her belief that Beador should have entered rehab — but she feels differently today.
“It’s her journey and I am not about pressuring people [to stop drinking] because that doesn’t work,” she says. “She really has to figure that out for herself and I am here to support her through it.”
Kirschenheiter, for her part, eventually gave up drinking after her own DUI arrest in 2019.
“My relationship with alcohol and my journey with alcohol doesn’t affect [Beador’s],” the “Orange Country” podcast host emphasizes.
“This is just me being here — whether I drank or didn’t drink — as a friend and a person of support for her. I’m not putting anything I did or the way I did it on her because it’s different for everybody.”
Kirschenheiter and Beador clashed throughout the majority of last year’s “RHOC” Season 17 but made amends when cameras picked back up for the latest installment.
Kirschenheiter says she had a change of heart when Beador took “accountability” for the DUI and for previously casting judgment on her brush with the law in hurtful comments made throughout several seasons.
“There were moments this season where I did feel like I doubted [Beador’s personal growth] and I did check her,” she tells “Virtual Reali-Tea.”
“And I think that she allowed me to do that. We’re in a really good space because she understands that it’s all coming out of love.”
“The Real Housewives of Orange County” airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
