Shannon Beador is getting candid about how she’s still trying to better herself after her DUI arrest last year.
“I’ve done a lot and I still have more to do,” Beador, 66, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, July 11, ahead of the Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 premiere. “I work with my therapist, and I have a psychiatrist from the program that I went to for 30 days. And I feel as though I’m growing. I’m headed down a healthier path, and I’m trying to create any type of positive thing that I can out of a horrible situation.”
Beador shared that she opted for therapy over rehab because she realized she was using alcohol as a “coping mechanism.” At the time of her DUI, she explained, she was struggling with a lot of things in her personal life, like preparing for her youngest daughter, Stella, to head to college.
“I don’t want to take what happened to me lightly at all and say like, ‘Well, God had a plan,’” she reflected. “Because I could have hurt someone.”
The reality star shared that she was “incredibly grateful” no one was injured at the scene of her accident — including her dog, Archie, who was in the car with her.
“I made a horrible choice very late in my life, and I considered myself a better example than that. So I’ve got to make changes, and it has forced me to look at my life,” she admitted. “And as I look at it right now, I have a lot of work to do. It’s probably lifelong, but I feel good about myself and I don’t want to be in a relationship, which is crazy. Because that’s me. If I’m not in a relationship, that’s my purpose, and I have zero desire to — I want to have a relationship with myself.”
Shannon Beador. Michael Tullberg/Getty Images
Us confirmed in September 2023 that Beador was arrested for a hit-and-run and a DUI. She was booked for two misdemeanors after driving erratically through Newport Beach, California.
According to authorities, Beador drove onto a residential property and clipped the house while trying to park her car. When police arrived, she reportedly got out of the vehicle with Archie in an attempt to pretend she hadn’t been behind the wheel. However, Beador clarified to Us on Thursday that she wasn’t “fake-walking” her pup. Instead, she was “going back to take accountability.”
Following her arrest, Beador was sentenced to three years probation and required to pay multiple fines. She was ordered to complete a nine-month alcohol program and 40 hours of community service.
Accountability has been a major tenet for Beador this past year. One month after her arrest, Beador attended BravoCon with the intention of publicly addressing the incident.
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“To me, that was so important because I wanted to take accountability and address, publicly, the horrible decision that I’d made and be completely transparent and open about it,” she said. “So I knew I had to, I didn’t want to go right away and hide. So I knew I had to do it.”
Beador confessed she wasn’t sure if she was going to have support from her fellow RHOC costars. While it took some time, Beador shared she “did eventually” get the backing she needed.
Season 18 of The Real Housewives of Orange County premieres on Bravo Thursday, July 11, at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes are available to stream on Peacock the next day.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi