Heavy/Bravo/YouTube Alexis Bellino
“The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Shannon Beador is clearing up any confusion about the season 18 cast photo. In a July 5 clip from her recent interview on the SiriusXM show “Jeff Lewis Live”, Lewis and his co-hosts Patrik Simpson, Pol Atteu, Joey Zauzig, and Shane Douglas ask Beador why Bellino — who is returning to RHOC as a Friend of the Housewives after striking up a relationship with Beador’s ex John Janssen — was missing from the official cast photo shared by Bravo.
“She wasn’t a part of the all-cast photo. No, she’s a friend. Let’s be clear, Alexis Bellino is a friend, she’s not holding an orange,” Beador clarified, receiving oohs and aahs from Lewis and his co-hosts, one of whom joked, “She’s holding a tangerine off to the side.”
When one of the co-hosts mentioned that Bellino posted her own version of the group photo in June 2024 that did include herself, Beador said, “First of all, I don’t look at her social media, but if I wanted to apparently I’m blocked, so I wouldn’t know what Alexis’s version of the photo [looks like]. She photoshopped it. Maybe wishful thinking.”
See Bellino’s version of the cast photo below.
Alexis Bellino Admitted Her Cast Photo Was Edited to Include Her
After first claiming Bellino’s cast photo was photoshopped, Lewis and his team showed Beador the photo in question. “Wait did she really photoshop that? Okay, you guys, she was not [in the cast photo],” Beador said, before looking at the rest of the group shot. “I don’t know if this means anything, but let’s take her out because she never was in the flippin’ picture, who’s in the center? Who’s in the center, girlfriend? Bam, that would be me.”
One of Lewis’s co-hosts then realized that Bellino acknowledged that her photo was a fan edit in her Instagram post’s caption, writing, “Thanks @dorindadeadly for including me in this photo!!!! And watch out… because the #TRUTH will be told.”
Dorinda Deadly (a play on former RHONY star Dorinda Medley’s name) is a fan account that created the RHOC cast photo edit. The photo was first shared in June 2024 on Twitter, with the caption, “#RHOC Season 18 if Alexis was full time 🍊.” The account used Bellino’s solo cast headshot in its edit, which shows the former full-time Housewife in a metallic silver floor-length gown.
“It’s so thirsty, and I’ll just leave it at that,” Beador said, finishing the on-air discussion.
Alexis Bellino is Back on RHOC Season 18 After Over a Decade
Dorinda Deadly shared a sneak peek of Bellino’s first scene back on RHOC in a July 9 post. The scene shows Bellino going out to dinner with RHOC stars Heather Dubrow and Emily Simpson. “Obviously I have a long history with Alexis,” Dubrow shared in a confessional. “Alexis has had probably the worst year of her life. Her mother who she was very, very close with passed away. She needs friends right now and I want to provide that for her.”
Bellino then showed off the promise ring she had just received from Janssen and in a confessional described how they met and began their relationship. “I don’t know Shannon, not friends with Shannon, and unfortunately your heart wants what it wants. And here we are, take us or leave us.”
Bellino’s return to RHOC comes over a decade after her last season (season 8) as a full-time Housewife ended in 2013. Although she’s stopped by the show for a guest appearance with Simpson in season 14, season 18 marks her first time back in a recurring capacity.
RHOC season 18 premieres Thursday, July 11, 2024, at 9 p.m. Eastern on Bravo.
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