Shannon Beador Calls RHOC Co-Star ‘a Hot Mess’

Andrew Eccles/Bravo The cast of "Real Housewives of Orange County" season 17.

“Real Housewives of Orange County” star Shannon Beador shared her thoughts about her new castmate, Taylor Armstrong, in an April 25 Instagram Live, alongside Tamra Judge. Armstrong, who appeared on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” until the show’s sixth season, joined the RHOC cast as “a friend of” for its upcoming seventeenth season. 

In the Instagram Live video, Beador revealed that she has established a friendship with Armstrong. She also shared she appreciates that the RHOBH alum is sometimes in disarray and stated “she’s a hot mess.” 

“That girl is kind of a hot mess in the most amazing, incredible way,” said the 59-year-old. 

Judge chimed in that she believes Beador enjoys Armstrong’s company because “she’s a bigger hot mess than” the Real for Real founder. The mother of three agreed with the Vena CBD co-owner, stating, “There’s a little bit of a hot mess bond that she and I have.”

Beador went on to say that she thinks Armstrong “is such a great add for the show.” Judge also suggested that she would like the former RHOBH star to join the RHOC cast full-time for season 18. 

Emily Simpson Spoke About Taylor Armstrong Joining the RHOC Cast 

RHOC star Emily Simpson appeared on a March 2023 episode of Judge’s podcast, “Two Ts In A Pod,” co-hosted by “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave. While recording the podcast episode, Simpson, who joined the Bravo franchise during season 13, shared her thoughts about Armstrong becoming an RHOC cast member. 

“I think there’s a lot of anticipation around Taylor and I don’t know. I mean I didn’t really film that much with her to be honest,” said Simpson. 

Judge shared that she felt “like [Armstrong] didn’t really film [one-on-one] that much with” the cast during the production of RHOC season 17. 

“As a group, she was very involved with it,” clarified the 55-year-old. 

Taylor Armstrong Compared Her Experience Filming ‘Real Housewives of Orange County’ to Shooting ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’

While speaking to Access Hollywood at the 2022 BravoCon, held during the weekend of October 14, 2022, Armstrong discussed becoming an RHOC cast member. She explained the experience differed from starring on RHOBH because she did not initially have a connection with most of her RHOC co-stars. 

“It’s interesting for me because being an OG on ‘Beverly Hills’ we all started together and so our story was real and this, going into a cast that has been existing for quite some time, I am kind of catching up on all the drama and I feel so much has happened in the past with them that they are still trying to hash out and I’m just trying to catch up,” explained the 51-year-old.  

She clarified that she enjoyed filming RHOC and asserted she had “a great time.” Armstrong also shared she is “really close” to Judge, who rejoined the RHOC cast for season 17 after a two-year absence. She noted that they established a bond when they filmed the second season of the Peacock series “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip,” which premiered in 2022. 

“I love filming with her and she’s so fun. And we did ‘Ultimate Girls Trip’ together, so we just kind of came off that and we’re having a good time on OC for sure,” said the mother of one.  

RHOC season 17 will premiere on June 7 on Bravo.