Emily Simpson was just as shocked as the rest of us when her Real Housewives of Orange County co-star Shannon Beador was arrested and charged with drunk driving and misdemeanor hit-and-run last weekend. However, Simpson noted that she and her fellow castmates noticed Beador had been “spiraling” leading up to the incident.
“I feel like as a cast… I feel like we’ve seen her spiraling,” Simpson told Entertainment Tonight. “We’ve had conversations, just as a cast, about her, worrying about her.”
According to law enforcement, Beador allegedly clipped a house after she drove onto a residential property in Newport Beach, California on Sunday, Sept. 16. In video footage obtained by TMZ, the Bravolebrity is seen speeding around a corner and running into the home, before backing up and driving away.
When Simpson was sent a screenshot of the headline about Beador’s arrest, she was in utter disbelief.
“Honestly, I had to look at it multiple times because… I thought maybe it was something that someone made up, you know? Lots of people make up memes and things,” she said to ET. “When I realized that it was a real thing, I was in shock. I was blown away.”
Simpson — who reached out following the situation — added, “I just asked [Beador] how she was and I said, ‘I hope you’re doing OK, and if you need anything, please, you can reach out,’ and that was basically it. I think she needs space.”
She also hopes that it was a wake-up call for Beador — who’s coming off a difficult year after getting “blindsided” by John Janssen’s decision to end their relationship, as well as sending the last of her children off to college.
“I genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, hope that, like, sometimes people actually hit rock bottom [and] take accountability and to have an ‘Aha!’ moment, where they say, ‘Yeah, maybe I do need some help,’ and I hope that this is her ‘Aha’ rock-bottom moment,” Simpson said, before adding that she hopes Beador “takes accountability and recognizes what happened and the severity of it and [that she] really wants to embrace that and change for the better.”
Fortunately, it looks like Beador may be getting the help she needs. In a new report by TMZ, sources claim the star is looking into treatment centers. Plus, she has reportedly offered to pay for the damages done to the home in her collision.
In a previous statement to Decider, Beador’s lawyer, Michael Fell, said Beador was “extremely apologetic and remorseful,” adding, “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.”
