‘RHOC’ Star Shannon Beador Reacts to Bloody DUI Photos

Shannon Beador recently opened up about her DUI and how shocked she was when she found photos on her phone from that night. The Real Housewives of Orange County star claimed she had no memory of taking a selfie during the incident, and the image left her deeply shaken.

Beador, now 60, stumbled upon a selfie she took on the night of her September 2023 DUI arrest. In the photo, she appeared visibly bloody, underscoring the severity of the accident and making her realize how fortunate she was that no one else was harmed.

“That was really traumatic for me,” she shared with People. “As you can see, I was injured pretty badly, and when I looked at it, it almost felt like I was looking at someone who wasn’t me.”

Beador continued, “I didn’t want to see myself that way, and I didn’t want anyone else to see me that way either. I honestly thought I’d never show it to anyone.”

Nonetheless, Beador felt compelled to share the snapshot with someone. In a teaser for RHOC, she sits down with her co-star Heather Dubrow and reveals the photo to her.

Beador acknowledged that sharing the photo with Heather might lead to it going viral, but she accepted that risk. “It was a big step for me to take that,” she admitted. “When someone Googles my name probably for the rest of my life, that’s what they’ll see: my face, covered in blood, from the night that easily marked the lowest point of my entire life. But I wanted to be able to speak of everything that happened.”

The RHOC star clarified that she wasn’t seeking sympathy and didn’t want anyone to feel bad for her. She said, “But I think when you see that picture, you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, this was bad.’ Showing it was the only way anyone would understand that.”

On September 17, 2023, Beador was arrested in Newport Beach. Before her arrest, she crashed her vehicle into a planter box attached to a house. Tests showed her blood alcohol level was 0.24, three times the legal limit.

Reflecting on the incident, Beador expressed her relief that no one else was hurt. Her feelings toward herself, however, were more complex.

“Oh, I deserved to get hurt,” she stated. “I made a very stupid choice. I could have killed someone.”

Beador had to undergo nine months of alcohol treatment, complete 40 hours of community service, and she will be on probation for three years.

“Part of my therapy has been trying to move past that guilt and shame,” she explained. “You say to yourself, ‘I could have killed someone… but I didn’t.’ So I don’t want it to appear that I’m taking any of this lightly, because there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it. But I didn’t hurt someone, and I’m grateful for that.”

Shannon Beador feels the accident and her DUI arrest will define a new chapter in her life.

The Real Housewives of Orange County airs on Thursdays on Bravo at 9 p.m. EST.

Source: People