Shannon Beador was hopeful that her relationship with David Beador would improve during their first season of the Real Housewives of Orange County.
“October 13, 2013, that was my first day of filming, and the next day, David left on a trip with a group that he was in,” Shannon, 59, said on the Tuesday, December 26, episode of “Bravo’s Hot Mic” podcast. “He started an affair that very next day. I had no idea.”
Shannon and David, 59, joined the Bravo series for season 9, which aired in 2014. The reality star explained that she began to notice a change in her husband after joining the show.
“I thought it was because his ego was getting bigger that he was getting to be on television. I remember asking [costar] Tamra [Judge] about that,” she recalled. “Did [her ex] Simon [Barney] all of a sudden get cocky like this? And I was so stupid, I had no idea.”
Shannon confessed that she hoped that David’s behavior would change for the better when he watched the reality series back and noticed that the pair never spent any time together.
“I thought if he watched the show back and saw how little time he spent with me, he would make more of an effort because in those rare times that we did go out to dinner, we would have fun and I would feel a connection with him,” she admitted. “I just wanted more of that … Most people say I don’t want to ruin my marriage and be on the show. I was thinking, ‘Oh maybe he could learn something from it.’”
While filming her second season, Shannon learned of David’s affair and it became a major focus of season 10. After learning of his infidelity, the twosome attended couple’s counseling rather than splitting. While they seemingly worked things out, Shannon and David’s relationship came to an end in 2017 when they decided to separate.
Shannon confessed that being on the show inspired her to work on her marriage and family. However, if she wasn’t on RHOC her relationship with David might have ended a lot sooner.
“I might have done it differently had I not been on the show after discovering the affair. I think I would have left the marriage right away,” she shared on Tuesday. “But part of me, I was working on the marriage for my first season and it was all fake with him and I thought I’m gonna fight for my family. I had been fighting for this marriage this whole season so I’m gonna keep fighting. I don’t know if I would have kept up the fight had I not been on the show.”
Both David and Shannon have moved on since finalizing their divorce in 2019. David wed Lesley Beador in October 2020. However, David filed for divorce from Lesley in September 2022. Shannon, for her part, dated John Janssen from 2019 until they called it quits earlier this year.
