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Shannon Beador is healing after heartbreak.
The “Real Housewives of Orange County” star, 59, revealed in an exclusive interview with Page Six what led to her split from now-ex-boyfriend John Janssen — and how she ultimately bounced back.
“It was just a lot of bickering. There was no major [moment like], ‘Oh my God, you’ve got to walk away!’” Beador told us over dinner with castmates Tamra Judge and Taylor Armstrong at The Quiet Woman, an iconic “RHOC” establishment.
“It was just the bickering, bickering, bickering,” she continued. “And that’s not a way for anybody to live. We couldn’t get past it.”
Beador announced in January that Janssen broke up with her in November 2022 — just one week after production completed on “Orange County” Season 17, which premieres Wednesday.
“I get emotional thinking about it,” the Real for Real founder reflected, her eyes welling up. “I was really not good. I was devastated. We had broken up and I said, ‘Can we please not talk about this publicly?’”
Janssen agreed to keep things under wraps for three months, a period that a then-“blindsided” Beador was “grateful” for.
“Because it was the holidays and I wasn’t ready to deal with it,” she noted. “I needed to let it sink in before people knew.”
Beador immediately prioritized her self-care and mental health, starting with a week of luxuriating at The Golden Door Spa in San Diego. Her seven days of decompressing helped her build up the courage to dip her toes back in the dating pool.
“I did come back and I got introduced to a person and I didn’t want to go, but we went to dinner and we ended up dating for four months. And it was good,” she said, though the romance was short-lived. “We’re not right for each other, but I had a good time.”
Beador has since developed a friendship with Janssen. While they are currently on good terms, the mother of three — who shares daughters, Sophie, 21, and 19-year-old twins Stella and Adeline, with ex-husband David Beador — asserted that she and Janssen are “never going to get back together.”
In fact, Shannon suspects their close dynamic may dissolve should one party enter a serious relationship.
“As soon as either of us are in a relationship, that of course is going to go by the wayside,” she said before adding, “And I would prefer not to be bitter.”
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Janssen accompanied Shannon to a recent taping of “Family Feud,” featuring the “Orange County” cast and the women of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
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“When we filmed ‘Family Feud’ recently, we were all going as couples and Shannon said, ‘Do you mind if I bring John?’ I go, ‘No!’” recounted Judge, 55.
“I didn’t have anyone to bring and I didn’t want to go alone,” Shannon told us, while Armstrong, 51, chimed in to say that she enjoys watching her gal pal being “buddies” with her ex.
However, the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum — who joined “RHOC” as a “friend of” the cast, making reality TV history as the first woman to jump franchises — mentioned that she was “heartbroken” by Janssen’s decision to call it quits with Shannon, who thought he was The One.
“The thing that was so upsetting to me was seeing you hurting,” Armstrong said, addressing Shannon directly. “You didn’t see it coming and I certainly didn’t see it coming and getting close to you in the past year and seeing your hurt, I felt so heartbroken for you.”
Although Shannon explained that she’s “not ready to be serious with anyone right now,” she is not shutting the Bea-door on meeting Mr. Right.
“For me, [he has to have a] kind heart,” she said when asked to describe her ideal partner, emphasizing that he must appreciate her on-camera career without wanting to pursue the spotlight himself.
“When you factor the show into it because you never know, does someone want to be on television?” she pondered.
“I would like to be with someone who thinks it’s really cute that I’m on the show and if he needs to show up one time or two [for filming], then he’s great with that. But it’s just kinda the silly cut thing that [I’m] doing, like, ‘You go do that, sweetie.’”
Meanwhile, Judge has a clearer vision of who Shannon — who hopes to get remarried one day — should settle down with.
“I see this guy, he’s like 6-foot-2, kinda salt-and-pepper hair, a big build, successful, likes to have fun but doesn’t want to drink too much,” she said. “Somebody that’s established, someone that their kids are grown. I see it, it’s gonna happen. A good guy!”
“The Real Housewives of Orange County” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
