Tamra Judge was emotional discussing her Real Housewives of Orange County co-star Shannon Beador‘s DUI and hit-and-run arrest for the first time. “I am literally shaking,” Tamra, 56, said two days after the incident occurred on the Sept. 18 episode of her and Teddi Mellencamp‘s podcast, Two Ts in a Pod. Tamra revealed that she spoke to her co-star the day after Shannon, 59, was arrested for crashing her car into a house in Newport Beach while intoxicated.
“She didn’t say a word to me — nothing,” Tamra said. “We were on a conference call for Tres Amigas. She was extremely quiet. I talked to her after it. There was no word of it. All I’m seeing is what’s on the press. I’m shook. I am literally shaking right now. I feel like I’m going to throw up,” the reality star added.
We covered the breaking #RHOC news on @TwoTsPod.
Listen here: https://t.co/9lyzBiu47c pic.twitter.com/tmgyloH2Lu
— Teddi Mellencamp (@TeddiMellencamp) September 18, 2023
Tamra and Shannon were just together in New York last week for Watch What Happens Live, and Tamra said on the podcast that Shannon seemed “fine” at the time. But when the pair talked on a conference call the day after the legal incident, Shannon was “very quiet,” Tamra said. “She said it’s been a rough couple days. And that’s all she told me,” Tamra explained.
“This is life-changing. This is gonna change her life,” Tamra continued about Shannon, who was reportedly booked for two misdemeanors, cited, and released without bond. “You make a choice to get into a car [drunk], and that’s not a good choice,” Tamra added. “It’s not a smart choice. I feel bad for her. And I’m just happy nobody got hurt.”
Tamra also confirmed that the rest of the RHOC cast has been texting each other about Shannon’s arrest. “I’m just lost for words right now,” Tamra said about the incident. “This could’ve gone really bad. I don’t know how bad the accident was. She could’ve been hurt. Somebody in the house could’ve been hurt. Someone could’ve died.”
On Sept. 18, news broke that Shannon — who has been on RHOC since 2014 — was arrested for a DUI and a hit-and-run in Newport Beach, CA on Sept. 16, as reported by TMZ. Local officials told the outlet that the mother-of-three allegedly “drove her car onto a residential property” and reportedly “clipped” the home. The tabloid claimed that Shannon parked her car on the road and acted like she was walking her dog when authorities arrived. Police said the Bravo star “appeared wasted” when they arrested her at the scene.
Shannon’s lawyer, Michael Fell, released a statement to TMZ regarding the DUI two days after. “I spent quite a bit of time with Shannon yesterday. She is extremely apologetic and remorseful,” he said. “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.”