Despite being off The Real Housewives of Orange County for several years now, Alexis Bellino made a special appearance on last Tuesday’s episode, meeting up with RHOC sophomore Emily Simpson for a quick lunch and surprising many fans who had no idea the two women were acquainted with one another. Now, Radar Online is reporting that if Andy Cohen had his way, Alexis would have filmed much more than just one lunch scene for Season 14.
According to the outlet, Andy asked Alexis to return full-time to the franchise for its most recent season, but the former housewife turned it down for one reason, and one reason only — Tamra Judge. Alexis and Tamra had quite an interesting relationship over the years, but the two could never truly become friends. Tamra even dubbed Alexis “Jesus Jugs” on a reunion show, which is one of the main reasons Alexis wants nothing to do with the RHOC star anymore.
“Andy Cohen personally asked Alexis to come back full time this season,” an insider close to RHOC production claimed. “But she said no because she wants nothing to do with Tamra.”
The source later commented that Tamra “runs everyone off the show,” and Alexis just didn’t want to be around the gym owner, period.
Tamra is still battling Alexis’ ex-husband, Jim Bellino, in court over defamation. The insider didn’t say if this had anything to do with her refusal to rejoin the show, but it definitely wouldn’t have helped anything.
Shannon Beador was also involved in the case with Tamra and Jim but has officially been dropped. The friends appeared on Heather McDonald’s podcast, where they made comments about Jim’s character and claimed several people were paralyzed because of his trampoline parks. Jim is suing Tamra for $1 million.
The insider also told Radar that Alexis will not film anymore for the show, and only agreed to do the one short lunch with Emily and nothing more. Fans should not expect to see the mother back on RHOC in the future.
Someone who will also be returning to RHOC this season — and for a longer period of time — is Meghan King Edmonds. Meghan left the show after Season 12 and it didn’t look like she’d be returning. However, Meghan will be bac k and is rumored to have filmed because of her drama earlier this year with husband Jim Edmonds. Jim engaged in an inappropriate online relationship with another woman and the two have been working on their marriage since. It was after news of the affair broke that it was revealed Meghan would be back for an unknown amount of time.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. EDT on Bravo.