Before The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 18 premiered, Alexis Bellino’s return was expected to be a disaster.
Her relationship with John Janssen meant there would be continual drama, as his ex-girlfriend, Shannon Beador, was one of the main cast members.
Throughout the past 13 episodes, we’ve witnessed Alexis try to change the perception of John, but things seemingly hit the point of no return during Thursday’s episode.
Alexis melted down after sending Shannon a literal olive branch.
While the drama surrounding the London trip delivered some first-class reality TV, it showcased an immature side of Alexis as she threw her supposed friends out of her home after hearing the group was going to London with Shannon.
Somehow, Alexis thought she’d attend the cast trip, but Shannon wasn’t about to let her enemy ruin another getaway.
The recurring theme this season has been Alexis ruining Shannon’s happiness.
Whenever they’re supposed to be on cast trips, something happens that makes Shannon question everything.
Alexis is reflecting on the situation
Now that Alexis has had time to decompress from the situation, she’s speaking out and wants viewers to know she wasn’t expecting an invite on the trip.
Alexis is well aware that things will never be fine and dandy with Shannon, but she did expect some recognition of the steps she’s been making in the group to allow them to be cordial with one another.
During the official RHOC after-show, the 47-year-old admitted that she could have handled the situation better with the ladies in her house.
She noted that she “acted 16 instead of 46,” which shows possible self-reflection.
Alexis hasn’t had an easy time with viewers because the show’s narrative has been about how she’s devoted to finding justice for John in his long-running dispute with Shannon.
Alexis doesn’t have much of a storyline
Alexis has been vocal about wanting to redeem John, which makes sense.
Most of her co-stars have an issue with this because they already had an opinion of John when he was with Shannon long before Alexis knew he existed.
Alexis’ meltdown earned her the ire of viewers, which is sure to complicate any hope of her returning for another season of the long-running reality series.
The most recent episode also received criticism for bringing John Janssen on to discuss his legal battle with Shannon, which many deemed a ploy by producers to give him a platform.
The issue is that John had previously claimed he didn’t want to be in the limelight, yet he is sharing confessionals with Alexis.
Many icky things are going on right now, but the ickiest is that RHOC producers seemingly want Alexis and John to believe they’re on the right side of history with this battle.
It will be interesting to see how Alexis manages to nestle herself back into the group after her actions.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs on Bravo on Thursdays at 9/8c. Stream Seasons 1-18 on Peacock.