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John Janssen spoke of Shannon Beador‘s money struggles and addressed claims of fat-shaming her during an interview earlier this week.
While also gushing over his relationship with Alexis Bellino, 47, teasing her potential return to the show, and defending the timeline of his $75,000 lawsuit against Shannon, the 62-year-old Real Housewives of Orange County star detailed the financial help he gave to his former girlfriend.
“In addition to the 380,000, in her two times of need, one where it was told to me that it just was a cashflow issue and that she would pay me back in two months, she needed money for her facelift. I wired her $40,000 and then a promissory note thereafter,” John recalled during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “She got irate at the promissory note and sent me a long email stating how much money she made and how, of course, she would pay me back, and that this was a loan between a boyfriend and girlfriend. So Shannon [knew] it was a loan [and had] never made any attempts to pay it back.”
According to John, he also loaned Shannon money after their 2022 split.
“[She] couldn’t pay her bills. She was crying to me on the phone and I said, ‘Look Shannon, I’m gonna help you.’ I said, ‘Shannon you know how volatile our relationship is.’ And I said, ‘Even if you come to hate me, you need to pay me back.’ And she cried and said, ‘Of course I will, John,’ and she didn’t do that,” he explained.
Although John has suggested that many lies have been told about him on RHOC, the one that really bothered him was the claim that he spoke ill of Shannon’s appearance.
“I would try to make her feel beautiful with my words on almost a daily basis. I literally, on my children’s life, never, not one time, said any disparaging comment to her about her looks,” he insisted. “And Shannon knows that.”
As for his relationship with Alexis, John said it’s a “great part of his life.”
“I’ve literally never been happier. Lex and I, we’re so meant for each other. We’re never apart. Zero hiccups. It was meant to be,” he declared.
Regarding the suggestion that he said the same things to Shannon that he’s saying to Alexis now, John clarified that the relationships are very different.
“That’s so bitter and not true,” he stated. “I was with [Shannon] in either a girlfriend or friend relationship for four years. I did not propose to her. Alexis is the real deal for me and I will be with her forever.”
John then confirmed that their wedding date was set and denied that it would be filmed.
While John isn’t too keen on Alexis returning to RHOC for season 19, he vowed to be “supportive” of her if that’s what she chooses and also had a message for Shannon.
“I hope Shannon is truly getting the help that she needs. It is hugely disappointing to me that after hearing that she almost hit my daughter that she has not reached out to say, ‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry.’ As a matter of fact, her message was anger when she heard that,” he explained. “[Not remembering] is a pattern that is not acceptable. I truly hope the best for her. I hope she does get in a place where those kinds of things don’t happen, and she can truly find love and happiness.”
“I don’t wish her ill will,” he added.
Looking back at the filing of his since-settled lawsuit against Shannon, which he filed as cameras began rolling on season 18, John said that while it was not lost on him how it looked, he was forced into the situation due to the statute of limitations.”
“I tried to not do anything legally. I reached out to the CFO multiple times, who handles 100 percent of her finances and who I know well saying, ‘We’ve got to get this documented. I know Shannon can’t pay me back right now,’ I started off saying, ’ Let’s just get it on paper and if she starts paying me a year from now, I’m good with that.’ Without any attorneys without anything, I said, ‘Let’s document this. It needs to be put down on paper and some sort of a plan that’s reasonable,” he revealed. “I started out that way and then nothing.”
After Shannon failed to respond, John decided to take legal action against her.
Since John went public with Alexis in late 2023, months after he and Shannon appeared to be back together, some have suspected an overlap in the relationships. However, according to John, he and Shannon split in November 2022 and never reconciled their romance.
“We broke up the day after Thanksgiving in 2022. We didn’t talk or really see each other for 6 months … and then she asked to meet me for dinner,” he explained. “We had a nice time so we started a friendship and started hanging out. Inevitably, you fall into some old patterns and the old patterns of the relationship kind of came back but we never got back together.”
As John began dating Alexis months later, she began filming the show and, unsurprisingly, became the villain of the season.
“We expected her to be somewhat of a villain just not the extreme it went to,” John admitted. “I told her I didn’t want to do it … Coming back as a friend was in hindsight, a mistake. Because you’re very limited on what is shown … There was so much left out that a lot of what she looks like on TV is not Alexis. She did not come on there to destroy Shannon the way people think she did. She wanted to clear up some lies.”
Throughout his relationship with Alexis, many have suspected their relationship would end, just as John’s did with Shannon, due to John’s potential mistreatment of Shannon. However, John doesn’t believe he did anything wrong to his former girlfriend.
“What have I done, other than recognizing it was a toxic relationship and doing us both a favor of ending the relationship, what have I done?” he asked.
Even regarding his legal action against Shannon, John wondered, “Who’s the bad guy in that? The person who knew they were loans, took the money in the time of need, promising them to pay them back, and then lying to everybody, saying they were gifts while continuing to say she paid for everything?”
“It’s confusing that I’m the bad guy,” he noted.
English (US) ·