Alexis Bellino leaves RHOC after her fight with Shannon Storms Beador resumes, but her return helped the show draw its largest audience in five years.
- The ongoing court fights with Shannon Storms Beador made things worse.
- The growth of RHOC was helped by Bellino’s return.
There has been a sudden end to Alexis Bellino’s return to The Real Housewives of Orange County. After a 10-year break, the reality star came back for season 17 but recently announced her exit from the series on a podcast.
“I was not asked back for next season,” Bellino said on the Going Rogue show. Despite not being surprised by the news, she admitted that the timing of the conversation took her by surprise.
- – Bellino’s exit comes after a tense relationship with longtime Housewife Shannon Storms Beador, which started when their partners were involved in court fights.
- A historic scene shot after the reunion made things worse between them. In it, Heather Dubrow and Tamra Judge confirmed Beador’s worries about John Janssen, Bellino’s fiancé.
Even though there were efforts to make peace between Bellino and Storms Beador, their problems did not go away. This is likely why Bellino’s deal for season 19 was not renewed.
“I didn’t know after that scene; how do I fit in?” Bellino thought about it, knowing it would be hard to balance her views with Storms Beador’s fame with fans.
- “How do they bring back someone who isn’t a fan favorite instead of the fan favorite?” “And I get that,” she said, getting the point of view of the network.
Bellino can take comfort in the fact that her return helped bring in the most viewers for the show in five years, even though the result may have been depressing.
Season 18 had an average of 3.1 million people overall and 1.6 million viewers in the 18–49 demo, which is a 5% increase from the previous season.
This makes it one of the most popular entertainment shows in that age group in 2024.
Fans can expect more drama when the rest of the group comes back for season 19, which starts shooting in January, with Alexis Bellino saying goodbye to the RHOC.