Famously, RHONY alum Bethenny Frankel once said “mention it all.” Between the energy and the body language of that delivery, it became a meme and a catchphrase.
Shannon Storms Beador went in the opposite direction on this week’s episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Mention less.
After last week’s feelings of “betrayal” on RHOC, attention shifted back to Shannon’s frayed friendship with Tamra. What secret does Tamra know that could destroy Shannon’s Relationship?
Obviously, as with any other episode, plenty of drama went down on The Real Housewives of Orange County this week.
(Genuinely, Season 17 has shown a number of improvements … though they need to ditch the weird “never before scene” nonsense. Maybe adapt RHONY 14’s graphics style for the OC?)
But the real focus was on Tamra, Shannon, and a very specific Friend of theirs.
Okay, so it started beforehand, with little hints.
Emily Simpson held a big get-together at her mother-in-law’s place. And, given the swanky digs, you can see why.
We can’t say that we understand the brown-water slip-and-slide (so many spray tans, for some reason), but you do you, ladies!
There was a heated discussion involving Jennifer
For a little while, the focus was on Jennifer Pedranti.
Of course, Jennifer Armstrong was also there and part of the conversation.
At this point, there was nothing going on with Shannon or Shannon’s secret or what Tamra knows.
Funnily enough, Shannon’s castmates predicted that she was going to insert herself into a conversation.
Gina Kirschenheiter and Emily Simpson were a little shady.
Not inaccurate, though.
More tactfully, Heather Dubrow asked the ladies if they “think maybe Shannon’s going to play peacemaker.”
That is a very diplomatic way of saying the same thing.
She didn’t even immitate Shannon’s voice the way that Emily did.
Here’s why this is relevant: as they predicted, Shannon did come over to talk.
And she spoke about how hard it can be for someone to be hearing bad things about their partner.
She wasn’t speaking about herself. At least, not on purpose.
Shannon was trying to offer some advice.
But check out Tamra’s reaction below.
She didn’t say anything. But her eyes got big and, well, she was pretty darn expressive.
What’s that about? She didn’t say.
But it’s the kind of face that you make when your friend is saying something that’s a little on-the-nose about another topic.
You can’t say anything — for the sake of friendship. But you just can’t help reacting to what you’re hearing. (Besides, great facial reactions are a vital component of reality TV stardom)
Well, Vicki’s back. Not full time, by any means. But she did film for this episode, at least.
The OG of the OC showed up.
And though she and Tamra remained close when they were both at odds with Shannon after their departure from the show, it wasn’t just the two of them at lunch.
After a very funny and shady montage of Shannon drinking after she insisted that she doesn’t take that many shots, the ladies chatted.
They talked about lingerie. Vicky raved about her boyfriend and how she wears crochless panties to please him.
Shannon mentioned that boyfriend John Janssen just wants her naked. And Tamra suddenly felt self-conscious about wearing sweatpants to bed.
Look, wear what you want to bed. If you can endure the horror of wearing clothing even in bed and that’s what you want, go for it.
Anyway, they talked about Heather Dubrow and how Shannon had confided in her, but that she trusts her.
Then, Tamra suggested that perhaps trusting Heather was a mistake. Because Tamra has heard things.
“Wait, are you kidding me right now?” Shannon asked.
She then told her: “Tamra, you can’t do that to me right now.”
Clearly, Shannon knew exactly what she meant — and wanted to emphasize in the strongest possible terms that this cannot come up on camera.
Neither of them even dropped any hints. Tamra didn’t, at least.
Tamra very visibly sealed her mouth shut to reassure Shannon.
And it was clear that Shannon understood whatever it was that Heather allegedly dished to her.
Shannon didn’t have a hot mic moment. Instead, she stood up from the table — and not to leave.
Instead, she Shannon Storms-ed over to the production crew.
“I am not gonna air a relationship that I don’t know — that’s gonna destroy us if that comes on the air,” Shannon rambled to them, visibly upset.
“If they’re gonna start talking about my relationship, that’s not OK,” Shannon asserted.
“This is gonna destroy everything. We’re done. My relationship is over if this is on the air,” she added. Her voice was trembling.
We don’t know exactly what the secret is about. But we do know that Shannon is no longer with John, now, in July. And the timeline of when they filmed … we can’t rule out that the show played a role. Stay tuned, folks!