From the moment Shannon Beador joined the ninth season of The Real Housewives of Orange
County, fans fell in love with her holistic lifestyle and how she sticks up for herself
and for her family.
She made quite the transformation over the years, both physically and personally.
Here's her journey.
A privileged childhood
Shannon Beador is a truly great fit for The Real Housewives of Orange County: she grew
up in Southern California and hasn't lived anywhere else.
With this in mind, it's easy to assume her family was well-off.
As it turns out, that appears to be true.
In one episode of Real Housewives, Beador and her ex-husband, David, got in a heated
discussion about her upbringing.
After she told a story about trying to get gas when she had first started driving as
a teenager, David said,
"That's what happens when you don't take the silver spoon out of your mouth."
His comment led to Beador trying to defend herself by talking about the chores she had
to do.
She ended up admitting that she did grow up privileged, but she refused to apologize for
her affluent lifestyle, saying it was something she's always appreciated and felt grateful
for.
A cheating husband
After many rumors about trouble in their marriage, Shannon Beador admitted that her husband David
had had an affair.
"I caught him whispering to this person on the phone, and I suspected that something
was wrong."
She also said she saw hotel receipts before confronting him about what was going on.
David admitted to the affair, and during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, he
admitted he had been in love with the other woman.
Divorce
In October 2017, People reported that Shannon and David Beador were separating after 17
years of marriage.
During a taping of the Season 12 reunion, Shannon revealed that David was the one who
wanted to end things, not her.
She said they took a trip to Hawaii to work on things, but he left early, and when she
came home, he said it was over.
Shannon said,
"I said to David, when he told me it was over, I said, 'What happened?
We had a couple of amazing years.'
And he goes, 'We had a couple good months.'"
Drinking allegations
After months of news that Shannon Beador was getting her life together and learning how
to be more positive, it seemed like everything was going great for her.
But in December 2018, The Blast acquired court documents that showed that her ex David was
seeking an order to prevent her from drinking alcohol around their kids.
"Can I get three tequila shots?"
In the documents, David claims that Beador, quote, "self-medicates" with alcohol, saying
he doesn't want that behavior around the children.
40 pound weight gain
The biggest change in Shannon Beador's life, aside from her relationship, has been her
physical appearance.
"I mean, I got this going on right now."
In 2017, Beador opened up about her weight gain in a personal Instagram post, saying,
"Yes, I have gained weight.
A lot of weight.
About 40 pounds to be exact.
I have not had plastic surgery or fillers, it's just plain and simple weight gain."
During the Season 12 premiere of Real Housewives, Beador said part of her weight gain had been
from the stress of David's affair.
She admitted,
"My weight gain has affected me and how I feel about myself.
I'm embarrassed of my body."
She lost over 25 pounds
Fans watched when Shannon Beador gained 40 pounds, and months later, they watched when
she lost the weight, and they cheered her on every step of the way.
In an interview with Us Weekly, she discussed her weight loss journey, saying that she was
exercising every day for 30 minutes and trying to eat better.
And in an interview with Bravo, Beador said that she's been totally committed to continuing
to lose the weight.
A meal delivery service
Shannon Beador's weight loss led to more than just a positive attitude: it also allowed
her to start a new business of her own.
In the spring of 2018, she debuted a line of cooked, ready-to-eat meals on QVC called
Real for Real Cuisine.
The line features some of her favorite recipes, including veggie burgers and lobster cakes,
that can be delivered within two days, then reheated in the oven or a microwave.
In an interview with People, she said,
"We are only using the freshest ingredients and that's really important to me."
The reality star also credited her line partly to the end of her marriage to David.
She explained that she wanted to create a line of health options for single moms to
put together quickly for their families, even after super busy days.
She's opening a restaurant
Shannon Beador continued to transform her career by adding one more thing to her resume:
restaurant owner.
"It’s been a dream of mine to open up a restaurant that's affordable, that serves
healthy food, organic when possible, but that’s also calorie driven."
When speaking to Bravo, she said she wanted the restaurant to be based on her Real for
Real Cuisine line called Real for Real Kitchen.
She gave an update on the status of her company during a November 2017 appearance on Watch
What Happens Live.
"My husband is not financing the restaurant anymore, so we're ready to go, the menu is
set, so I'm looking for investors right now, but I'm close."
Starting over
During the summer of 2018, E! News reported that Shannon Beador was dating Scot Matteson,
a licensed State of California Broker and a real estate developer, and that they were
getting pretty serious together.
The two were supposedly set up through a friend and hit it off immediately.
They even took a trip to New York City together, which Shannon documented on her Instagram.
Beador's co-star, Kelly Dodd, confirmed the relationship to Us Weekly, saying that she's
good friends with Matteson's ex-wife.
She described Matteson as being, quote, "really nice," and added he has a lot in common with
Beador, including their love for travel.