Tamra Judge appeared on Jeff Lewis‘ podcast on Tuesday, where she opened up about the sudden end of her years-long friendship with Shannon Beador.
After first revealing the last time she spoke to the Real Housewives of Orange County star, Tamra accused Shannon of abandoning her during a “really hard” time in her life after she and Vicki Gunvalson were booted from their full-time roles on the series and explained why she feels “betrayed” by her ex-co-star.
“I have not [talked to her] probably since February,” Tamra revealed on the August 4 episode of Jeff Lewis Live.
Although Jeff attempted to defend Shannon, who he is close to, by suggesting that she may have simply been super-focused on filming the 15th season of RHOC, Tamra claimed the cast is “not filming because there’s a pandemic.”
“So, come up with another excuse,” she laughed.
According to Tamra, the friendship she once shared with Shannon didn’t end due to a big fight. Instead, it ended after Shannon refused to support her through ex-husband Simon Barney‘s cancer diagnosis, her exit from RHOC, and other major moments in her life.
“I was going through a really, really hard time in my life. I’m not a needy person and I’m not one of those that needs my friends all the time like she needed me. And we’re all different like that. And I really needed her. I really needed a friend,” Tamra admitted.
“I was walking away from a big contract, something I was involved with [for] 12 years of my life. Simon had cancer. I was scared to death about that. My kids were not coping well with it. I decided to move out of my house. There were so many changes at once and I just wanted a friend to talk to,” she continued. “And I was calling her and she would send me to voice mail, send me to voice mail, and then finally, weeks later, she called me back and we had a good talk but it was… She called me because she needed something. It’s not like she called me because she wanted to know how I was doing. We had a decent talk and then I just really never heard from her again.”
Jeff went on to point out that Shannon really relied on Tamra and believes Tamra was Shannon’s “closest friend at one point.”
“That’s how I feel. And I just feel betrayed,” Tamra shared. “I feel like I was always there for her. She wasn’t an easy person to deal with when she was going through the divorce. I talked to her multiple times a day. And then as soon as she knew Vicki and I weren’t coming back, the calls just kind of dwindled and then finally it was no phone call at all.”
“It’s just hard because I really needed her and if I would have done that to her when she was going through the divorce, she would have lost it,” she added.
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