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Kelly Dodd said she tries to “block” out her traumatic time on Real Housewives of Orange County. She recalled how Tamra Judge, Shannon Beador and Heather Dubrow allegedly “came after me” – as she accused them of “bullying” and “harassment.”
At a 1970s-themed party during Kelly’s first season, Shannon brought two friends who seemed anxious to speak negatively about Kelly. Later on, Kelly ended up telling Shannon’s then-husband David Beador that Kelly understands why he cheated on her.
On Hate to Break It to Ya with Jamie Kennedy, Kelly shared that she tries to “block … out” RHOC because it was an “awful” and traumatic experience for her.
When asked why it was traumatic, Kelly answered, “My first year going in, I had Heather Dubrow, Shannon Beador, Tamra Judge really come after me, and I didn’t know anything about them.”
“They set me up,” she went on. “They had a 70s party. … I was engaged to this guy named Jeff Caldwell. … I’m going to be married to him [and] we broke up. And [my costars] did all this kinds of research saying that he was married, I was a mistress and all this stuff.”
Kelly said these three castmates “came after me.”
“It was like torment,” she said. “I’m tough, but this was a whole other level of bullying and harassment. It was just a really bad environment.”
In a 2016 interview with Daily Dish, Shannon addressed Kelly’s comment at the 1970s party about David’s cheating.
“For [Kelly] to make that statement, today, that’s about the cruelest thing that somebody could say to me,” said Shannon at the time. “It really is because nobody deserves to have their spouse cheat on them. Nobody deserves — no matter what happened — nobody deserves that. And for her to say that at my party in front of a group of people, it’s just unbelievable to me.”
“When it happened, I saw red. I don’t even know what I said. I couldn’t believe it. And everyone’s mouths dropped wide open,” Shannon went on. “It’s just cruel. I just don’t really understand how people can be so cruel. I would never have said something like that, ever.”