Emily Simpson is clapping back at Alexis Bellino for suggesting that she is a different person on-camera than she is off-camera.
As she also shared her status with Heather Dubrow, 55, and shaded her for an “out of the line” comment, the 48-year-old Real Housewives of Orange County star turned the tables on Alexis, stating that it was she who changed when cameras began rolling and reacting to her saying that the Bravo reality series is her “job.”
“I would say I speak factually and intelligently and reasonably. I am commenting on how she behaves and I’m commenting accurately on how she behaves. And I’m asked questions. And I’m answering those questions honestly which is what we do,” Emily explained of her supposed “two-faced” behavior during a September 26 interview with Entertainment Tonight.
And, when it came to Alexis claiming that context was missing from her recent screaming match with Emily, Emily confirmed the absent piece was quite minor.
“I made a brief reference to her because that was, I was talking about it and I was trying to make a point and I apologize that her name came out of my mouth because that’s when everything turned. But she had multiple opportunities to understand what was going on and there was never a connection made there,” Emily noted, referring to how she compared her dress in Heather’s fashion show to that of Alexis.
Amid their feud, Emily reminded Alexis that she was just a “friend” on the show. And, looking back, she had no regrets.
“I was thinking, ‘You’re a friend. Slow your roll,” she stated. “I have a long history with Heather. I have a friendship with Heather. I’ve known Heather for years. And something between Heather and me should remain between Heather and me. I don’t mind … if anyone else wants to intervene and have a comment like ‘I think she means this,’ that’s appropriate in that circumstance. But to completely, physically, and emotionally, and psychotically insert yourself into something that has nothing to do with you doesn’t make any sense.”
Although Emily and Alexis are not in a good place today, they were close before filming began.
“I’m always friends with someone and I’m always open to someone until I’m not, until they show me a different side. I’ve been friendly with Alexis for years … I always liked her. I never had a problem with her. She’s fun. She’s sweet. She can be very kind and it wasn’t until we started filming that I just see this completely different side of her that I’m not really interested in,” she explained.
Following Alexis’ Instagram post in which she blamed production for giving her a bad edit on season 18 and described her role as a “job,” Emily admitted that she really wanted to comment on the post — although Alexis had her comments turned off.
“You know how much effort it took not for me to comment on that? I just wanted to comment,” she declared. “I wouldn’t call it a career. I would call it an opportunity that can go away at any time. I would say you need to have your eye on another career for when this opportunity ends.”
Moving on to where she stands with Heather, Emily made it clear that she did not believe Heather intentionally singled her out by instructing her to bring her own jeans to her fashion show.
“I don’t think it was intentional and I don’t think Heather did anything malicious. I had an emotional response to something and if you’re really truly friends with someone, you should be able to share that emotional response,” she reasoned. “I wasn’t looking for an apology. I was only looking for a ‘You know what Emily? I never saw it that way but now I understand you better.’ And things went haywire. In my naive mind, I was thinking Heather and I would have a moment where we could understand each other better because there are lots of things about her that maybe I don’t understand.”
While Emily has moved past the jean issue, she was “really bothered” when she saw that Heather had pointed out that her dress was tight, not too big, in her confessional.
“That really bothered me because I thought it was a hit at me and the way I looked physically and I was like, ‘You’re just proving my point in your confessional.’ Because I’m trying to explain to you [that] I feel the way I do because people take hits at me and you just took a hit at the way I look,” she stated. “I thought it was out of line and I thought it was out of line for Heather because she doesn’t do that.”
That said, Emily confirmed that she and Heather will “absolutely” reconcile.
“Heather and I have been friends for three years. I think fundamentally, we are two different people but we always come back around because I’m always willing to put the work and effort to making you come back around because I do love her and she is my friend,” Emily shared.
Also during the interview, Emily spoke of a potential reconciliation between Tamra Judge, 57, and Shannon Beador, 60.
“I think in Shannon’s perspective, you can only get hit so many times before it’s like, you just get to the point where you’re like, ‘Why would I put the effort into reconciling? And clearly, Tamra is dealing with something that has to do with Shannon that I don’t think we’re understanding,” Emily suspected. “They have a very long, complex friendship and I think there’s things that happened or went on that we’re not privy to.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
