Teddi Mellencamp is sharing more of her unfiltered thoughts on Alexis Bellino’s return to “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”
“But it’s a big no for me on Alexis. It’s a big no,” the “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast co-host tells Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” while promoting her first-ever Twotscon event with partner Tamra Judge.
Mellencamp, 43, adds that it’s “hard to watch” Bellino, 47, as the latter continues to vehemently defend now-fiancé John Janssen against unfavorable claims made by his ex Shannon Beador.
“Her fighting John’s battles is disturbing to me,” she says of Bellino’s efforts to course-correct accusations of body-shaming Beador, “coaching” her for “Housewives” scenes and using the Real for Real founder for money.
Bellino has railed against such allegations on camera in defense of Janssen and he has denied them as well.
Janssen has also emphasized that, despite involving himself in the current season of “RHOC,” he enjoys living a private life and wants no part of the fame that comes with appearing on Bravo.
Mellencamp, however, doesn’t buy that.
“I think that John saying he doesn’t want to be in the limelight or famous or wants to be kept out of it or whatever it may be, I think is complete and utter bulls—t,” the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum tells “Virtual Reali-Tea.”
“If you don’t want to be a part of something, you’re not a part of it … You don’t want to be famous? Don’t date two girls in the public eye.”
Judge, 57 — who is friends with Bellino and Janssen — notes that it “never lands” with the audience when the significant other of a “Housewives” personality gets in the mix. Janssen notably joined Bellino for a confessional that recently aired on the show, unnerving the fandom at large.
“As a man on any ‘Housewives’ show, when you are trying to get your point across and [filming] confessionals, it never lands right,” says the “RHOC” vet, whose husband, Eddie Judge, is known for staying out of the ladies’ issues.
“My advice to any man is just be quiet,” she elaborates. “Take notes from Eddie. He does not want to get involved, he wants to diffuse the situation, walk out.”
Contrary to Mellencamp’s assessment of Bellino’s onscreen behavior, Tamra insists that the “friend of” the cast is “sweet, kind and good” to her.
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“The whole John of it all is I think where it gets all kind of messy. It’s really a no-win situation. Alexis came in and there’s no way that she could win. She’s dating Shannon’s ex-boyfriend,” she admits.
“Obviously, [Mellencamp is] looking at it as a viewer. I know Alexis in a different manner.”
But Mellencamp believes there is a path to victory for Bellino, who has so far failed to endear the majority of “RHOC” loyalists as the Season 18 narrative suggests that she only ever talks about her conflict with Beador over Janssen.
“She could win by saying, ’Shannon, I’m really sorry. I can imagine how bad this is freaking hurting you,’” says the accountability coach.
When Bellino came back to the franchise after a years-long hiatus, Mellencamp never expected that her likability would be questioned.
“We all went to a concert together. Alexis was fun, she was self-deprecating, I enjoyed her,” she says of previously hanging with Bellino.
“So I’m not trying to dog her out but what I’m watching is a different Alexis and [she’s] so unable to see her own self for her flaws or for the things that she’s doing,” she shares. “That’s hard for me to watch.”
Mellencamp and Judge plan to dig into more reality TV drama at Twotscon, a live spectacle taking place at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 1.
Heather Dubrow, Dolores Catania, Cynthia Bailey and Marysol Patton will be joining the women on stage, treating the crowd to their hottest takes on all the latest “Real Housewives” headlines.
“When it was announced that there was not going to be a BravoCon this year, we were like, ‘Hold on. We want to give everybody a little piece of it because there are so many people that look forward to BravoCon every single year because they get a little bit of all the franchises,” Tamra says.
“So we were like, ‘This is a no brainer for us.’”
