Lara Sophia 
RHOC’s John Janssen dishes on their relationship with Alexis Bellino after comparing dating his ex-girlfriend Shannon Beador to “failing at everything.”
The 61-year-old insurance exec defended himself and his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Shannon Beador, on the July 30 episode of Carlos King’s “Reality with The King” podcast.
“I wanna say that my relationship with Shannon was real,” John Janssen shared while sitting beside his current girlfriend, Alexis Bellino. “She has a wonderful side to her. But I think people out there just assume John was the problem in the relationship, and I would just challenge people to think about what it might be like to be with Shannon.”
He continued, “I will say that, what was it like? It was what it is like to fail every day, all day, every day, to fail at everything. That’s what it felt like to date her.”
While John acknowledged that he and the RHOC star did have some “good times” together, he ultimately believes they weren’t a good match.
“I tried very, very hard. I did. But we were never meant to be together,” he said about his and Shannon’s three-and-a-half-year relationship.
John Janssen went on to say that he never wanted to film RHOC with Shannon but claims, “She wouldn’t have survived if she didn’t have the job.” He notes that he tried to make the best of filming but says he’s hurting financially and emotionally because Shannon lies about him on and off RHOC.
Meanwhile, John also dished about his relationship with Alexis Bellino. Although he hasn’t seen any of Alexis’ past seasons of RHOC, he insists that she is a great person and a wonderful mother.
The two met in November 2023 and swiftly fell head over heels in love. Alexis and John declare they are “madly in love” with each other despite John getting “completely demolished” because of Shannon’s lies throughout season 18 of RHOC.
“This is what it’s supposed to be like,” he shared. “There’s a lot of stress that’s gone from my life, and, you know, it’s sad.”
While Alexis and John were initally very private about their romance, the returning RHOC star says now, “we’re at the point where it’s like, we’re focused on the future, and we’re moving forward. You either take us or leave us; you either accept that we’re dating or you hate it.”
“But if you don’t want us to be together, then swipe left on the Instagram — don’t follow my page. Turn the other way if you don’t like it, because here we are.”
As for why John is okay doing interviews and being in the spotlight with Alexis despite claiming he doesn’t like the limelight, John says he does that because Alexis asks him before noting that he turns down many interview requests.
Alexis also insists that John is NOT a fame whore and says he offered to pay her the same amount of money she would get for doing season 18 of RHOC if she walked away from the show.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
