Tamra Judge Gets Emotional Over ‘Ugly’ Fallout with Shannon Beador (Exclusive)

Tamra Judge talks about “The Real Housewives of Orange County” Season 18, which marks the 100th season of the “Housewives” franchise.

Extra’s Melvin Roberts spoke with Tamra and teased plenty of fun, laughter, and friendship, but also plenty of drama to come.

Tamra got emotional as she spoke about her co-star Shannon Beador’s arrest for DUI and how their friendship took an “ugly” turn.

She said: “It’s all unfortunate that happened. I’ve been very close with Shannon for 10 years and know her better than anyone. When Shannon was arrested for drink driving, I was out filming Traitors and on my way to Scotland when it was announced. We were on the phone and we were crying together.”

“It’s tough,” Judge said through tears. “She was a really good friend. We were really close. I was scared something like this would happen to her and it did. I’m glad nobody was hurt. But I finally felt like it was time to be honest with her and say, ‘Listen, you need help. You’ve been on this show for 10 years and every year someone talks about your drinking. It’s time to stop.’ And she didn’t take it very well.”

Tamra ended up canceling her “Tres Amigas” performance with Shannon and Vicki Gunvalson, explaining, “It was hard for me to do so many tour dates, and she was still drinking, so I was like, ‘I can’t be the friend that’s going to help you out.’ … No one got hurt this time, but if there’s a next time, I don’t want to be the person that’s like, ‘Oh, it’s OK. Don’t worry. I can have a few drinks.’ I don’t want to be involved like that.”

When asked if he’d expressed concerns about Shannon before, Judge replied, “Yes. Basically what happened was, I did that and she turned on me and started talking behind my back and saying nasty things about me. Nobody likes me. Nobody wants you on the show. So I was like, ‘I’m trying to help you.’ And I was like, ‘Look, I’ve got to step back and not get too involved in this.'”

Tamra revealed that she reached out to Shannon when she found out that Shannon’s ex-boyfriend, John Jansen, was dating Alexis Bellino. She said, “I texted Shannon and I was like, ‘I know things aren’t great between us. I know this is hard. Enjoy your holidays. I’m so sorry for what you’re going through.'”

She emphasized, “I never turned my back on her. I was there for her from the day she was arrested for DUI to the day I came out of Betrayer and we did the show together. I saw her drinking then. I got a call from her drunk and I was like, ‘Where is rock bottom?'”

Though their relationship is currently strained, Tamra is hopeful it will be repaired. “It’s been a really awful relationship this year. It’s really awful. There are good moments, but it’s really awful at the end. So I just hope she gets the help she needs,” she said.

Judge also spoke about his relationship with Jennifer Pedranti after some issues, saying, “I know I was a little hard on her last year, but it was really out of concern. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t choose that path. But I care about her and I only want what’s best for her. As the episodes go on, you’ll see us getting very close and talking again. Overall, I think we had a really good season.”

As for how her relationship with her husband, Eddie Judge, and son, Ryan Vieth, is going, she said, “It’s not going well.” Tamra elaborated, “Eddie just doesn’t want to be around any of that. He just doesn’t want to be around toxic people. He’s like, ‘Fine.’ So we’ll see what comes out with him.”

A highlight of this season for Tamra was having her daughter Sofia appear on the show.

She explained, “What people don’t know is that I get accused all the time of: ‘Oh, your kids don’t talk to you,’ and I’m like, ‘Yes, they do.’ I have one daughter that I’m estranged from and we haven’t spoken to in 10 years. But Sophia, Spencer, Ryan… Spencer and Sophia have been living with me for years. Spencer’s in college now. Ryan’s obviously older, in his 30s, so he’s been gone for years.”

She continued, “But Sofia was always behind the scenes on my shoots. She had to hide, and that was really hard for her because she’s a big part of my life. She’s my baby. Now that she’s available to film, I gave her the choice: ‘Is this what you want to do? See, I want you to know it’s not that easy. There’s a backlash on social media. People are mean and they’re going to make fun of you no matter what you do.'”

Sophia wasn’t worried, she said: “She was like, ‘Mom, I don’t care about that.'”

Tamra said she’s “got better” at dealing with backlash over the years.

“I think at first it was like MySpace, but there were always negative comments,” she recalled. “There was always someone sitting at a keyboard with a strong desire to bash somebody. It was a really small group, 2% of the world, and I felt sorry for them because their lives were so terrible that they had to say things like that.”