Emily Simpson on John Offering to Pay Alexis’ RHOC Salary, Their “Odd” Romance, and Paparazzi Pic Drama

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While also addressing the feud between Heather Dubrow, 55, and Katie Ginella, 40, and the drama between Alexis, 47, and Shannon Beador, 60, 48-year-old Emily admitted that her confessionals have gotten shady, revealed she finds Alexis and John’s relationship “odd,” and explained why she believes Shannon is “winning” the season.

“I was like, ‘What the F?’ That makes no sense to me at all. I don’t understand,” Emily admitted of John’s offer on the August 7 episode of the Virtual Reali-Tea podcast by Page Six. “Like, what was the conversation? Was he like, ‘Well, if you decide not to go on the show, I’ll just pay you?’ That doesn’t make any sense. You go on trips together. Does he write you a check? Does he Venmo you? Do they take taxes out of that? Does her agent get some of that? Does her publicist get a percentage? I don’t know how that works.”

Looking back at the moment in which Alexis officially revealed she and John were an item, Emily shared that she found out the news from Alexis herself after they attended Kathy Hilton’s Bravolebrity-studded Christmas party.

“She told me that night in the car that she and John were a thing, like, they were in a relationship. And I was like, ‘Oh, okay. Okay, alright.’ I never had an issue with her dating John. I mean, they’re adults, they live in Orange County, they like each other, they seem happy, that’s fine. I was like, ‘Oh, this is interesting,’” Emily recalled. “I didn’t think less of her or anything. You talk about girl code, she doesn’t owe anything to Shannon. They’re not friends. They never filmed together.”

That said, Emily did find the pairing strange.

“I just thought it was odd. They seem to be very, very, very happy because they want you to know how happy they are,” she noted.

Moving on to Heather’s feud with newbie Katie, who accused her of calling the paparazzi, Emily said that while she initially believed Katie, she now has her doubts.

“When she told me, she was very compelling. She speaks very calmly, she speaks very intelligently, she has this contact. ‘I reached out to my contact’ and I thought, ‘Okay, well she does,’” Emily explained, noting that she doesn’t care if Heather calls the paparazzi.

“She lives in L.A. Her husband’s famous. She’s famous. If they do, okay, maybe that works … it’s for your brand. It makes sense for you. They have a very glamorous life in L.A. so that makes sense. So when she told me, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, of course she does,’” Emily continued.

Then, as the season progressed, Emily began to question Katie’s credibility.

“Katie becomes less and less credible so then I go back and think, ‘Well maybe when she initially told me there wasn’t a lot of credibility there,’” she revealed. “Because when she showed me that screenshot, I’m like, ‘Is it compelling?’ Yes. ‘Is it clear and convincing?’ Absolutely not. So I said to her, and I don’t know if they showed this, but I was like, ‘Look, you gotta get your ducks in a row. This isn’t a lot.’ But I had to be careful because … I can’t like, give her too much information because then I’m an accessory.”

Throughout the 18th season of RHOC, Emily has steadily delivered shade in her confessions. And because she’s frequently targeted certain co-stars, she said that some have reached out.

“I did. You can guess from who,” she teased. “[But] I feel like globally, we made a really good season and so to watch an episode and nitpick someone said six months ago that hurt your feelings, is that really what we should be focusing on?”

Although not everyone was understanding of her playful commentary, Emily said that Jennifer Pedranti, 47, was a good sport.

“I appreciate that about Jen. I do really have good, and [Gina Kirschenheiter]. I’ve been making fun of Gina for six years but she just gives it back. That’s how we banter and I love that Jen can take some hits and roll with it,” she noted. “I really appreciate that about her, that she gets me and she understands it’s not an attack. I’ve been married to Shane Simpson for 15 years. That is how I communicate. That’s my love language.”

As for why she offered support to Shannon amid season 18, Emily said she wanted to show her co-star compassion amid the adversity she was facing.

“She deals with more than I think any human should have to deal with and a lot of people will be like, ‘Well are you Team Shannon or are you Team Alexis?’ I’m not team anything. I’m team humanity,” she declared. “I felt like, this is someone who’s struggling, who’s being vulnerable, who’s putting herself out there, who’s apologizing, who’s trying to take ownership of what she did, and then she also has to deal with her nemesis coming onto the show and she has to relive this relationship with John over and over and it’s not going away. It just keeps getting worse and she gets sued. It’s never-ending for her and I just felt like this is more than any one person should have to deal with.”

Although Emily did her best to stay neutral amid Shannon and Alexis’ feud, she admitted to feeling that they wanted her to pick a side.

“I did feel that. I think we all did and I think that’s what was difficult for all of us, was we were trying to navigate still being friends with Alexis but not liking how Alexis was handling things with Shannon, but being friends with Shannon but irritating Alexis because she feels like everybody believes Shannon,” she explained. “It was messy and it was very difficult to navigate.”

Overall, Emily said that when it came to who was winning and who was losing the season, she felt Shannon was coming out on top.

“I think Shannon’s really winning, and I think she deserves that,” she reasoned. “I think that she came into the season with the deck stacked against her. She’s got a DUI, she has John’s new girlfriend, she’s getting sued, and I think she just continues to look like the bigger person and the better party in all of this.”