Alexis Bellino has thoughts on Heather Dubrow and Emily Simpson's fashion show argument — and her role in it.
Emily Simpson and Heather Dubrow got into it after the latter Real Housewives of Orange County cast member's charity fashion show during Season 18, Episode 11 (which aired Sept. 19), and now, both Emily and Alexis Bellino are sharing new details about the argument.
In case you missed it, Alexis got roped into the disagreement because she and Emily were asked to wear the same dress on the runway — a situation that made Emily feel self-conscious (alongside the fact that she had to bring her own jeans for another look).
As such, Alexis said in an exclusive interview at Bravo Headquarters earlier this month, "I feel and felt very bad for Emily that she had the feeling that Heather was doing that intentionally or that she was singled out to be the only one in denim."
But Heather wasn't to blame for the decision, according to Alexis. "Heather had tears in her eyes and was like, 'I'm so sorry Emily. It's not what I meant,' but Emily wouldn't back down and just kept, like, pushing at Heather," she recalled. "So then I finally just said, 'OK, look. This is enough. If she wants you to be in a knapsack, wear a knapsack. It's for charity. I mean, come on."
Emily wasn't thrilled to hear Alexis chime in, though, and she ended up calling the Season 18 friend a "wack-a-doodle."
Alexis' response? "I am a wack-a-doodle!" she said with a laugh during her BravoTV.com interview. "So okay, I'll take it. I'll own it. But, I mean, she doesn't have a lot of room to talk. She's a loudmouth, so we'll go with that."
Emily Simpson was never "mad" at Heather Dubrow
In her own interview with BravoTV.com, Emily wanted to make it clear that she was never "mad" at Heather.
"I never felt that she did something malicious, like she did something on purpose. I just felt a certain way, and I just wanted to talk to her about it," she said. "I do want to make it clear that I was never mad at her and I never felt like she did anything wrong."
Still, she felt "shut down" by the way Heather responded when she brought up her feelings. During the episode, she'd told her that she felt singled out at the show after she was the only one wearing jeans at one point.
"Heather had been telling me, 'I'm doing this fashion show.' I was so excited because I'd lost 40 pounds and I'm going into it thinking 'I'm gonna feel like everybody else, I'm going to wear the same things as everyone else. It's not like I'm the big girl, I get to just be like everyone else,'" Emily explained. "I was really excited about that, and then when I got there and I looked around and Gina has the designer's leather pants on but I had to bring my own pants to wear, I felt devastated."
She continued: "I felt, like, that feeling you get in your throat where you just, you just feel defeated and you get that lump and you start to cry. I had to go into the bathroom and have like a moment to collect myself. It was like almost questioning my own sanity. Like, 'Did I lose weight? Do I look different?' And I don't think anybody really understands it unless they've been in that situation. But I just felt defeated."
