Shannon Beador Recounts 'Surreal' Experience of Going to Jail After DUI: 'I Pretended I Was in a Bedroom' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Shannon Storms Beador.Photo:Charles Sykes/Bravo via GettyShannon Storms Beadoris looking back on her time in jail and the lessons she’s learned from the experience.In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE, theReal Housewives of Orange Countystar, 60, opened up about her brief stint in jail after she was taken into custody forher headline-making DUI and alleged hit-and-runin September 2023.After prefacing that she tends to be “very claustrophobic,” Storms Beador recalled the moment an officer escorted her to her cell.“I said to the policeman, ‘Oh no, I can’t go in there. That’s too small. I can’t go in there.’ And there were no bars for air. It was a door. They go, ‘Well, this is the bigger one.’ So I walked in to see, and they shut the door. And then I’m like, ‘No, you gotta let me go. I can’t be here,'” she recalled.To offset her claustrophobia, the Bravolebrity told PEOPLE that she “laid down on the bed and I faced the wall.““So I was just pretending I was in a bedroom, like, ‘Oh no, you were just in a bedroom,'” she continued. While she was uncomfortable, Storms Beador acknowledged she was there to serve her “fine” of five hours in jail.“I was injured. I had blood all over me,” she continued. “And when they let me out, literally, it was like in the movies. They opened up this garage door. I didn’t even know where. I’m like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ [and] they go, ‘You can go.'““I had no shoes on. It was surreal and it is something that I will never let happen again. I’m never going to make poor decisions like that again. I’m not going to,” she concluded.Storms Beador was arrested in the early hours of Sept. 17 in Newport Beach after crashing her car into a planter box attached to a house. Police recorded a .24 blood alcohol level (three times the legal limit).She was booked on two misdemeanors and spent a few hours in jail before being released on a citation. The reality star would later be sentenced to three years of probation, which came with a required order to complete 40 hours of community service and a nine-month alcohol program.The reality star also told PEOPLE what it was like to tell her daughters Sophie, 22, and twins Stella and Adeline, 20, about her arrest.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“They were shocked,” Storms Beador recalled of her girls, whom she shares with ex-husband David Beador.“I’m a huge lecturer on never drinking and driving, and for me at my age to be setting such a poor example was just devastating,” she added. “I made a horrible, horrible decision. I think about it every day, and I’m so grateful that I didn’t hurt anyone.“The Real Housewives of Orange Countyairs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

Shannon Storms Beador.Photo:Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

Shannon Storms Beadoris looking back on her time in jail and the lessons she’s learned from the experience.In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE, theReal Housewives of Orange Countystar, 60, opened up about her brief stint in jail after she was taken into custody forher headline-making DUI and alleged hit-and-runin September 2023.After prefacing that she tends to be “very claustrophobic,” Storms Beador recalled the moment an officer escorted her to her cell.“I said to the policeman, ‘Oh no, I can’t go in there. That’s too small. I can’t go in there.’ And there were no bars for air. It was a door. They go, ‘Well, this is the bigger one.’ So I walked in to see, and they shut the door. And then I’m like, ‘No, you gotta let me go. I can’t be here,'” she recalled.To offset her claustrophobia, the Bravolebrity told PEOPLE that she “laid down on the bed and I faced the wall.““So I was just pretending I was in a bedroom, like, ‘Oh no, you were just in a bedroom,'” she continued. While she was uncomfortable, Storms Beador acknowledged she was there to serve her “fine” of five hours in jail.“I was injured. I had blood all over me,” she continued. “And when they let me out, literally, it was like in the movies. They opened up this garage door. I didn’t even know where. I’m like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ [and] they go, ‘You can go.'““I had no shoes on. It was surreal and it is something that I will never let happen again. I’m never going to make poor decisions like that again. I’m not going to,” she concluded.Storms Beador was arrested in the early hours of Sept. 17 in Newport Beach after crashing her car into a planter box attached to a house. Police recorded a .24 blood alcohol level (three times the legal limit).She was booked on two misdemeanors and spent a few hours in jail before being released on a citation. The reality star would later be sentenced to three years of probation, which came with a required order to complete 40 hours of community service and a nine-month alcohol program.The reality star also told PEOPLE what it was like to tell her daughters Sophie, 22, and twins Stella and Adeline, 20, about her arrest.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“They were shocked,” Storms Beador recalled of her girls, whom she shares with ex-husband David Beador.“I’m a huge lecturer on never drinking and driving, and for me at my age to be setting such a poor example was just devastating,” she added. “I made a horrible, horrible decision. I think about it every day, and I’m so grateful that I didn’t hurt anyone.“The Real Housewives of Orange Countyairs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

Shannon Storms Beadoris looking back on her time in jail and the lessons she’s learned from the experience.

In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE, theReal Housewives of Orange Countystar, 60, opened up about her brief stint in jail after she was taken into custody forher headline-making DUI and alleged hit-and-runin September 2023.

After prefacing that she tends to be “very claustrophobic,” Storms Beador recalled the moment an officer escorted her to her cell.

“I said to the policeman, ‘Oh no, I can’t go in there. That’s too small. I can’t go in there.’ And there were no bars for air. It was a door. They go, ‘Well, this is the bigger one.’ So I walked in to see, and they shut the door. And then I’m like, ‘No, you gotta let me go. I can’t be here,'” she recalled.

To offset her claustrophobia, the Bravolebrity told PEOPLE that she “laid down on the bed and I faced the wall.”

“So I was just pretending I was in a bedroom, like, ‘Oh no, you were just in a bedroom,'” she continued. While she was uncomfortable, Storms Beador acknowledged she was there to serve her “fine” of five hours in jail.

“I was injured. I had blood all over me,” she continued. “And when they let me out, literally, it was like in the movies. They opened up this garage door. I didn’t even know where. I’m like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ [and] they go, ‘You can go.'”

“I had no shoes on. It was surreal and it is something that I will never let happen again. I’m never going to make poor decisions like that again. I’m not going to,” she concluded.

Storms Beador was arrested in the early hours of Sept. 17 in Newport Beach after crashing her car into a planter box attached to a house. Police recorded a .24 blood alcohol level (three times the legal limit).

She was booked on two misdemeanors and spent a few hours in jail before being released on a citation. The reality star would later be sentenced to three years of probation, which came with a required order to complete 40 hours of community service and a nine-month alcohol program.

The reality star also told PEOPLE what it was like to tell her daughters Sophie, 22, and twins Stella and Adeline, 20, about her arrest.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“They were shocked,” Storms Beador recalled of her girls, whom she shares with ex-husband David Beador.

“I’m a huge lecturer on never drinking and driving, and for me at my age to be setting such a poor example was just devastating,” she added. “I made a horrible, horrible decision. I think about it every day, and I’m so grateful that I didn’t hurt anyone.”

The Real Housewives of Orange Countyairs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

source: people.com