Six years after leaving our screens, Alexis Bellino made her triumphant return to The Real Housewives of Orange County on Tuesday night. During the episode, the RHOC alum met Emily Simpson for lunch to rave about her new boyfriend and fill viewers in on what she’s been up to since exiting the series in 2013.
In a new interview following her cameo, Alexis opened up about the similarities she sees between Emily‘s rocky relationship with Shane Simpson and her 14-year marriage with now-ex-husband Jim Bellino and dished on the advice she gave her pal.
Skyping into People TV’s Reality Check from the OC, Alexis admitted that she sees some familiar red flags in Emily‘s downward spiral of a marriage and reached out to support the second-season Housewife after watching her marital strife play out this season.
“We met for coffee again and I just said, ‘Girl, it’s very similar and it’s scary to me. I am just here for you and I want you to do whatever you can to save your marriage,” she confessed to People‘s Dave Quinn and Lyndsey Rodrigues. “Because on the other side of it, divorce isn’t easy. There’s many nights I cry myself to sleep…So I just feel for her a lot.”
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However, the former Housewife also dished that she’s been privy to seeing the couple’s relationship improve since production wrapped on Season 14.
“I know that I’ve seen…they’re doing a lot better now, just so you know,” she said. “Like, things happen and there’s definitely ups and downs in a marriage but I just did want to reach out to her and let her know that I saw some similarities and I was here to support her.”
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As longtime fans will recall, Alexis‘ conservative marriage to super-controlling Jimmy “The Chin” Bellino played out over Seasons 5 through 8 on RHOC. During her time on the show, the one-time Fox5 host — think more Jillian Barberie and less Katie Couric — struggled against her husband’s “biblical” expectations as she attempted to step out into the working world (RIP Alexis Couture).
While the Bellinos’ marriage survived four seasons in front of Bravo’s cameras, Jim filed for divorce (and even requested spousal support!) in the summer of 2018.
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TELL US – DOES EMILY’S MARRIAGE REMIND YOU OF ALEXIS AND JIM? WERE YOU HAPPY TO SEE ALEXIS BACK ON SCREEN?
[Photo Credit: JC Olivera/Getty Images]