Alexis Bellino‘s return to The Real Housewives of Orange County has been heavily criticized by Bravo fans, many of whom are unhappy with the way she’s been flaunting her relationship with John Janssen in front of his ex-girlfriend and longtime star Shannon Beador. However, Heather Dubrow, who is friends with both women, wishes audiences could see how much Bellino has “evolved” since leaving the series in 2013.

When Dubrow stopped by DECIDER’s offices last week, she offered her take on how Bellino — who appeared as a full-time cast member from Season 5 to Season 8 — did being back in the RHOC mix, this time as a “friend of.”

“It was tough for her. She came off a very difficult year of her life,” Dubrow said. “Her beloved mother passed away, she ended a three-year engagement, she had stuff going on with her kids, just a lot of things.”

Dubrow also speculated why Bellino has been so open about her relationship with Janssen, who previously dated Beador from 2019 to 2022.

“I think, if I could speak for her, I would say that she found love in an unlikely place at an unlikely time and wanted to shout it from the rooftops and also saw Shannon as someone that was trying to bring this great love of hers down, and wanted to protect him and clear his name,” Dubrow said.

She continued, “I appreciate those things about her and I get it, but I wish that the audience would see more of how fun she is and how light-hearted she is and how she’s evolved.”

Dubrow noted that it was Bellino’s “prerogative” to handle her dynamic with Beador and Janssen the way she did — even if she didn’t necessarily agree with it.

“We had many conversations on camera about how she posted pictures and whatnot and I said to her, ‘Look, I don’t think that this is appropriate, maybe bring it down a little bit,’” Dubrow explained. “And she said, ‘You know what? If someone doesn’t want to see my posts, don’t look at them.’ And you know what? That is her prerogative.”

She added, “So, as her friend and as Shannon’s friend, I feel like I did and said what I thought was appropriate. But she’s an adult and she’s gonna make her own decisions.”

The Real Housewives of Orange County airs every Thursday at 9/8c on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.