In a new interview with PEOPLE, Shannon Beador gets candid about her relationship with ex-boyfriend John Janssen.

The Real Housewives of Orange County star reveals that she and John had actually gotten back together before her September 2023 arrest for DUI and hit-and-run.

Shannon Beador and John Janssen began dating in the summer of 2019, but after 3 1/2 years together, John dumped the Bravo star in late 2022.

After a few months, the two developed a friendship, and by March 2023, the two were unofficially back together.

“For about six months, he dated someone else, and I dated someone else, but after that, we reconnected,” Shannon recalls, noting that they kept their reconciliation a secret.

“Both of us told everyone, ‘No, we’re not back together,’ but we were acting like we were back together,” she says.

“I think deep down, he and I both knew that it was never going to work,” the mother of three adds. “So, I wouldn’t say we were back together publicly, but we were together privately for about six months.”

“I’m not sure what he was really in it for,” Shannon pointed out. “But at the same time, he moved very quickly with me and told me that he loved me right away, that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together.”

However, John has differing views on his relationship with Shannon, insisting he never had any intent to rekindle his romance with the RHOC star.

“Several months after our break-up, I attempted a friendship with Shannon,” he tells PEOPLE. “As we both privately agreed and publicly declared, there was never an intent to rekindle our relationship. Any suggestion that we were back together as a couple is a mischaracterization of the situation.”

After this interview made its way around social media, John’s current girlfriend and RHOC co-star Alexis Bellino called out Shannon Beador for being obsessed.

On Instagram, Alexis wrote:

“I know whatever I write, I’ll be painted as the mean girl, but I’ll gladly take the public beating if it will calm the Storms. Shannon, your obsession with John needs to end. I know my relationship with John has been a saving grace for you, as you have been eagerly mentioning our names in every interview in an effort to bypass all accountability for your arrest.

I ask you with all sincerity to please stop exploiting us in your manipulative sympathy tour. John and I just want to live happily in peace, and we wish you the same.”

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