In an interview with Decider, Jennifer addressed the situation with Tamra.
“That’s what was so hard for me, like, [Tamra] talk[s] about Shannon’s drinking problem, and I get that it’s vastly different, but Tamra is a problem when she drinks,” expressed Jennifer, who said alcohol is always Tamra’s “excuse” for her behavior. “We all suffer the wrath of her when she drinks too much. She will say she has the awareness of it — well then, work on that. Do better.”
Jennifer, who’s gotten close with Shannon since the DUI, said Shannon has “taken ownership” of what she did, and she is “doing good.”
“I personally was going through a lot of lows in my life and I have this girlfriend, Shannon, who’s also going through a really low in her life,” said Jennifer. “And I’m like, this is not the time to leave a friend. This is not when you kick somebody when they’re down.”
She was then asked if she believes Alexis truly desires to move forward in a relationship with Shannon after their tense fight early in the season.
“You know, Alexis did try. And she’s made several comments of wanting to bridge the gap. The problem is, it’s such a hard situation. I mean, how does anybody navigate that situation?” she said. “Her and John have a beautiful relationship. That is Shannon’s ex. There’s a legal situation between them. It’s so hard to navigate that.”
She also clapped back at Tamra’s claim that Jennifer’s friendship with Shannon is inauthentic.
“Well, does [Tamra] know about authentic friendships?” Jennifer asked. “I mean, I do. My friendship with Shannon is authentic.”
But Jennifer said she doesn’t “know” and no longer “care[s]” why Tamra has a vendetta against her and Ryan’s relationship: “If somebody would answer this question for me, I would be forever grateful. I don’t know and I don’t care anymore.”
Though Jennifer and Tamra had “fun” for some of the season, the “patterns” eventually “repeat[ed] themselves.”
She also addressed Gina shading her recent eviction in the confessionals after Gina helped her find the rental home. According to Gina, the eviction made her look bad as a real estate agent.
“Watching that back for me was hard, truly. I respect Gina a lot and so that was a hard time. But yes, that is the one thing I can say I love about Gina, among many things. We can go at it and she has very strong opinions, but she will come back and she will have a conversation and the conversation just looked like — when we finally had it — like … Gina felt like, what she has accomplished for herself, I was taking that,” said Jennifer. “She felt like me getting evicted was a mark on her career. And so then I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I would never come at your career.’ I was being evicted, where do I go? I’m heightened. She’s like, ‘What is she doing to my career? She’s knocking me off everything I’ve built [for] me and my kids.’ So when we sit down as two women — I love you, I love you. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It was awesome.”
Jennifer then shared how she feels about reaching a divorce settlement with her ex-husband.
“I feel so good, it’s been four years. Like, this has been four years — four years of my life just waiting on documents and ‘please just turn this in.’ And I think what people don’t know is, in that time, my ex and I’s understanding was, you know, I had a debit card and he was paying everything,” she said. “So if I needed gas, it was a text message. ‘Can you move money over?’ If I needed groceries, ‘Can you move money over?’ So when the rent starts not getting paid, I was just at a complete loss, right? I didn’t know — where was that going to come from? And so it feels good. I hope it feels good for him as it does for me [and] maybe now we can start repairing a good co-parenting relationship.”
She claimed Shannon and Alexis had the most volatile dynamic in the cast.
The star also shared her reaction to Taylor’s recent firing.
“I love her, so [I was] bummed. I remember being on the phone with her and I said, ‘Taylor, I think I’m more sad than you are.’ And she was pep talking me, [like], ‘It’s going to be okay, honey,’” Jennifer recalled. “It’s kind of like, what do I do without you? I love her. She’s busy and so we do connect — not as much as I would like, but, God, I love her. And when I see her, when I talk to her, it always feels like home.”
According to Jennifer, the current season was hard to live through – but good TV.
“There wasn’t one event that was, like, catastrophic in my life. I feel like the world imploded in my life and it’s all on camera,” she shared. “You have to go back to all of that. The good stuff is we were all in big stuff in our lives and so the highs were super high and the lows were super low and I think it’s an incredible season.”