Alexis and Jim Bellino’s 2018 split may have come as a shock to Real Housewives of Orange County fans but it turns out their marriage had issues long before the former couple joined reality TV.
In a new interview with Us Weekly, Alexis says she doesn’t think starring on RHOC caused her and Jim’s split.
“I definitely don’t think our marriage would have sustained it [long-term] regardless of the show,” Alexis told Us Weekly. “I don’t think Housewives was the reason because I had already been having feelings before Housewives that I was fighting back. I was, like, I can’t, you know, we got to work this out.”
Alexis starred on RHOC for four seasons before exiting the show in 2013. While Alexis and Jim attempted to portray their marriage as picture perfect on the show it turns out their union had issues outside of the show for years.
“We were married 14 years and then [in] therapy the whole 14 years. So that tells you something,” she explained. “And I haven’t been to one therapy session with [my fiancé] Andy [Bohn]. We haven’t had but two fights. We just were just meant to be together.”
The former Housewife calls her relationship with Jim “oil and water.” She notes that her new relationship with Andy is the exact opposite and says that he’s her best friend.
“If [Andy and I] don’t see eye to eye, we don’t need to go to the counselor and figure it out. We just sit down and have a discussion,” she said. “Neither of us yell. Neither of us [bosses] the other one around. We just simply talk it through. So, I don’t think that Jim and I would have made it, even if Housewives hadn’t have come about. It would have been me wanting to open my coffee shop that I’ve had a dream for, or like, you know, there’s just other things that I would have probably wanted to do that. It would’ve caused a little bit of a ruckus.”
Alexis, who shares three kids with ex Jim, says she did “a lot of soul searching” and realized she outgrew her relationship with Jim before calling it quits on their marriage in 2018.
“When Jim and I met, we were exactly in alignment on the Leave it to Beaver kind of family. I wanted to be at home. He wanted me to quit my career. So, I did,” Alexis explained. “But then when Housewives came about and the kids were getting a little bit older, I wanted something for myself again. I wanted a career again.”
“Once you’ve kind of took that agreement that, ‘OK, well, I’ll be the breadwinner. You stay home and take care of the kids.’ And then, I guess, basically if you don’t grow together in that path that’s when the hiccups really come into play,” Alexis said. “If the husband and wife don’t grow together and they stay stagnant in that one firm belief — like if someone suddenly gets enlightened and wants to change their faith — do you divorce and say, ‘Forget it,’ even though you might have [the] best friendship. Or, do you try to figure out, ‘OK, well, we don’t have to see eye to eye on that though’ [and stay together].”
“We still have our ups and downs, but we do have one thing that we are a 100 percent [agree] about and that’s how much we love our kids,” she admitted. “It’s definitely a work in progress, but we just try to respect each other and put our kids first.”