This story originally appeared on E! Online
Shannon Beador is addressing her recent past.
After she was sentenced on Nov. 2 to three years probation and 40 hours of community service following her Sept. 17 arrest for driving under the influence, the "Real Housewives of Orange County" star addressed how she's personally dealt with the incident in the weeks following.
"I've spent the last month, which I really had that amount of time, focusing on myself," Beador told E! News' Keltie Knight at BravoCon on Nov. 4. "I went to a behavioral wellness place with an alcohol component in it and I'm eliminating and have eliminated a lot of the toxic and unhealthy things in my life, so I'm really looking forward to moving on and I'm excited about it."
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She added of the wellness center, "I was offered, actually, multiple free stays at alcohol rehabs, but I chose a behavioral one because I want to figure out what's going on in my head so I make good choices from now on."
The 59-year-old also spoke to her headspace at the time of the incident.
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"I never drink and drive," she added. "I'm the Uber girl. But you know there were a lot of unhealthy things going on in my life and I did drink more alcohol."
Following her sentencing — where Beador pleaded no contest to Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and driving when she had a blood-alcohol level of .08 or above — her attorney Michael L. Fell confirmed to E! News that she will be required to complete a nine-month alcohol program in addition her probation and community service.
"The Orange County District Attorney's Office argued that Shannon should be sentenced to jail and be convicted of DUI and a hit-and-run," Fell told E! News at the time. "But after receiving legal arguments from both sides, the judge denied the prosecutor's request and dismissed the hit-and-run."
Beador also shared a personal statement with E! News following her sentencing, saying, "I am grateful that no one else was injured besides me in this incident. I have learned so much from my terrible mistake that night and realize that driving any distance while impaired is too far."
