The Real Housewives of Orange County star Braunwyn Windham-Burke has been sober for a long time, now.

Before that, however, she made catastrophic mistakes, some of which she can never take back.

At the Reunion, Shannon Beador accused Braunwyn of having offered her then-14-year-old daughter illicit substances.

Braunwyn broke down into tears and apologized, horrified at what she had done.

"When my daughter Stella was 14 years old at her very first beach barbecue," Shannon recalled at the end of Part 1 of the Reunion.

Addressing Braunwyn, she continued: "You went up to her and said, ‘Stella, if you want the good stuff, text me.'"

It is clear that this story refers to an offer of some sort of illicit substance, one that a 14-year-old has no business acquiring.

"I would never do that sober,"  a clearly distressed Braunwyn affirmed.

She herself has no memory of the exchange, but was quick to emphasize that she has no idea what she might have said while her alcoholism was at its worst.

As the conversation continued, Braunwyn's brave face fell and she burst into tears, calling herself "f--king disgusting."

"I wasn't pretty and I did a lot of things I was ashamed of," Braunwyn acknowledged, repeatedly apologizing to Shannon.

"I can believe I did it," she stated.

Braunwyn continued: "I did terrible things but I -- Wow -- I'm so sorry."

 

"Okay. I appreciate that," Shannon said.

Emily Simpson was willing to throw Braunwyn a bone.

"I don’t think Brauwyn owns a lot of things she does," Emily began, "and she’s owning this."

Shannon also spoke to her daughter, Stella, about the 2019 incident.

She was able to put Braunwyn's alleged behavior into the proper context -- alcoholism.

Braunwyn is of course now in recovery.

Kelly Dodd, harboring a grudge towards Braunwyn, expressed dismay at Shannon's compassion.

"You understand?" she shouted. "If someone said that to my daughter, I would go nuts."

That much, we do not doubt.

The conversation moved on, but Braunwyn, still in shock from hearing her own alleged words, broke down in tears later.

Shannon was among the Housewives who consoled her and provided words of comfort.

The mother of three reminded Braunwyn that this happened "a long time ago" and before her sobriety journey.

"I think out of all the things I’ve done, that may be the worst," Braunwyn expressed.

She excused herself from the stage so that she could process and regain her composure.

It is good that she did, because her voice was much needed when it came to addressing the most controversial Housewife of 2020 -- Kelly.

Kelly was called to account for her wrongdoings -- and at every turn, she deflected and became defensive and even hostile.

She was apparently confused over why people were unhappy that she chose to have a pandemic wedding, and yet were okay with protests.

The historic Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 were an extremely essential activity and, being outdoor and masked events, were not superspreader events.

Fortunately, Kelly's ill-advised wedding in October was not a superspread event like so many of 2020's foolhardy weddings turned out to be.

But this did not stop Kelly from blasting her castmates and decrying "cancel culture" -- the favorite complaint of people who don't like being held accountable.

The Reunion is highlighting what viewers have known for weeks: the real MVP of this season was Gina Kirschenheiter.