Well, I definitely didn’t have Real Housewives of Orange County alum, Alexis Bellino, being a progressive, affirming mom to her transgender son on my 2022 bingo card, but here we are.
Bellino, 45, opened up on Instagram about her son’s desires for her to post about his transition journey. “Hey world, this is Miles. My transgender son,” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “He’s now a month shy of 15 yrs old, so he’s seen the questions and comments made about him on my IG. Miles now has a voice and has asked me to do this post.”
The reality star, who also shares two other children — McKenna, 14, and James, 16 — with ex-husband, Jim Bellino, noted that she had taken a step back from posting “due to this transition in Miles’ life, but he’s now ready to ‘come out’ and to use this platform to stop any hate or questions.”
She also noted that she was hesitant about posting the news, due to fear of hate or backlash, but Miles insisted because he no longer wanted to be misgendered.
“I refused to post this for him for a while, but now I know Miles truly wants me to post this because he’s tired of the misgendering and confusion people have, so we are setting the record straight and hopefully bringing clarity,” Bellino said.
She continued on, writing that nothing Miles could do would change her love for him and commended her son’s bravery for coming out. “I cannot imagine the strength and courage it took for my baby to do this, but I’m extremely proud of him and I want everyone to understand that love doesn’t change in these situations. It’s unconditional love.”
Bellino said Miles shared his news with her over 16 months ago after hiding it from others, “but eventually he got to where we are right now.”
“I’m so proud of Miles for wanting to stop the hate, and for being brave enough to step forward at such a young age. He now has his entire life to live the way he should.”
She concluded, “I am 100% fully supportive of my son. I hope you will be too … Thank you for supporting me and my family through all of our many transitions through the years. This world needs more love and kindness.”
The news of Bellino’s unconditional acceptance and support for her transgender child may have come as a shock to some RHOC fans who recall Bellino’s more conservative values during her time on the show from 2009 to 2013.
The former reality TV housewife was even given the nickname “Jesus Jugs” by her fellow cast mate at the time, Tamra Judge, which was a nod to her possible hypocrisy for her religious devotion and conservative views while having breast augmentation and other plastic surgery procedures.
She was also called out from time to time for her questionable feelings towards the LGTBQ+ community. In 2011, she made controversial comments on the show that a married lesbian couple were not in a “real marriage” and she belonged to a faith that didn’t believe in “same-sex marriage.” She did clarify in a later blog post that she believes “we should all have equal rights.”
Since her departure from the show, Bellino has gotten divorced and has seemingly changed for the better since the split. So much so that RHOC fans are asking for her return to the series.
“Bring her back! I’d love to see her life now she’s free from Jim, and clearly has gone on a journey socially and politically,” one person wrote.
Another fan echoed, “This is why I want Alexis back… to show us her newly improved Jesus Jugs 2.0 self! People can change/improve throughout life for the better… and Alexis is one!!!!”
Whether she returns or not, it’s so nice to see the unconditional love and support she’s giving her son.
