Amanda Frances shared heart-wrenching new details about the loss of her son Zion — and the intense grief that followed — on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
As the anniversary of her son’s death approached, Amanda explained during Season 15, Episode 6, that twins Canaan and Zion were born via emergency C-section about 11 weeks prematurely in 2022.
“Zion’s placenta was faulty, so he was having a hard time in the womb,” she said in a confessional. “Zion, unfortunately, died in my arms the first time I ever held him.”
Amanda’s son Zion was just five days old when he passed away, and Canaan spent 68 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) before she was eventually able to bring him home. That meant that the anniversary of her losing one son always closely follows the other’s birthday.
“Every year, it’s the most joyful and sad week,” Amanda tearfully told a producer. “I can’t think of everything Canaan overcame to be a 3-year-old, without thinking of Zion not making it. It’s just all in the week.”
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Why Amanda Frances attended Rachel Zoe’s dinner party on the anniversary of her son’s death
During a conversation with her fiancé, Eddie Tsivislavsky, Amanda acknowledged that the anniversary of Zion’s death was swiftly approaching.
“That was a really weird day for me last year, so I don’t know how I’ll be this year,” she admitted to Eddie, before reassuring him that their late son “lives on” in them.
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That difficult day happened to coincide with Rachel Zoe’s psychic dinner party, which Amanda ultimately decided to attend with her castmates.
“I spoke with Eddie about it, and this should be a day to be around friends,” she explained in a confessional. “Maybe it’d be a good distraction.”
While driving to Rachel’s backyard event, Amanda opened up to Kyle Richards that she was in the midst of an “emotional week” and told her the reason. “If I seem weird tonight, that might be why,” she continued.
Inside Amanda Frances and Dorit Kemsley’s drama at Rachel Zoe’s dinner party
While Amanda’s RHOBH castmates were aware that she’d lost a child, only Kyle knew that it was the actual anniversary date until well into Rachel’s party. Amanda made the announcement, however, after Dorit Kemsley confronted her at the dinner table for comments she made about her divorce from Paul “PK” Kemsley.
“Can I be really honest? Zion died three years ago today, and I’m holding on by a thread,” Amanda filled in Dorit. “I’m telling you guys this is a hard day for me. He died. My kid died.”
As the back-and-forth continued, however, Amanda eventually headed for Rachel’s front door, saying, “I’m gonna go be with Eddie. I just wanna hold him and cry and talk about what today is.”
On The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills After Show, Amanda explained that she had briefly continued to engage in the argument, because Dorit’s accusations were “very confusing” and had continued even after she told her about the anniversary of her son’s passing.
“An appropriate response is, ‘Oh my god, I had no idea, I’m sorry.’ Drop it,” Amanda elaborated. “But it’s like I’m still trying to figure out what the hell she’s talking about. And she’s still talking about it.”Â
Dorit, meanwhile, insisted that she “had no idea” about the date’s significance to Amanda and “would never have said anything to her,” had she known. What’s more, she pointed out that Amanda also continued to talk about the PK-related drama, even after she’d agreed to put a pin in the conversation.
However, Amanda pushed back on the RHOBH After Show, adding, “What was I supposed to do? Like, send out a memo? Announce it at the table? I don’t expect to go to a dinner party, and [have] someone aggressively confront me about something they heard.”
She concluded, “This was way out of left field for me. I just feel like the only solution is to go home. Did I have another choice really?”
Get more details on what Amanda’s family life with Eddie and their children looks like today.
