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Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson’s conflicting parenting styles continue to cause marital clashes on The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Their discussion of their 10-year-old son Luke’s health issues during Season 19, Episode 7, only highlighted just how far apart the RHOC couple is on how to navigate the issue. Whereas Emily described herself as being “more of the nurturing parent,” she pointed out that Shane “isn’t as warm and fuzzy,” but rather, “more of the pragmatic kind of dad.”
Amid Luke’s Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) diagnosis (and ongoing autism spectrum disorder testing), Shane struggled to understand tearful Emily’s heightened emotions. “Why do you get frustrated?” he asked her. “It is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about it. We just work around it.”Â
After explaining to him that Luke is “possibly autistic” and “doesn’t think and function like other children do,” Emily accused Shane of trying to “simplify” their son’s “neurological issue.” That instantly caused Shane to grow “frustrated” with his wife.
RELATED:Â Emily Simpson Opens Up to a Producer About Her Son Luke’s Health: “Constantly Have That Guilt”
“You’re just saying I have to cry and be all upset and mad in order to be considerate,” he fired back. “I could still smile and still help him and still be positive. Which do you want me to do? …Â As if you care and I don’t care.”
As Shane further contended, “You make it stressful for yourself. You make it more difficult for yourself.”
Inside Emily and Shane Simpson’s argument on RHOC
The pair’s heated discussion took place soon after Emily returned from the New Orleans cast trip, at which point she was already feeling “guilty” for taking time away from her “child that’s in crisis.” After all, she said that Luke had called her “repeatedly” throughout the getaway.
Emily told Shane that, just in the short time she’d been away from home, Luke had also begun “talking like a baby” and wouldn’t “let go” while hugging her.
As her husband saw it, though, Luke didn’t exhibit any of those behaviors while was gone.
RELATED:Â Emily Simpson Makes a Surprising Declaration About Her Marriage to Shane Simpson
“When you’re in New Orleans, he’s not perfect, but he gets up, puts his clothes on,” Shane elaborated. “But when you’re here, he texts you from school, he won’t let go of hugging you. Some of it is an act for attention.”
Through tears, Emily insisted that she was simply trying to express the “weight” that was on her, adding, “You don’t understand how overwhelmed I’ve been by all of this, Shane.”
That prompted him to respond, “OK, I don’t understand anything. Got it. I don’t understand. Well, you don’t understand how difficult you can be sometimes. How about that?”
Emily and Shane Simpson open up to producers about their issues
In a confessional, Shane admitted that he treats his three daughters “differently” than their twin sons: “I don’t know if that’s right or wrong, but that’s kind of how I’ve been doing it. A little bit more sensitive to my girls, a little bit more, like, get up and walk it off, to my boys.”
He continued, “If it was just up to me, I probably wouldn’t be trying to find specialty help for [Luke] right away. … We could go at our children’s pace, not kind of shoving it in front of him.”
Separately, Emily shared with a producer how she would like to feel a “deeper connection” beyond Shane’s ‘it will be fine’ attitude: “I need, ‘I know that it’s really difficult. I know that you have a lot of emotions. You’re valid in having those. We’re gonna work together. We’re gonna make it through together.’ And I don’t hear that.”
Are Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson still together after RHOC Season 19?
During her July 17 visit to Bravo HQ, Emily revealed that she and Shane had recently discussed the “friction” in their marriage that sprung up while filming RHOC Season 19.Â
Ultimately, Emily acknowledged that Shane only wanted her “to not lose it,” and, thanks to some co-parenting adjustments, their relationship remains strong today.
“Shane parents in a very ‘everything will be fine’ kind of way, and I parent in a ‘it’s the end of the world, what are we going to do?'” she explained. “He tells me that he does that because he’s trying to bridge the gap and bring me down a little, where I find it frustrating because I feel like he’s not taking things as seriously as he should.”
As you watch them continue to navigate those issues on RHOC Season 19, get an inside look at Emily and Shane’s recent, jaw-dropping home renovations.
