It took a lot for Shannon Beador to confront the reality of her infamous DUI crash and subsequent arrest last September.

In a recent interview with People Magazine, the Real Housewives of Orange County star, 60, shared a bloody selfie she took in the immediate aftermath of the “traumatic” incident, admitting that she didn’t even recognise herself as blood trickled down half her face and down her neck.

“I didn’t want to see myself that way, and I didn’t want anyone else to see me that way either,” she reflected, adding that she never thought she’d “show it to anyone.”

Despite her initial hesitation, the mom of three ultimately decided to take the “big step” and share the photograph with her RHOC co-star Heather Dubrow, realising that it would soon be circulating the internet anyway.

“When someone Googles my name probably for the rest of my life, that’s what they’ll see: my face, covered in blood, from the night that easily marked the lowest point of my entire life,” she reflected.