D’Andra Simmons is opening up about the pain she felt after being body-shamed on national television.
The Real Housewives of Dallas star, 50, stopped by PeopleTV’s Reality Check on Thursday, where she admitted she “cried for awhile” when she saw her costar LeeAnne Locken refer to her as a “fat cow” during a recent episode.
“I was disappointed of course and a little bit hurt because LeeAnne knows my triggers,” Simmons said. “I’ve struggled with my weight, I’ve talked about that openly. She went to one of those below-the-belt places that I just thought was really a low blow. There wasn’t a reason to do that.”
Locken, 52, made the comment behind Simmons’ back after she was confronted about why she hadn’t invited her former friends to her bachelorette party. “[I’m getting yelled at] because the great and almighty fat cow isn’t here to be worshipped,” Locken had said.
After the episode aired, Locken said on Twitter that she reached out and apologized to Simmons.
“She called me and left a message,” Simmons told PEOPLE.
“I have not spoken to her because I feel like, she had said some hurtful things the night before that on Twitter,” Simmons added. “Instead of just saying ‘I’m sorry,’ she kept on and on, saying, ‘Well you did this.’ It’s always tit for tat. Sometimes it needs to just be, ‘I’m sorry.’ “
“The pettiness is silly,” Simmons continued. “If she would have just said I’m sorry and that is it, I would have probably been much more open to having a friendship. But right now, we’re just at a standstill.”
Simmons had previously spoken out about Locken’s words before the comment aired on RHOD.
“In the last decade, courageous public figures have outed body shaming,” Simmons wrote on Instagram, after quoting a phrase from J.K. Simmons. “It is shameful, hateful and discriminatory… the basest form of bullying.”
“Making statements about a person’s weight says nothing about the person these comments are being directed toward, and everything about a person that is spewing this hurtful and disgusting narrative,” she said. “CHARACTER…plain and simple without pretense…that is what defines another human being…not their weight nor their size.”
“I’ve openly shared my struggles with my body weight and image both privately and publicly,” she continued. “I’ve learned that you must love yourself and embrace your body for what it is all while doing your best to be healthy and whole.”
“I hope tonight’s episode will help to renew a commitment to ourselves and others to support each other instead of scrutinizing each other, to love each other instead of judge each other,” Simmons stressed. “If appearance is the only thing that defines you and others in your world, then you have a lot more to learn about life than I can write in a simple post. I hope everyone takes the time to make steps to self-improvement and towards kindness and compassion. This is way more important than what size dress you or I am wearing. I’m learning to love my body each and every day and be thankful for all of the blessings in my life! Let’s all stay positive and celebrate self-love together.”
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As for Locken, she appears to find herself in the hot seat later on this season, after making a comment her costars appear to deem racially insensitive.
Asked about the incident, Simmons told Reality Check, “I don’t know what’s in her heart.”
“Actions are words, and words are powerful,” Simmons said. “When you say things — and I of all people should know — when you say something that can cause you harm, as I did last year, there are consequences. I don’t know why she chose to say those words, and not only once, but several times. So I’m concerned about that. But at the end of the day, I don’t know LeeAnne’s heart as far as what she meant by that.”
“I’m sure she looks back and goes, ‘I wish I hadn’t done that,’ ” Simmons added. “She’s going to have to deal with that. Really, the viewers have to decide what they think about it. It’s not for me to decide or to say.”
The Real Housewives of Dallas airs Wednesdays (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo.
