This season of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" features some new blood in the form of Meghan King Edmonds. She made a brief appearance on the show in season nine but now is a full-time housewife! Edmonds is a newlywed and the youngest cast member of "The Real Housewives of Orange County." Here are five things you need to know about her!
1. She is married to former baseball player Jim Edmonds.
In October 2014, King Edmonds, 30, married former baseball player and Fox Sports announcer Jim Edmonds, 45. Edmonds was a four-time All-Star player who was in the MLB for 17 seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and the St. Louis Cardinals. During his career he won eight Gold Glove awards and one World Series title.
She married Edmonds and became his third wife and the stepmother to his four children. The couple married St. Louis, after Edmonds divorced his second wife, Allison Jayne Raski. Edmonds has two children from his first marriage and two from his second. The newlyweds met through mutual friends and married less than a year later.
She broke all of her dating rules when she met and married her baseball star husband. Her first rule was that she'd never marry a man who had kids from a previous marriage. Her second rule was that she'd never marry a man more than 11 years older than she was. Lastly, she promised herself she'd never marry a professional athlete.
King Edmonds was married once before, to a young attorney named Brad McDill in July 2007 shortly after she graduated from college, according to Radar Online. The former couple separated on Oct. 14, 2011, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason. Their divorce was finalized on Nov. 30, 2011.
2. She dyed her hair pink when her husband's ex-wife died from cancer.
Edmonds' second wife, LeAnn Edmonds Horton, lost her battle with colon cancer earlier this year. To honor her spirit, King Edmonds made a drastic change and dyed her hair a vibrant shade of pink.
"We are embracing the life that we have because life is beautiful and you never know when it's going to end," King Edmonds told People magazine of her decision to go with the new pink hue.
Horton and Edmonds were surprisingly close. Horton lived in Southern California, close to her ex-husband and his new wife. She was the mother to Edmonds' two oldest daughters, Lauren and Hayley.
"There's a lot of pain I have for my stepdaughters - they're going to have to navigate life without their mom. We're just picking up the pieces and going on with the life we now know," Edmonds said, according to Us Weekly.
She did face some backlash after she dyed her hair.
"That I'm an attention seeker or that I look terrible or why didn't I do blue for colon cancer, but if LeAnn was here, her eyes would be as big as saucers. She would be like 'I can't believe you did it,' but she would love it," Kind Edmonds said. "During her chemotherapy she had all these different wigs and she got a red one and a blonde one, different lengths and she would have her hair stylist give them highlights," she finished.
3. She has three impressive siblings.
Meghan Kind Edmonds has three siblings who are just as, if not more, impressive than the reality TV star. Her brother RJ King is a model and her sister Julie King is a professional soccer player. RJ's modeling credits include the cover of Vogue Italia and a campaign for Nordstrom. Julie King is a defender for the Boston Breakers in the National Women's Soccer League and has even been voted Defender of the Year for her professional team, according to Wetpaint. Her third sibling, Caitlin, is also a reality TV star veteran who was on "The Amazing Race" in 2012.
4. She may be a housewife of Orange County, but she is not a West Coast gal.
King Edmonds is originally from St. Louis and is very proud of her midwest roots. She was born into a huge Catholic family as Meghan O'Toole King and has 24 cousins on one side and 19 on the other, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She attended private Roman Catholic all girl's high school Nerinx Hall and received an Academic Excellence Scholarship. While there she also set track and field records. She and her Cardinals legend husband split their time between St. Louis and Southern California.
5. She is a business lady.
King Edmonds attended the University of Mississippi where she graduated with a degree in Marketing. She then moved back to her hometown and built a successful career selling medical equipment. Her last two jobs were a Sales Representative for AG Industries and an Account Executive for Sunquest Information Systems, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She is currently the Brand Ambassador and Director of Sales at Sweat Cosmetics. Sweat Cosmetics is a brand of makeup that is marketed towards women who exercise and live a healthy lifestyle.
"She provides the closest point of contact for Sweat's LA-based manufacturing, and with years of successful sales experience under her belt, she will be the sales leader for Sweat," according to the cosmetics brand's profile on Indiegogo.
The company's mission is to narrow the gap between beauty and fitness.
"We will create simple and natural products that protect, nourish, and allow active women to look and feel beautiful. We are developing a brand that will differentiate itself from our competitors through our image, product uniqueness, and function. Sweat was created by athletes to withstand their toughest workouts, but was made for every woman who aspires to be active every day," Sweat Cosmetics says.
King Edmonds is a breath of fresh air on the season 10 of "The Real Housewives of Orange County." She is a go-getter with good energy, something the show desperately needs. You can check King Edmonds out on the current season of Orange County, which is still airing new episodes.
"The Real Housewives of Orange County" airs Monday at 9/8 c on Bravo.
