Viewers may have been waiting for Shanna Moakler and Lamar Odom to open up about their connections to the Kardashian family on Celebrity Big Brother, but the former pageant queen had other plans!
“That was something I was concerned about,” Moakler, 46, told Us Weekly exclusively when asked whether it was ever “awkward” between her and the NBA player, 42, while filming the CBS show. “Obviously, my comment heard all around the world on The Wendy Williams Show [about Khloé Kardashian] was not my finest or proudest moment and one I’d like to forget. I definitely wasn’t going to bring it up if he didn’t.”
While the former Miss USA was married to Kourtney Kardashian’s now-fiancé, Travis Barker, from 2004 to 2008, Odom was married to Khloé, 37, from 2009 to 2013. (Their divorce was finalized in 2016). Moakler previously made headlines for referring to Khloé as a “donkey” in 2009.
“I just wanted to know [Lamar] organically, just as you would meet someone organically and just base him off of who they are as a person and not by stuff in the media,” Moakler told Us. “He was always just a nice person to me.”
While Moakler was evicted from Celebrity Big Brother on Monday, February 14, Odom is still in the game. He was noticeably conflicted when voting to send the model home during Monday’s episode.
“That’s sweet,” Moakler told Us. “I haven’t got to see the final episode yet. I don’t know if my heart can take it. I didn’t get to see it. But yeah, obviously, the Kardashians are a huge family and that brings a lot of traction, but I try to just keep all that sort of media attention out of it.”
While Moakler seemingly didn’t mention Kourtney or Barker much on the reality show, Odom was often heard speaking about Khloé.
“I had a beautiful wife. We were together every day until we got married. I never thought about getting married again. I didn’t treat that good woman right,” the former Los Angeles Lakers star said on Monday’s episode. “I wish I was mature enough to handle [marriage] right, but I wasn’t. If given the opportunity again, now I know what to do. What to do and what not to do. Sometimes it’s hard for me to sleep at night thinking about her.”
Celebrity Big Brother airs on CBS Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. ET and Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
Reporting by Sharon Tharp