10 Things You Didn’t Know About RHOC Star Meghan King Edmonds
Published on July 18, 2016. Updated September 26, 2017Meghan King Edmonds joined The Real Housewives of Orange County in season 10 and has been a main cast member ever since. As the youngest woman on the show surrounded by veteran housewives, Edmonds had to solidify her spot with a grand entrance — and that she did! She quickly proved she wasn’t going to be pushed around by the other women or silenced for her honest opinions. While many people may feel like they know her because she’s a television personality, there’s still a lot that people don’t know! So, here’s a look at 9 things you might not have known about this Orange County housewife!
10. Her Marriage to MLB Star Jim Edmonds
Meghan raised a few eyebrows when she revealed to the other women on the show that she was not the first or second wife of Jim Edmonds, but the third! The couple married in St. Louis on October 24, 2014. Their wedding took place just under a year after he divorced his second wife, Allison Jayne Raski. They met through mutual friends and enjoyed a whirlwind romance, getting married less than a year after they first met! Edmonds has a great reputation in the MLB for hitting 30 home runs in just five seasons with a .285 batting average. His career as a professional athlete lasted for 17 seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s been awarded eight Gold Gloves and one World Series title. He no longer plays professional baseball and instead works as a FOX sportscaster in St. Louis where Meghan visits him regularly. Edmonds also owns a restaurant called Winfield’s Gathering Place.
9. She’s Been Married Before
Her first husband was an attorney named Brad McDill. The two wed back in July of 2007 shortly after she graduated from the University of Mississippi. According to Radar Online, Brad and Meghan divorced on October 14, 2011 and cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their separation. The divorce was finalized in November of that same year and she changed her name back to Meghan O’Toole King. In their divorce the two basically kept what was theirs prior to the marriage and split the sale of their home 50/50 which was valued at around $225,000.
8. Famous Siblings
Meghan might be starring on The Real Housewives of Orange County, but she’s not actually from there. She was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri with her three siblings. Meghan might be the one on a reality show, but she’s got some pretty famous siblings who outdo her! Her brother RJ King is a successful model who lives in New York City. He’s been part of some big campaigns like Armani and Nordstrom. He’s friends with celebrities like Bella Hadid and Hailey Baldwin and was even featured on the cover of Vogue Italia. (Fun fact: RJ shares a dog with RHONY star Carole Radziwill…small world!) Meghan’s sister Julie is a professional soccer player. She is a defender for the Boston Breaks in the National Women’s Soccer League and was voted Defender of the Year for the team. Her third sister is also somewhat of a reality star as she appeared on The Amazing Race in 2012!
7. She Broke Her Own Rules
It’s safe to say that Meghan’s marriage to Jim Edmonds is a little unconventional. Viewers quickly learned there was a high price to pay for marrying a wealthy professional athlete as he was rarely home. The couple have already moved three times and were both constantly bouncing back and forth between St. Louis and Newport beach. She revealed on the show that her marriage is not only a little whacky to other people, but to herself as well! She broke a few of her own rules when she met and married Jim. The first rule was that she would never marry a man who had kids from a previous relationship. Jim has two daughters with his first wife, and another two children with his second wife. He and Meghan welcomed their first child together, Aspen, on November 24, 2016, which means Jim now has five children with three separate women. Her second rule was that she would never marry a man who was significantly older than her, but Jim is almost 15 years older than Meghan! Her last and final rule was that she wouldn’t marry a professional athlete….and well, that one was obviously broken as well.
6. Say Yes To The Dress
Before Meghan started appearing on The Real Housewives of Orange County, she could be found on an episode of TLC’s show, Say Yes to the Dress! She hit up the famous Kleinfeld Bridal boutique while searching for the perfect dress for her wedding to Jim Edmonds. Surprisingly, she was quite conservative when she appeared on the episode, “All Hands on Deck.” She knew exactly what she wanted, refused to show off her body when others encouraged it and she set a low budget of only $5,000, which is modest considering the life of luxury she now lives with Jim. At the end of the episode, she ended up choosing a vintage, sheer, straight neckline dress, but in her wedding photos she’s wearing something completely different. In the episode, she also mentions the wedding will be taking place in Bora Bora, but it actually was in a park in St. Louis.
5. Closer in Age to her Step-Daughter
Hayley Edmonds is the only daughter of Jim’s we see featured on the show. She is from his first marriage to Lee Ann Horton. Fans were able watch Meghan interact with Hayley and see Meghan at times struggle to enforce her role as the stepmother. One of the few strange things about Meghan’s marriage to Jim is that she’s closer in age to Jim’s daughter, Hayley, 19, than she is her 47-year-old husband. In an interview with Bravo, Meghan said: “I also have a very unique dynamic with my family situation. My husband is back and forth from our house in St. Louis to our house in Orange County because he works in St. Louis and I’m living in Orange County with his 19-year-old daughter — who I’m stepmom to and I’m closer in age to her than my own husband. And so we have this interesting dynamic.”
4. She’s a Working Woman
Meghan wasn’t always a housewife, in fact she’s quite educated! She attended the University of Mississippi and earned a degree in Marketing. After graduating, she moved back to her hometown to build a career as a sales representative. Her LinkedIn profile lists her past two jobs as an account executive and a sales representative at two medical supply companies, AG Industries and Sunquest Information Systems. Today, she’s the Brand Ambassador and Director of Sales of Sweat Cosmetics and product and retail development specialist for K. Hall Studio in Newport Beach. When Meghan joined the show back in 2015, she also launched a line called “Hashtag Hats,” a line of hats to raise funds for important issues like breast cancer and human trafficking.
3. IVF Mother
Meghan and Jim have been extremely open about their fertility problems and IVF process which have became a storyline on season 11 of RHOC. She talked briefly about starting her own family with Jim last season, but the newly wed couple was experiencing some infertility, mainly because Jim had previously undergone a vasectomy. Luckily, he had frozen some of his sperm which allowed Meghan to undergo IVF — an extremely painful process that includes a lot of needles! She has been documenting the entire process in a blog and on the show. “I wanted my IVF journey to be shown to the world in order to show my reality that is this crazy IVF thing. I want to humanize the process and bring awareness to infertility (although I am lucky enough not to suffer from it). It’s an isolating experience often accompanied by ugly emotions…I’m going to post more IVF stuff on @meghansivfjourney for my incredible IVF community and any others. It’ll stay private to protect very young eyes,” she wrote. Just recently, Jim and Meghan welcomed a little girl in November 2016!
2. She Had a Close Relationship to Jim’s Ex-Wife
Last season we saw Meghan talk a lot about her husband, Jim, and his ex-wife Lee Ann Horton as she struggled in her battle with colon cancer. Right before the taping of the reunion, Lee Ann lost her battle and passed away. Meghan opened up about how she had formed a close bond with Lee Ann, helped take care of her two daughters and was invested in finding a cure for cancer. This is one of the reasons Meghan butted heads with Vicki — she pursued a friendship with her because she thought the two could bond over their situations, but Vicki didn’t like Meghan taking interest in Brooks’ health which only made her more curious. “With my personal family situation, my step-daughter’s mom is dying of cancer currently, so I have an invested interest in cancer and cancer treatments, and so, of course, I was interested in what [Brooks Ayers]’s treatment plans were and what he was doing and I really thought I would find an ally,” she said. Lee Ann made a brief appearance on the show and seemed to validate the relationship she had to Meghan as a late friend. A few days after she passed away, Meghan dyed her hair bright pink in honor of her memory.
1. She Has a Big Family
A quick scroll through Meghan’s social media accounts show that she is very family oriented and that she grew up with the luxury of a big family. Originally born in St. Louis, Meghan lives there half of the year and she’s proud of her Midwestern roots! She was born into an Irish-Catholic family with 24 cousins on one side and 19 on the other. She attended an all girls private high school called Nernix Hall and even received a scholarship award for her athleticism!