The Real Housewives of Orange County: Jenn panics as son Dawson faints while preparing to leave for the Marines

The Real Housewives of Orange County season 19, which premiered in July 2025, saw Jennifer Pedranti planning her wedding with fiancé Ryan Boyajian and dealing with her five children from her ex-husband William Pedranti, Harrison, Dawson, Greyson, Dominic, and daughter Everleigh. 

Jenn has been seemingly close to her teenage son, Dawson, who has joined the US Marine Corps and headed off to boot camps in July.

Now that he was preparing to leave for the Marines, Jenn, along with Dawson and Greyson, was sitting together discussing their emotions.

Dawson just gets knocked off for a while before getting his senses back as he was getting a tattoo.

This scared his mother, Jenn, who almost panicked watching him like that.

Earlier Jenn asked Dawson whether he was nervous or not, and assured him that he was going to be fine, while the background commentary included Jenn speaking about Dawson's departure in sadness, saying,

"Dawson's leaving in July. He will be gone for 13 weeks. And then he comes home for 10 days, and then he leaves again. To say it's getting real is an understatement."

Jenn Pedranti opened up about her son Dawson’s upcoming departure for the Marines in the latest The Real Housewives of Orange County episode

In the latest episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, when Jenn was asked about how she felt, she admitted that she is really proud of him.  

Dawson reflected her feelings, saying that he thought it was so cool, while Greyson also expressed his pride.

But then Jenn reminded Dawson of how she often praised his brothers Harrison and Greyson for their smarts, and wanted him to hear clearly that she was extremely proud to be called Dawson's mom. 

She added, with tears in her eyes, that,

"But everybody says, you know, your son's gonna come back different and I don't need him to come back different because he's perfect."

Dawson, in an effort to lighten the moment, then joked about his upcoming war cry as he was about to get a tattoo. Jenn, however, confessed her thoughts regarding the danger involved in the military-led missions, saying,

"How do you go in on a recon mission and complete it and come back normal? How does my son do that?"

Greyson also expressed his fears regarding the Marine Corps decision, adding to his mother, who then tried to distract Dawson by bringing up her wedding with Ryan Boyajian.

Dawson admitted to feeling a little strange about attending his mom’s wedding, but the,n when asked about how he feels about Ryan, Dawson was all praises for the man, saying,

"I mean, like to my friends, I would describe him just as like, oh yeah, my stepdad Ryan. Mom's boyfriend Ryan. My mom's boyfriend slash fiance slash husband slash I don't really know what's going on there. He's super kind to us. He treats you super well. Like, I love the guy."

The scene shifted to Dawson’s tattoo session when he accepted that he is nervous about needles, freaking out a little. he joked and squirmed while Jenn teased him with playful motherly banter about man ponds.

As Dawson’s tattoo was being made on his chest, the struggle became evident, and he seemed overwhelmed.

Jenn noted the discomfort and pain and offered him water, but Dawson acknowledged he wasn’t okay before abruptly blacking out. Jenn immediately started panicking with questions,

"Doss? What’s happening? You guys, what’s happening?"

The tattoo artist, however, tried to reassure her by saying that sometimes people do pass out, but even Greyson seemed to be terrified, looking at his brother, whose legs and hands started shaking.

It was all chaos until Dawson opened his eyes and came back to his consciousness.

Jen continuously asked him whether he was alright or not while Greyson encouraged him to take deep breaths; however, Dawson continued his humor, instantly saying,

I’m awake now… What the f** just happened?

Jenn sighed in relief when Greyson informed Dawson how nervous he made their mother.

Stay tuned for more updates.