“Rehab saved my life. It was the best thing that I could do for myself and I’m so glad I did that,”Real Housewives of New York City’s Luann de Lesseps said in a recent interview.
Real Housewives of New York City’s Luann de Lesseps is more than 120 days sober and says she is taking her recovery one day at a time after a rocky year that involved two stints in rehab.
“It’s not easy, but I take it day by day,” the 53-year-old reality star explained. “I feel so much better and happier without it, so it works for me.”
Last December, de Lesseps was arrested on New Year’s Eve for being drunk and disorderly. She pleaded guilty to the charge and had to attend two AA meetings a week as part of her plea deal. Shortly after that, she checked into rehab after realizing that her drinking had gotten out of control.
“I had two or three [martinis], then I think two bottles of rosé wine by myself, and then I probably had a six-pack of beer or something,” de Lesseps said. “I was dancing in my kitchen with a bikini on.”
Initially, she was successful in recovery.
“At this point in my life, I don’t want to drink, nor do I have interest in drinking,” she told Extra in April. “Rehab saved my life. It was the best thing that I could do for myself and I’m so glad I did that.”
In July she posted that she was celebrating six months of sobriety by spending Independence Day with her family, with whom she has a fraught relationship. However, shortly after that she checked into rehab again.
Still, de Lesseps didn’t shy away from her struggles during a recent conversation with Fox News.
“It’s something that happened very publicly to me, so it wasn’t easy going through,” she said, adding that she hopes other people who are struggling with alcoholism will see her story and know that they can get help — even when things don’t quite go as planned.
“I think it’s important for people to see that even if everything implodes, you can pick yourself up,” she said. “For me, it was getting on the cabaret stage, and then, of course, filming another season of the show.”
de Lesseps is able to continue filming, even though her co-stars still drink.
“The girls are very supportive of my sobriety and I’m able to do the new season without too many problems,” she said. She doesn’t expect others to change their drinking habits to accommodate her.
“That’s life in general,” she said. “It’s going to always be there. Temptation is always there. It’s up to me to not pick up and drink, but the girls have been very supportive of my sobriety, and that’s made it a lot easier for me.”
