Luann de Lesseps had a tough year, but the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City have rallied around her! In August 2017, she ended her marriage with Tom D’Agostino Jr. only seven months after tying the knot. Then on December 24, she was arrested for disorderly intoxication and allegedly kicking a police officer while on vacation in Palm Beach, Florida. The 52-year-old spent less than a month in rehab for alcohol treatment before returning to New York and starting filming again.
“It was a wake-up call,” de Lesseps’ right-hand woman Sonja Morgan tells Us Weekly exclusively. “When I first heard about the arrest with LuAnn, I said, ‘Oh this is embarrassing.’ … But having said that, this has been a great opportunity for her to inspire others and to lead by example. She has taken total ownership and turned it around. She’s used this. Like the silver lining in the cloud, as they say. She has used this to get her shit together and to show the world she can do this, and that everybody else can do it, too.”
“She’s been through so much,” Ramona Singer adds. “All of us have rallied around her and supported her in every way we can, because that’s what friends do, you know? That’s what you do.” The 61-year-old also notes that it wasn’t easy for de Lesseps to go through her struggles on such a public platform. “Life is hardship, you know? It’s part of life. It’s how you get up, and I think she got up gracefully and well, and that’s all that counts.”
Even though the Class With the Countess author has never been close with Carole Radziwill, it seems the incident may have shaped their relationship as well.
“She comes out of it all, a different person — a person that was much more introspective and much more understanding that our actions have consequences. To me, it was a much more interesting and deeper Luann than I had seen since the five years that I’ve known her,” Radziwill, 54, tells Us. “I was really proud of the way she handled everything coming out of rehab and dealing with the pressures of not only doing the show, but the pressures of rebuilding her life. She seemed to be taking it with a seriousness that I was really surprised by but also really happy.”
Season 10 of The Real Housewives of New York City premieres on Bravo Wednesday, April 4, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Travis Cronin and Brody Brown
