RHONY's Luann de Lesseps Denies Using Her Arrest for Fame: 'I Made Lemonade Out of Lemons'
Luann de Lesseps is doing her best to turn her life around.
During the third and final part of the Real Housewives of New York City reunion, Bethenny Frankel accuses de Lesseps of cashing in on her sobriety.
“You actually reveled in that you had a comeback from this arrest and that you were more famous than ever,” says Frankel. “It took you on something where you were like, ‘Wow this is it. I’m really famous now.’ “
Shocked, de Lesseps responds, “You think I took that as a positive thing for me?”
“Yes, I do,” Frankel says. “I think you said, ‘While I’m at it!’ “
When the other women bring up her successful cabaret show as an example of how her newfound notoriety appeared to benefit her life. (De Lesseps left the treatment program she attended last year early in order to perform in a cabaret show.)
“I really made lemonade out of lemons,” she says. “I really got dealt a really tough hand.”
Frankel clarifies that she doesn’t have a problem with de Lesseps new career path; it’s more about the attitude she had in the months after leaving rehab.
“Usually when someone hits [rock bottom] they are very humble for a while instead of like, ‘Boom! Jail, recovery, and let’s go ladies.”
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De Lesseps explains that it wasn’t a lack of humility, but that she was instead feeling better than ever after getting sober.
“I was kind of in a thing called the pink cloud,” she says. “When you first get sober, you have this moment of elation.”
But understanding where the women were coming from, the “Money Can’t Buy You Class” singer offered an apology and expressed gratitude to her friends for sticking by her side.
“By looking at myself I realized that I could have done better as a friend and I was absent because I really just needed to take care of myself,” she says. “That looked like I was not grateful for them. For that, I’m sorry.”
