According to court documents obtained, she breached a stipulation of settlement in her divorce by failing to create a trust “for the benefit of her two children.”
“I wanted to change my life,” she said on Today‘s Megyn Kelly. “I wanted to move upstate New York and I found a beautiful home. I have this beautiful house in the Hamptons, as a lot of people know, and I wanted to sell that to get this property up there and the children weren’t happy about that because it’s their home and I understand that.”
“But I just wanted to move,” she continued. “I needed more privacy and a lot of people know where I am and I just needed a fresh start. But the kids were not happy with it and the ex-husband came to visit and he decided to block me and sue me. And I’m so nice, I let him stay at my house because we have a great relationship. And we still do. I mean, I understand why he did it because I was really going big up there, upstate, with a really big property. Since then, I’ve decided to take something smaller and keep my home for the children because I love them.”
Luann said she found out about the lawsuit in the press. “So that was devastating,” she said. “I felt betrayed, I felt so hurt by that because I really wanted to move on and I really wanted to flip this house and get the other one. … I had my heart set on that house. … I was devastated, and so I lost it.”
That night, de Lesseps admitted she “fell off the wagon.”
“I had a girlfriend with me and she goes, ‘I love making watermelon martinis’ and I said, ‘I’m in,’ ” she recalled. “I used to drink those at Bungalow 8 years ago and I love them. Anyway, I had two or three of those and then I had I think two bottles of rosé by myself. And then I had probably a six-pack of beer or something. I was dancing in my kitchen with a bikini on and a Panama hat. … I don’t know when to stop.”
As previously reported, de Lesseps had checked into rehab. She left the facility after three weeks just in time for her Countess and Friends cabaret tour. “It’s great to be back,” she said on Tuesday. “I feel good. I feel great, actually. But every day is a struggle. I take it day by day. I’m going to be 30 days sober tomorrow.”
“I have this whole new life,” she continued. “I go to AA meetings and I follow up with my treatment and I take it very seriously. I love meetings and I have a whole new family and a way of supporting myself.”
Reflecting on the experience, Luann acknowledged that she can no longer drink socially. “I can’t be like most normal people and have a glass or two of wine,” she said. “I’ll drink the whole bottle. … It just doesn’t work for me. I’m not wired that way.”
Luann reveals that she's grateful for her cabaret shows because its “saving my life right now.”
“I get to do what I love to do,” she said.
Transcript courtesy via PEOPLE
Photo Credit: Bravo
