Braunwyn Windham-Burke Says Her Decision To Get Sober Changed Her Relationship With Husband Sean Burke; Says “When I Got Sober, I Didn’t Need Him Anymore And He Felt The Distance And He Felt Left Behind”

Braunwyn Windham-Burke revealed that her relationship with her husband, Sean Burke, changed after getting sober.

“He’s known that I’ve had a problem, but part of the dynamic of our relationship is he’s an enabler and we have a very codependent relationship,” Braunwyn told Us Weekly. “While I’m getting sober right now, he’s also in his own community support meetings, working on his aspect of it because alcoholism is a family disease. It affects everyone. And, you know, especially with couples, there is a dynamic and we’re working on that.”

The mother-of-seven, who revealed she was an alcoholic during the October 14 premiere of RHOC, added that she needed Sean more when she was under the influence.

“I have been either pregnant nursing or drinking most of our relationship. And when I’m drinking, I’m very needy. I want him to come with me. I want him to pick me up,” she told Us. “He would get me out of situations before I got ugly. So I needed him. And when I got sober, I didn’t need him anymore. And he felt the distance and he felt left behind. … It’s very hard on a marriage. There’s just a lot of things that we’ve had to uncover [in] therapy with ourselves and each other.”

Braunwyn added that the couple filmed a lot of her addiction journey for season 15.

“I will say that we filmed as much as we could because I didn’t want to minimize that this is a family disease, you know? And one of the reasons I was able to stay drunk so long was because Sean, you know, Sean did take care of me,” she said. “So he’s working a program, I’m working in program. We both know we have a lot of work to do.”

Last month, Brauwyn sparked rumors that she has split from her husband of 20 years after she posted about “co-parenting and divorce” post on Instagram, according to Us Weekly. She spoke out at the end of last month about her family after her second oldest daughter, Rowan (18), posted an Instagram photo with the caption, “F—k. You. Mom.”

“Our family asks for your understanding as we work through some challenging circumstances,” Braunwyn wrote on September 27 via her Instagram Stories. “45 million Americans will experience mental health issues. This effects almost every family, and ours is no different. We will share with you more when the time is right. We kindly ask for your grace and kindness, and thank everyone for their support.”

A week later she and Sean flew to Puerto Rico with friends and Braunwyn shared a steamy photo in the pool with her husband, captioning it “Modern marriage.”

However, Braunwyn confirmed that Sean no longer lives in their Orange County family home and noted she’s seeing someone else. Despite her newest revelation, Braunwyn made it clear that she and Sean have no plans to divorce. 

Photo Credit: Braunwyn Windham-Burke/Instagram