RHONY Star Luann De Lesseps Is Staying Sober During Quarantine Because Otherwise She Would Be 'Drinking A Lot'

Source: Twitter

Real Housewives of New York star Luann de Lesseps has had a very public struggle with her sobriety over the past few seasons. But during the COVID-19 quarantine, the Countess says she decided to give up drinking, and she is glad she doesn’t have to deal with it.

While promoting her new partnership with Sonage skincare, de Lesseps told Us Weekly: “I feel like if I was drinking during quarantine, I’d be drinking a lot.”

The 55-year-old does admit, though, that filming Season 12 of RHONY made it much more difficult for her to avoid alcohol.

“You know, it’s just — I wouldn’t say pressure. You just feel like you’re kind of, non-included, you kind of feel like, you know, you’re out of the group somehow. And so I thought, you know what, I’m going to drink,” explained the Bravolebrity.

De Lesseps and the rest of the RHONY cast filmed Season 12 just after the Countess and Friends star completed her court-ordered probation that was the result of her December 2017 arrest for drunk and disorderly conduct, trespassing, and battery.

After her arrest, de Lesseps went through two separate rehab stints, and she also had a few missteps during her probationary period. After she completed her sentence in August 2019, numerous sources dished that the Connecticut native was drinking again, but she says things are much different now.

While drinking and working on RHONY, de Lesseps insisted on being “diligent about it and careful,” adding that she was “responsible” about her alcohol consumption.

De Lesseps said that both she and newbie Leah McSweeney decided to be careful while drinking with their co-stars, and sometimes they handle it better than others.

“We still have a while to go,” admitted de Lesseps.

She explained that she is usually a “happy drunk,” but fans did see her get sloppy once and fall into a bush. Still, de Lesseps says that was “funny,” and everyone’s been there at some point.

After some rough seasons on RHONY – thanks to her arrest, rehab stints, and probation – Luann de Lesseps says that Season 12 is about “redemption.” Fans are getting the chance to see her shine this season, which was something she couldn’t do last year because there was just so much that her co-stars didn’t understand about her and what she was going through.

Now, de Lesseps says she is much stronger, and she is a grown woman. She says she doesn’t want to be judged or pigeon-holed, and she will drink when she feels like it.

New episodes of Real Housewives of New York air Thursday nights on Bravo.