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Credit: Rich Polk/Bravo
Luann de Lesseps may not be starring on The Real Housewives of New York City any longer, but she is still raking in the big bucks.
During a recent interview, the 60-year-old spoke of the end of her run on the Bravo reality series, revealed how Bravo can fix her former show, and confirmed she’s making seven figures with her cabaret show while also confirming her status with her former castmates, sharing her thoughts on the new cast, dishing on her love life, and more.
“It was like a death, because it’s all I’d known for 13 years,” Luann told Us Weekly of Bravo rebooting RHONY on December 4. “A certain part of my life was over, and I wasn’t going to see my girls, so that was really hard. And to be not appreciated for all the work we put in over the years to make the show huge, that was difficult.”
“[But] I feel blessed because I was able to move on with my cabaret career. Cabaret saved my life because I was making well into seven figures while I was doing the Housewives,” she explained.
Then, when asked if she was making a million a year, she replied, “I’m keeping up with what I used to make.”
Looking ahead to her 2026 tour, the “Love Tour,” Luann said the series of shows would be “all about my past loves.”
“My past love affairs on the show, because, you know, I’m always in trouble with a guy on the show, whether it’s a pirate or [Harry Dubin] or a [Tom D’Agostino, Jr],” she explained.
According to Luann, she feels that Bravo should’ve “just mixed the two casts,” rather than completely re-cast RHONY.
“[They should have] kept some of us, brought some newbies in, and [called] it a day, but it didn’t work out that way,” she noted.
Also speaking to Us Weekly, Luann confirmed where she stands with her former co-stars.
“[Ramona Singer] and I went through a lot of hard times on the show — if I had a fight with Ramona, it would bother me, but we’ve totally turned a corner in terms of our friendship. [Dorinda Medley] and I have always been tight … I don’t see [Sonja Morgan] much because she’s living in West Palm Beach,” she revealed.
Although Luann watched some of the new cast’s episodes, she wasn’t impressed.
“I was a little bored. The new cast is great, they’re just not us,” she stated. “I like [Erin Lichy], and I loved [Brynn Whitfield]. Jenna Lyons didn’t really share her life. I did hear from Brynn that the cameras would go down and then the girls would come out. They were more fearful,” she suspected.
Looking back on her 2017 disorderly intoxication and battery arrest, Luann said that while she would have preferred not to have gone through it publicly, she “shared it with America,” and it changed her relationship with alcohol.
According to Luann, she isn’t an alcoholic but was drinking too much at the time.
“I’ve learned how to balance my drinking. I don’t drink martinis anymore — vodka and I are not friends. I’ll have wine at dinner and drink socially, but I’m not drinking the way I used to. It was a volume issue, for sure,” she confessed.
Then sharing that she does Botox and injections, Luann said the idea of a facelift “scares [her] a little bit … I’m trepidatious about it.”
She also spoke of a past meeting with actor Hugh Grant, 65.
“He’s always been a heartthrob of mine. I knew he was going to be at this restaurant in the Hamptons, so I had myself seated right behind him. Then I pushed my chair into him, and went, ‘I’m so sorry. Can I buy you a drink?’” Luann recalled. “He accepted it, so before you know it, we were having shots at the table. Confidence is the most important thing; flirting, letting people know you like them.”
Also during the interview, after describing her ex-husband, Count Alexandre de Lesseps, 76, as “the love of [her] life,” noting that she’s “keeping the title” of Countess since she “earned it,” Luann admitted to being “devastated” by their divorce.
“I wanted to run my car into a tree so he’d come home,” she revealed.
She then confirmed that she is still in touch with her former flame, Jacques Azoulay, described ex-husband Tom as a “good guy” but not the “right guy,” and denied having sex with the Pirate, Tomas Ribiero, in St. Barths.
“If I F’ed the Pirate, I would wear it like a badge of honor at this point in my life,” she noted.
As for whether she’d get married again, Luann said, “If a man were to step into my life and sweep me off my feet, I don’t know if would say no to that.”
“I believe in romance, in love. I’m a hopeless romantic,” she added.
She’d even consider joining The Golden Bachelorette.
“Hell, yeah, I’d love to; that would be great. Throw those boys at me, I’m ready!” she declared.
