Photo: Luann de Lesseps/Instagram
Luann de Lesspeshas said that a lawsuit filed against her over an$8 million house salefrom her first husbandAlexandre de Lessepsand their children contributed to her relapse back in July.
But after a return to rehab, theReal Housewives of New York Citystar has embraced sober living — and she told PEOPLE that she’s since reunited with herdaughter, Victoria de Lesseps, and son, Noel de Lesseps.
“Things between my kids and I are going great,” Luann, 53, said in late August, following her sold-out performance of her hit cabaret show #CountessAndFriends at the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. “Everything is cool.”
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“I’m keeping my house in the Hamptons, so that took the heat off,” she said. “And I also purchased a home upstate — a smaller one that I love.”
That doesn’t mean that her ex has dropped the case yet, though Luann is confident it will be soon behind them. “The story continues between us, but not the children,” she explained. “That’s all that matters to me. We’ll work things out.”
The judgment in her divorce required Alexandre to give the deed of the former couple’s marital residence in Bridgehampton, New York, to Luann — who agreed to create a trust for her two children. Luann was also required to “fund the trust with an undivided one-half interest in and to the Marital Residence,” the documents read.
But that trust was “never created,” the lawsuit alleged. Instead, Luann sold the residence in November 2014 for $8 million and used the earnings to purchase a home in Southampton, New York, for $3.1 million.
The documents alleged that Luann had “never, since her purchase of the Premises, created the Trust or conveyed to her children, in Trust, an undivided one-half interest in the Premises.”
She then threatened to sell her home “for more than fifty percent its present value and leave Suffolk County with the proceeds … so that she may purchase, for herself alone, a luxury home in upstate New York,” the documents claim.
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
While she waits to wrap that up, Luann is staying busy with her acclaimed #CountessAndFriends show.
The “Money Can’t Buy You Class” singer isreturning to Feinstein’s/54 Below, where her show premiered, on Sept. 10. Other shows are expected before the end of the year.
As for the fear of relapsing, she isn’t worried.
“I’m in a really good place,” Luann told PEOPLE. “I don’t feel like drinking. I’m committed to my sobriety. I want it more than anything.”
“I have temptations and I go, ‘Wait, that’s the old Luann.’ Because you’re so trained … it’s like second-hand. But I feel like I’m in the driver’s seat now,” she added. “I feel free of the shackles of alcohol. Not to say it’s not a struggle, but for the moment, I don’t feel like drinking at all. It’s this new freedom and I love my freedom.”
source: people.com
