Luann de Lesseps

Luann de Lesseps

de Lesseps, pictured in 2011.
Born LuAnn Nadeau
Other names
  • Countess de Lesseps
  • Countess LuAnn
  • The Countess
Occupation
  • Television personality
  • model
  • author


Years active 2008–present
Television The Real Housewives of New York City
Spouse(s) Alexandre de Lesseps (m. 1993–2009)
Children 2

Luann de Lesseps[1] (née Nadeau)[2] is an American television personality, model, author, and singer. In 1993, she married French entrepreneur Alexandre de Lesseps, although they divorced in 2009. In 2008, de Lesseps came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series The Real Housewives of New York City, which documents the lives of several women residing in New York City.

Early life

Born LuAnn Nadeau, she was raised in Berlin, Connecticut, where she grew up with her six siblings, and where her father owned a construction company.[2][3] She has said her father is of Algonquin and French descent[4] and that her mother is French Canadian.[5][6] In the last episode of RHONY set in Morocco (Season 4, episode 10, "Last Call, Morocco!", airdate June 9, 2011), de Lesseps shared that she had captained her high school varsity softball team.

Career

De Lesseps was formerly a licensed practical nurse in Connecticut,[2] as well as a Wilhelmina model.[7][8]

She is one of the main cast members on Bravo's reality series, The Real Housewives of New York City. In season 6 she was demoted to a recurring role and was not a main cast member. Season 7 of The Real Housewives of New York City began airing on Bravo in April of 2015 and De Lesseps once again returned to the show as a main cast member.

De Lesseps wrote a book, Class with the Countess: How to Live with Elegance and Flair (published by Gotham Books) released April 16, 2009,[9] and released her first record, "Money Can't Buy You Class" (through Ultra Records), on May 25, 2010. She released her second single, "Chic, C'est La Vie" in June 2011.[10] She released dance single, "Girl Code", on July 6, 2015.

Personal life

In 1993, she married Alexandre de Lesseps, becoming his fourth wife.[2] Together, they have two children, Victoria and Noel. They divorced in 2009 after his alleged affair with Ethiopian Princess Kemeria Abajobir Abajifar.[11] During daughter Victoria's junior year of high school she was up for expulsion by the Ross School in East Hampton, New York for reportedly smoking marijuana with friends on campus. Victoria and her family chose to withdraw from the school before expulsion could be placed on her academic record. Victoria was also the subject of a controversial video posted to YouTube concerning public display of drugs and racist language. Victoria used the word "nigger" and was shown rolling a joint while on video chat with her friend. Once brought to light, the video was soon removed.

References

  1. Countess Luann: What Big Change Did She Make to Her Name? Bravo
  2. 1 2 3 4 La Ferla, Ruth (April 16, 2009). "TV Royalty, but No Longer a Housewife". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2009. She is LuAnn Nadeau, one of seven children of a Connecticut building contractor. She boasts, often, that she is half American Indian and that, albeit briefly, she worked as a model in New York.
  3. Eaton, Phoebe (July 1, 2008). "Ramona Singer on the Real Housewives of New York City". Harper's Bazaar. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2011. LuAnn Nadeau, who grew up with six brothers and sisters in the small town of Berlin, Connecticut, where her father owned a construction business after marrying her French-Canadian mother.
  4. "Keeping up With New York's 'Real Housewives'". Zap2it.com. March 4, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
  5. "Class With The Countess: About". ClassWithTheCountess.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
  6. "Class With The Countess". LuAnnDeLesseps.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  7. Eaton, Phoebe (July 1, 2008). "Countess LuAnn de Lesseps for Ford Models". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  8. DeLeon, Kris (February 27, 2008). "The Real Housewives of New York City: LuAnn de Lesseps Talks About being a Countess". BuddyTV.com. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
  9. Countess Luann deLesseps (April 16, 2009). Class with the Countess: How to Live with Elegance and Flair. Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1592404681.
  10. Zimmerman, Edith (May 14, 2010). "Countess LuAnn Debuts Second Dance Single, ‘Chic, C’est la Vie’". New York. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  11. Dillon, Nancy (April 11, 2009). "Royal breakup for "Real" Housewife". Daily News (New York). Retrieved February 4, 2016.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.