Luann de Lesseps[1] (née Nadeau, previously D'Agostino; born May 17, 1965)[2][3] is an American television personality, singer, model, and author. She is best known as an original cast member of the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of New York City, featuring in the first 13 of 15 seasons since its 2008 premiere. In 2018, she began headlining "Countess and Friends", a cabaret show of her own making.[4]
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.[3][5] Her mother is French Canadian.[6][7] In an early episode of The Real Housewives of New York City, de Lesseps shared that she had captained her high school varsity softball team.[8]
She is one of the main cast members on Bravo's reality series The Real Housewives of New York City. For the sixth season, she was demoted to a recurring "Friend of the Housewives" role due to not living in New York City at the time of filming. In April 2015, it was confirmed that de Lesseps would be returning as a main cast member for the show's seventh season.
de Lesseps wrote a book, Class with the Countess: How to Live with Elegance and Flair (published by Gotham Books) released April 16, 2009, 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.[14] She released a third single, "Girl Code", on July 6, 2015. In June 2019, De Lesseps released her fourth single, "Feeling Jovani".[15] In September 2020, she released her fifth single, "Viva La Diva", with Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Desmond Child.[16]
In February 2018, de Lesseps headlined her own cabaret show, called #CountessAndFriends, at Feinstein's/54 Below in Midtown Manhattan.[21] The show features de Lesseps singing songs about her life as a countess and reality TV star, with appearances from celebrity friends like Rachel Dratch and Housewives co-star Sonja Morgan. In August 2018, de Lesseps announced that she was taking the show on tour, with engagements scheduled in Long Island and New Jersey.[22]
On September 29, 2023, de Lessups was telecast judge of the 72nd Miss USA pageant held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. She also competed in season 10 of The Masked Singer as "Hibiscus" and was the first contestant of Group C to be eliminated during "One Hit Wonders Night".[28]
In July 2024, it was announced that de Lessups would be starring in a Real Housewives dating show spin-off titled Love Hotel on Peacock, alongside fellow housewives Gizelle Bryant, Ashley Darby and Shannon Storms Beador, with filming taking place in Cabo San Lucas and expected to premiere in 2025.[29]
Legal problems
In December 2017, de Lesseps was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida on charges of disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest, battery of an officer, and making threats against a public servant. She was later released on her own recognizance, but was charged with a third-degree felony on January 25, 2018.[30][31] After her release she entered an alcohol treatment program.[32]
In July 2018, de Lesseps settled the charges stemming from her Palm Beach arrest, by agreeing to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charges of battery, disorderly intoxication, and trespassing. In exchange, the felony charge of resisting an officer with violence was dropped, and de Lesseps agreed to fulfill 50 hours of community service, attend two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week, and to abstain from drinking alcohol for one year.[33]
In May 2019, de Lesseps was taken into custody over her alleged probation violations and later released.[34] She completed her probation in August 2019.[35]
In 2021, de Lesseps dined at Le Diplomate, an upscale Washington, D.C. restaurant, and left without paying the bill. Several days later, de Lesseps paid her outstanding bill. [36]
Advocacy
de Lesseps has donated to many charitable organizations, including: The American Cancer Society, GLAAD, and ACE Partnership for the Homeless. She has most recently partnered with The Fortune Society, which supports formerly incarcerated inmates by helping them reenter into society.[37][38][39][40]
Personal life
In 1993,[41] she married French Count Alexandre de Lesseps, an entrepreneur and pioneer of microfinancing in developing countries. He is a descendant of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the famous French diplomat and entrepreneur who built the Suez Canal and started the Panama Canal. Together they have two children, Noel and Victoria.[3] They divorced in 2009.[42] On December 31, 2016, de Lesseps married Tom D’Agostino Jr., losing her “countess” courtesy title in the process.[43] In August 2017, de Lesseps announced that she and D'Agostino were getting divorced.[44] In October 2017, it was reported that the divorce had been settled out of court and would be finalized "imminently".[45]
Her niece is artist Nicole Nadeau, who was on Bravo's Work of Art TV series.[46]
On July 16, 2018, de Lesseps' RHONY co-star Bethenny Frankel announced that de Lesseps had chosen to skip the filming of the show's reunion to re-enter an alcohol treatment program.[32] de Lesseps left the facility after just under three weeks.[47]
On March 16, 2022, de Lesseps was filmed taking over the microphone and saying obscenities to the crowd at a piano bar in New York City.[48] On March 18, 2022 de Lesseps released a statement apologizing for her actions and admitting her struggle with alcohol is still real.[49]
Singles
List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and album name
^ abcdLa 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.
^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.
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