Hometown Hollywood

‘W’ Magazine’s Interview With Luanne deLesseps, THE COUNTESS!

Posted on 15. Mar, 2009 by CSS in Entertainment, Interview, Magazine, RHW, Say What??

Okay, so I cant stand the ladies of ‘Real Housewives of New York!’ However, I also can’t stop watching! Its like each week I get to see these ladies make complete fools of themselves on national television- which is too good to pass up!

It is amazing to me to see how entitled these ladies think that they are- I’m pretty sure they assume everyone is overwhelmed with jealousy that they are who they are- when in fact i pity these ladies! To go through life on such a high horse… there is no where to fall but down “My Darlings!!”

So when I came across this article in “W” I had to throw it up on my site! W Magazine snagged a 3 minute interview with The Countess herself, Luann deLesseps, where they grill her on her new book, “Class with the Countess”-try not to laugh, it is the real title!  Check it out:

Did you enjoy the book-writing process?
I’ve always wanted to write a book. And people have always asked me to do one, too, because it’s every girl’s dream to become a countess. You’ve seen it? What do you think?

Well, I have to say I’m confused as to the target audience. You’re really covering the waterfront from teen stuff and parent-teacher conferences to advice on landing a hubby.
The target is the audience for the show. It was inspired by my audience — my fan base, really. So that’s the 18 to 49 crowd. I had a lot of questions and requests: “Please write about manners for children,” “write about countesses,” “write about dating.” So I did a little bit of everything. And I wanted it to feel like my personal story at the same time.

So viewers actually ask you nitty-gritty questions about which fork to use at dinner?
No. The questions are more about how to do things appropriately — how to dress, how to deal with their kids and manners, how to deal with certain social situations. I have an “Ask the Countess” column on the Bravo website, and people write me.

But you still felt it was important to get the table etiquette in there? Because I have to say, your daughter and her friends did not seem to appreciate all that in the episode at the Hampton Classic. Your daughter was a little, “Hey Mom, back off…”
It was edited to look a certain way. It was a long lunch, we were watching the show-jumping, we were talking — they really did have a great time. But they were all excited to be on the show, and then [the cameras] got there and they just froze. And I don’t think that joke I made about “You don’t want anyone to think you have an eating disorder” worked very well. [Laughs.] Oh well, it all winds down to the editing.

You and Kelly [Killoren Bensimon, the newest castmember] seem to have hit it off.
[Laughs again. Loudly.] Poor thing, did you see the papers today? [Killoren Bensimon was charged this week for allegedly assaulting her much-younger boyfriend.] But yes, we hang out on the show more than probably the others do.

Why so?
We have friends in common so we move in the same social circles. I’m the only one she really knew when she decided to do the show. I think when she’s with the other women it’s awkward. I have to do a lot of teasing to get her to loosen up a little. It’s all new to her.

This season, it’s as if all the personality quirks and neuroses have been magnified about 100 times.
I feel that’s happened with me, too. They’ve caught every “Countess Moment” I could possibly have, you know? Which I never have. Like when I ordered pizza as the Countess. I said “LuAnn de Lesseps” and he didn’t understand, so I said “Countess” for the fun of it. And you know how at the beginning of each show I say don’t feel guilty about being privileged? What I said was, “I never feel guilty about being privileged, I feel lucky.” But they just whack off the “lucky” part. Editing.

You mentioned the Bravo website earlier. Ever read the message boards?
I don’t read the blogs anymore. I just get … I take things personally. So I don’t even want to go there because I know there’s a whole Countess-bash thing going on. And Bethenny is now “the poor girl” — and she’s making more money than all of us put together with all the deals she’s doing! She cleans up because she doesn’t have a husband, she doesn’t have children. That seems to be her M.O. this season.

There’s definitely a round-robin punching bag thing going on.
There really is. It’s like, “Your turn this week!” I sit there watching and say, “What am I gonna see this week?” Once the crews have left us, I don’t know what the heck they’ll do.

-From W Magazine

It is absolutely hilarious to me that Luann blames all of this on editing!! Um what about last year? My favorite was how she instructed Bethenny to introduce her to the driver by calling her ‘Countess’ and added that you do not mingle with the help in such ‘familiar’ ways. Nice Luann! If you didn’t always act a certain way, then their wouldn’t be footage of you to edit in that light! I can’t believe she thinks anyone will actually want to buy this book!

I love that she gives advice on dating- seeing as how she married herself off to an older man at 22! She must have a wealth of knowledge on that subject!

If your bored and up for a good laugh, head on over to Luann’s website and check out her Blog- it’s filled with laugh out loud moments!

Check out this story from NYMag.com that details Classy Luann getting Trashy at a friends wedding last August!

Thanks for the entertainment Countess LuLu!

Sidenote: Fun Facts about the New York Housewives:

For their first season, Bravo only paid the ladies $8,000 each to appear on the reality series.  However, for season two the salary is said to have gone up a just a bit-no word on exactly how much!

The ladies ages(Reportedly):

• Luann de Lesseps: Rumored to be 43-44
• Bethenny Frankel: December 1970, making her 38
• Alex McCord: October 1, 1973 making her 35
• Ramona Singer: Allegedly November 18, 1956 making her 51
• Jill Zarin: November 30, ???? Is rumored to be 45 However, her official Myspace page lists her as 33… Hmmm…sneaky!

Tags: Bravo Housewives, Luann deLesseps