Braunwyn Windham-Burke has been opening up more and more this season of Real Housewives Of Orange County about her battle with alcoholism and its effect on her life. One area the addiction affected was Windham-Burke’s children, specifically the fact that she has so many. The reality star confessed that she’d often get pregnant as a way to stop herself from drinking when she felt she was getting out of control.
Mother-Of-Seven Braunwyn Windham-Burke Has A Confession
On Wednesday night’s episode of Real Housewives Of Orange County, Braunwyn Windham-Burke made a surprising confession to fellow RHOC star Gina Kirschenheiter. The two women were on their way to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting together following a particularly nasty fight they’d had. When her drinking would get too bad for her to handle, Windham-Burke admitted she’d suggest having another baby to her husband, Sean Burke, with whom she shares seven kids.
When this happened this time I was just like, ‘Sean, let’s have another baby.’ That has been my easy way out when my drinking has gotten too bad.
As Her Problems Grew, So Did Her Family
Windham-Burke continued, “When it’s gotten too bad, it’s easier for me to just get pregnant,” with Kirschenheiter adding, “To do the thing that will ultimately sober you up.” This isn’t the first time Windham-Burke has spoken about the effect alcoholism has had on herself and her family. A few weeks back, she told another housewife, Elizabeth Lyn Vargas, that her father had died as a result of his own battle with the deadly addiction. “My dad died from drinking,” she revealed. “My dad had a heart attack because he drank. Every day.”
It had been a long process for Windham-Burke to admit that she had a problem with drinking. After Emily Simpson called her out the year before, Windham-Burke confessed, “Instead of taking it to heart, I really pushed you away. Basically, I think I just got angry with you, and I came up with reasons to be mad.” She has also said in the past, “I don’t think I can never drink again, but yeah, it has to be forever,” and said of her behavior during a RHOC trip to Miami, “I was drinking so much I thought I was going to die.”
Although she’s now nine months sober, the biggest and hardest step for Windham-Burke was to admit that she had a problem in the first place. There’s still a long road ahead of her, but as she said on the show:
I don’t know if it’s divine intervention, but for the first time in my life I can say, ‘My name is Braunwyn and I’m an alcoholic.’
The Real Housewives of Orange County branch of the Real Housewives franchise recently faced threats of boycotts over controversial statements made by Kelly Dodd. Over in nearby Beverly Hills, Brandi Glanville called one of her Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills co-stars the "c-word" on Twitter. The ladies over in California sure know how to up the drama level! Maybe the gals over on the East Coast should start taking notes.