Interview: The Real Housewives Of New York City

First Bravo looked West for the docu-series The Real Housewives of Orange County, and tomorrow night the network heads East for a taste of The Big Apple’s upper crust with The Real Housewives of New York City.

Two of the show’s busy stars Alex McCord, a high powered career woman and mother of two, and LuAnn DeLesseps, a real-life Countess by marriage, whose husband’s family was responsible for donating the Statue of Liberty to the City of New York, answer some burning questions about themselves, the new series, and some of their favorite activities.

LuAnn on what it’s like to be a Countess:
You feel special and you feel, you know, that it is an important title - which it is very
much so. And there is a certain sense of entitlement, but I’m really an American Indian
from Connecticut. So, you know, I’m just, you know, happy every day opening my eyes
and I have the Count next to me.

LuAnn on the difference between the ladies of O.C. and NYC:
I think they have a totally different life than we do. Obviously living in New York City
and living in a gated community are different. In New York we have - I think the social
life and going out is a lot more demanding. It seems like in California it’s more laid back,
kind of barbecue, hang out at home kind of thing.

LuAnn on the West Coast East Coast rivalry between casts:
I don’t feel a sense of rivalry now, you know. I’m all for women.

Alex on choosing to live in less expensive Brooklyn vs. the Upper East Side where the rest of the women reside.
We definitely made a decision that we would rather live in a $2 million house than a $10 million house because, you know, we can spend that capital elsewhere. And also, the more expensive a home you own, the smaller the market is if you ever want to sell.

Alex on what she and her husband Simon like to do together:
Well I don’t think that anything we do is really over-the-top. Simon and I love to shop.
We love to eat. We are very much foodies. We enjoy life.

Alex on her favorite restaurants in New York:
We do like a lot of French. We also like eclectic fusion. It’s interesting - I know we
talked about the show - we talked about on the show, fashion being wearable art and
sometimes food can be edible art. And to that end, we enjoy going places like wd-50
where you really never know what you’re going to get, but you know that it’s going to be
fabulous and beautifully constructed. And then for French, we love L’Atelier de Joel
Robuchon.

Alex on whether or not she indulges in any guilty pleasures:
I never feel guilty about anything. Don’t do it if you’re going to feel guilty about it.

LuAnn on what TV she and her family are watching:
I have a daughter who, you know, Flavor Flav is like her favorite show, you know. So
I’ve got quite a bit of reality going on in my house. And what do we like? We like Project
Runway. You know, that’s one of our favorites to watch. And America’s Next Top Model.

Alex on what she’s watching at home:
Really the only thing that I watch are Talking Heads, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News. I spread it out because I like to hear the right and the left, and the middle. To be honest, I’d never seen a reality show before this January.

LuAnn on how the show has changed her life:
Well, you know, it’s made life a little more hectic and a little bit more difficult to
manage. But it’s been a lot of fun. And for me it’s, you know, for me it’s been a living
photo album of my life.