Over the course of the season, which debuted in October 2020, the reality star was open about her struggles both on and off screen — and had no problem firing back when people criticized her.

The mother of seven — she shares Hazel, Koa, Caden, Curran, Jacob, Rowan and Bella with husband Sean Burke — joined the show in season 14. However, after a season of partying, she wanted to make a change, and after that first season 15 episode, she admitted she “never had a healthy relationship with alcohol” ever since she first took her first sip as a 14-year-old girl.

“When I drank, I drank until I blacked out or got sick. But I never drank when I was pregnant or nursing — and in many ways, I think that probably saved my life,” the former blogger revealed in an essay for Glamour following the premiere. “I went to a meeting when I lived in Miami, but instead of sticking to a program, I just got pregnant. I have seven kids, so that’s a huge chunk of my life that I was sober — or I should say, not drinking. Now I realize there’s a difference between not drinking and being sober, for me.”

Although Windham-Burke, who came out as a lesbian in December 2020, received plenty of support from fans, Kelly Dodd took quite the dig at her during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

“I think that her whole sobriety thing is contrived, and I think it’s fake. I don’t think that she had seven kids so she could ‘not drink’ and I know her well enough that this was a pre-plotted thing that she wanted to do to get her own show,” Dodd said on the December 2 episode. “She wanted to get her own show, her talent agent told her to stop drinking. It’s all contrived. I don’t believe that she is a real alcoholic, no. You’ll see it at the end of the show, what happens. It’s really good.”

Wyndham-Burke didn’t publicly reply, but she did take to Instagram to respond to a fan who asked for her reaction. Scroll through the gallery below for that response and everything else that the housewife has said about her struggle with sobriety over the years.

Credit: Bravo

Opening Up

“I don’t know if it’s divine intervention, but for the first time I can say, ‘Hi, my name is Braunwyn, and I’m an alcoholic,’” she shared on the RHOC season 15 premiere. Later, she wrote in an essay for Glamour magazine that her hands were shaking while filming the scene.

Credit: Bravo

Having More Fun

The California native also said she was afraid she “wouldn’t be fun” without alcohol, as she thought that was what made life enjoyable. After being sober for nine months, she learned that wasn’t true, saying, “I dance even more now because I can stay awake. I sometimes used to pass out at, like, 7 p.m. because I had been drinking all day.”

Credit: Bravo

Why She Got Sober

The reality star explained that in the process of getting sober, she wanted to figure out why it was she drank so much to begin with. “It’s insecurity, it’s anxiety, it’s that I’m uncomfortable in my skin,” she shared. “I’m working on understanding why I have those feelings and finding a healthy way to deal with them.”

Credit: Bravo

How She Got Sober

The show ultimately helped her to get sober. Five days before season 15 began filming, she told a producer, ‘I need to get sober.’ So, when she wanted to drink, she didn’t. “I was planning on going out and drinking, but I realized that if I did, then I was going to have to do it in front of all these people I care about,” she shared. “Instead, I went to what ended up being my first AA meeting.”

Credit: Randy Shropshire/Bravo

Firing Back

Windham-Burke responded to a fan who asked how she felt about Dodd claiming that she was faking her struggles with alcoholism. “I’ve learned through others that when people have a hard time with me being sober it’s more about their own issue. Were people in my life telling me to ‘clean up my act,’” she wrote via Instagram on December 6. “Hell ya, I was black out drinking most days….did I get sober for the show? Maybe, I knew we were filming soon and I was scared to have what happened the year before (I don’t remember some scenes.) Is there a doubt in anyone’s mind who knows me I’m an alcoholic? No. It’s low, but she’s pretty vile and cruel so it’s not unexpected.”

 

Credit: Bravo

Not a Story Line

On December 9, she seemingly continued to respond to the allegation that she created her substance abuse issue for the show. “If I was going to do something just for 'story line' I would of picked something easier, being sober in this toxic environment ain’t easy,” she tweeted. “To have someone diminish the struggle is low, I’ve been blessed to have support and have been working a program, if you need help it works.”

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Emily Longeretta