It’s over for Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Victoria Brito. The Real Housewives of Orange County alum and her girlfriend of nearly nine months have called it quits, a source confirms to Us Weekly.
“Braunwyn and Victoria broke up earlier this week. Vic has a tough travel schedule for work, and Braunwyn had been traveling back and forth to California a lot,” the source says, adding that “the long-distance became too tough” and “that’s the main reason that led to the split.”
The source adds that the 44-year-old former Bravo star is “still going back and forth to NY for speaking engagements on LGBTQ+ and sobriety” as she was not solely traveling to the East Coast “because of Vic.”
Windham-Burke, who came out in late 2020, was first spotted kissing Brito in December 2021.
“They’re both extremely passionate people who take love and heartache very seriously,” the source tells Us of their split. “They will remain on decent terms.”
Reality TV viewers watched Windham-Burke navigate her sexuality and marriage to Sean Burke on season 15 of RHOC. The spouses, who are still legally married but refer to each other as “ex,” share seven kids: Bella, 21, Rowan, 19, Jacob, 16, twins Curren and Caden, 9, Koa, 7, and Hazel, 4.
Prior to their breakup, Windham-Burke opened up to Us about how her children were handling her relationship.
“It depends on the kid. They haven’t all taken it the same,” she said in June. “My oldest daughter, Bella, she’s still struggling with it. Not with the fact that I’m dating a woman, ’cause we are a very open family. You know, we’ve always been big supporters of the LGBTQ community, even before they could walk. We were going to marches in D.C. when they were in strollers. So that wasn’t the issue. … She grew up with a certain family and, you know, that’s close to her heart.”
Windham-Burke added that Rowan “loves” Brito as the pair got “along great,” adding, “Jacob is a 16-year-old boy. He’s like, ‘Whatever, I don’t care.’ And the little kids, you know, as far as they know, it’s just more people that love them. And that’s sort of how Sean and I have presented this to them. Our family isn’t splitting up. Our family is growing.”
As for her ex-husband, the coparents have worked through “some hurdles, some bumps in the road,” per Windham-Burke.
“We had to work through some really hard things. There’s been some really trying times, but right now it’s really good,” she said at the time. “We’re coparents, we’re partners in life. You know, we’re definitely working toward the same goals and we’re getting along really well. … I think at the end of the day, we’re best friends.”
TMZ was the first to report the news of the split.
With reporting by Diana Cooper
