After filming a chaotic season of The Real Housewives of New York City, Leah McSweeney announced that she has been sober for three months.
“Once COVID hit, I knew quarantining and the way I drink would not work well together … to say the least. Not drinking during the pandemic has been a complete gift to me, and the nine years of living booze-free has made the transition much easier to deal with,” she said in a statement to Us Weekly. “I am so incredibly touched by the outpouring of love and support on social media. I want to remove the stigma and shame surrounding addiction and mental health issues as this is something I’ve been open about and will always continue to be.”
The 37-year-old also shared the news via Instagram on Sunday, June 28, writing, “It’s been a trippy 90 days” alongside a photo of a pink sobriety coin.
In the comments section of the post, McSweeney explained that she did not attend any Alcoholics Anonymous “meetings to get my 90 day chip.” Instead, she received it from her mentor.
The Bravo personality told another Instagram follower that she has given up marijuana in addition to alcohol.
“It’s not off the table for me cus I do see weed as medicinal,” she wrote. “I’ve just not had a desire for it.”
Several Bravolebrities joined in to celebrate McSweeney’s milestone. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs commented, “Congrats lovey!!” while The Real Housewives of Orange County’s Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Summer House’s Hannah Berner left heart emojis.
The Married to the Mob founder joined the cast of RHONY during season 12. Since the premiere in April, she has been open with viewers about how she was sober for nine years but started drinking again six months before filming began, a decision that concerned her mother at first.
“I spent most of my adult life not drinking,” McSweeney told Us exclusively on Tuesday, June 23. “Living without alcohol is much more normal to me than living with alcohol. … I don’t think that it’s some kind of big life-or-death thing for me. But do I think that my life is better quality when I’m not drinking or hungover? Absolutely. So that’s, you know, the way I’m living now.”
McSweeney’s costar Ramona Singer has also expressed worry about the clothing designer’s behavior when she drinks. When McSweeney admittedly had a little too much alcohol with dinner during the cast’s trip to Newport, Rhode Island, Singer, 63, cringed at home while watching the May 28 episode with her daughter, Avery.
“This is nuts. I’m embarrassed for you,” Avery, 25, told her mother in an Instagram video at the time. “These people are crazy. How are you associated with them?”
McSweeney fired back soon after, telling Avery to “sit down sweetie.”
