Braunwyn Windham-Burke Says an ‘RHOC’ Producer Saved Her Life – by Helping Her Get Sober
Braunwyn Windham-Burke recently revealed how filming The Real Housewives of Orange County pushed her to drink. She recounted hiding at Shannon Beador’s tequila tasting party because producers wouldn’t let her leave – and the environment only fueled her desire to drink.
She admitted to telling producers she planned to go to an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting, ditch the film crew and get drunk. But two producers weren’t going to allow her to drink – one even went with her to AA and admitted he too was an alcoholic.
Braunwyn Windham-Burke recalled ‘RHOC’ as being a toxic enviroment, especially for someone who was trying to get sober
Windham-Burke recalled the party, which was included in aired footage during RHOC Season 15.
“I just have to tell the story because it was the best and the worst of getting sober on reality TV,” she said during an Instagram Live with Joy Sutton from American Addiction Centers.
“I was at a party at Shannon’s house. I’m 30 days sober,” Windham-Burke continued recalling her state of mind on RHOC. “They were tequila tasting. I had tried to leave that party, and my boss at the time was like, ‘If you leave, you’re fired, you have to get back in there.'”
She recalled, “I was having a breakdown from the moment I walked into that party. I was already crying. Because this was my first time at a party sober and I wasn’t ready.”
“So then I went back in,” she continued. “What you didn’t see was me hiding next to the trash cans crouched down like an animal because I didn’t want to be filmed trying to escape over Shannon’s back wall. Trying to get away from the cameras. I mean, I really wanted to not be there and I couldn’t get out. And then I finally went through the party. I tried to go home. I tried to keep the cameras out of my house.” But, “I signed a contract that they don’t have to leave. That was the worst of it. That was the worst.”
All Braunwyn Windham-Burke wanted to do was have a drink – and she was ready to do it
Windham-Burke said she was ready to ditch her sobriety on RHOC at that point. “I went on my phone to look up AA meetings,” she recounted. “What I really was doing was going to go drink again. I was like, f*** this, f*** everyone. I’m not doing this sober. F*** everyone. I was going to go have a drink.”
“But on camera, I’m like, ‘Oh, look, I’m going to an AA meeting. You can’t follow me there,'” she said. “There were two things that happened to me that day. One was the producer that was filming put the camera down. And he said. ‘I know what you’re doing, but we can’t stop you from doing it. But whatever you do, you’re going to have to do in front of me and Mary and Pablo.'”
“And that was the crew. And I really loved the crew. You know, we have a really close bond with them. So whatever you’re going to do, you can do it. But we’re not leaving and you’re going to have to do it in front of us. So that was my first moment of OK. I can’t drink in front of these people. I can’t do that to them.” She added, “I love them too much.”
Despite the first producer’s support, she still planned to have a drink
Braunwyn Windham-Burke still planned to hit the bar and have a drink. “That’s when I decided to go to the AA meeting,” she said. But she still intended to go to a bar. “A different producer at the time jumped in the car with me and I’m like, ‘You can’t do this. Like, this is AA you know, everyone knows you can’t film there.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, I’m not filming. I’m just going to film the car ride to and from.’ OK, so here goes my plan of drinking at the bar.”
“Like now I’m actually going to the meeting,” Windham-Burke exclaimed. “Crap, the last place I want to go. I go to this meeting. Sean can’t find parking. He was driving. And so my producer at the time is like, ‘Do you want me to go in with you?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, please.’ Cause I’m nervous. I am nervous. I’m shaking. This was hitting my rock bottom emotionally. Anyone who’s gotten sober, you know what my emotional state was like. I was not OK. I go into the meeting. We’re going around. ‘My name is Braunwyn. I’m an alcoholic.'”
Another ‘RHOC’ producer changed the direction of Braunwyn Windham-Burke’s life
Another ‘RHOC’ producer changed the direction of Braunwyn Windham-Burke’s life, which she described as it saving her. It was not captured on RHOC.
“And then the person that had come with me that day that my producer was like, ‘My name is so-and-so and I’m an alcoholic.’ Well, you’re not an a******. You’re saving my life. And later on, he said ‘I knew exactly what you were doing.'”
“He’s like nine years sober,” Windham-Burke added about the RHOC producer. “I know exactly what you’re doing. So I get chills. That story gives me chills because that person I call my Eskimo. That person was in my life for a reason got me to my first AA meeting, got me to say I’m an alcoholic, and got me to surrender.
“That was the day that I surrendered over to a higher power. I am not a religious person. And so for me, my higher power is other alcoholics. That’s where I get my strength.”
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
