This week on the show the cameras followed me to the Boys and Girls Club where I spent the afternoon (not 3 minutes that it got edited down to) mentoring girls in the SMART (Skills Mastery and Resistance Training) program. This program, for young women ages 8-17, helps build girls' self-esteem and self-worth while emphasizing the importance of nurturing one's own mental and physical well-being. I donate my time and resources to this program because statistics show that girls who are supported by positive role models and provided with information on the physical and emotional changes that occur during adolescence have less depression, teen pregnancy, and substance abuse problems.
I've had wonderful mentors throughout my life, beginning with my mother who successfully managed a household of nine and always found time for herself and her needs. During the visit we wrote down five things that we like most about ourselves and that opened up a great discussion. The girls really identified with me and my background, growing up with such a large family. I don't think they were that interested in the Countess thing, but they liked me. I laughed when one of the girls told me she wanted to be a babysitter because that was my first job. I have a date set to return and the girls are super excited I'm bringing my book.
wearing a team Jill shirt just goes to show how jealous you are of B. If you were any kind of friend to Jill you would try to help the two of them fix the problems in their relationship instead of keeping it going shame on you Jo
Tough call...On one hand the Countess shouldn't have said that. And I agree she does need to get over herself and stop throwing up her title in everyones face at the drop of a hat. On the other...modeling is a mean world and it is a very narrow minded world where only one standard rules - thin. Plus sized models are coming into acceptance but it has been a long uphill battle and still a long ways to go as far as mainstream designers like Vuitton, Versace, etc are concerned. Since LuAnn was a model herself she probably realizes this and was only trying in her own way to prepare the girl, however tasteless as it was. And childhood obesity is definitely becoming a problem. However LuAnn could have handled it differently in a way that would have boosted the young lady's confidence maybe even offer help assistance with diet and a fitness regimen...
you could have told that little girl that she needed to be more healthy, not loose a few pounds. the proper thing was for you to explain to her what healthy means. real class is about knowing what to say and how to say it.
and by the way I heard an american cant accept a titttle, so can you explain your rational as to why you decided to call yourself the countess? Although i would accept the tittle b/c it does sound hot, but Iam just wondering your reason for it.
Enough with the weight thing !! The comment did sound out of place the way it was editted, but doesn't everyone realize that they edit the comments to cause the most controversy possible??? Does anyone know what was actually said before and after that comment?? Could it be that the young woman raised the weight issue herself, and that the comment made by Luann was in response to that, to reassure her, and give her a boost to try and loose the weight? The viewing audience will never know.
Hi LuAnn! I see the your housekeeper Rosie really loves your kids. Hope you treat her well...
Ok, so I wrote my comment on the wrong blog page (I am new to this) so I will say it again. I CANNOT believe that you said that to the poor girl. I don't care if it was because of editing or not. You should NEVER tell a young girl that she needs to drop a few pounds if you do not know her. If I was that girl I would have been mortified that you pointed that out if front of cameras. There is a time and a place for everything and you chose the wrong time to tell that poor girl she needed to lose weight. AND another thing, you are right, those girls don't care that you are a Countess, just like most of America. Those girls probably don't even know what a Countess is. Just keep giving your money, not your presence to those girls.
Luanne,
How could you tell that girl she has time to lose the weight?Just because someone is over weight doesn't mean she can't be a model.There are plus size models out there.Big is beautiful!!!!!Not every person in America is stick thin!!!!!!!!!!Next time think before you speak.
I don't care if it was editing or not, there should never be a time when you say the words you did to a little girl her age LuAnn. Even if the child stated she thinks she needs to lose weight, etc., and you're simply replying, you SHOULD just continue to focus and comment on the child's positives. That is horrible and children her age don't need a "reality check" about their bodies. They need confidence, confidence and more confidence to make it through the really tough times, like when others judge them...just you did LuAnn did when you commented on the girls weight.
OK--it is sooooo obvious that the "losing weight" comment was editing! I bet anything that the girl made a comment that she needed to lose weight to become a model and LuAnn was trying to be encouraging by saying that it is easy to do. Look at the girl's reaction--she looked happy, not offended! LuAnn would NEVER tell a child they are fat.
I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU CALLED THAT POOR LITTLE GIRL FAT!
CLARIFICATION, PLEASE!!!!!!
Just a quick note. I don't know if you think your fooling people or you have just fooled yourself. I've watched the show and I have never seen someone so fake. True to your real disposition, you showed your true colors at the Boys and Girls club. Please make sure you enclose in your book "How to pull your foot out of your mouth while you are trying to educate us on proper manners" People who have class are told they have class. They don't go around telling people they have it.
Luann,
There was a time when I could not stand you, and for that, I offer my apologies. Now, I find you to be the most honest of the cast. I love Bethenny, don't get me wrong, and I especially adore her sense of humor (perhaps it is because I am far too cynical myself, but people with such fabulous wit (I hope all those reading this can hear my dripping sarcasm!) are hiding something behind their sarcasm.
Anyways, at one time, I believed you to be pretentious, and I was just so wrong. You are not the least bit fake--your verbal missteps reinforce such a conclusion. I honestly don't believe you hold anything back while in the cameras; I think you are just so proud of how far you have come in life. You may be conceited and condescending, but I don't think you mean anything by it. I just think that you perceive your station in life as an earned stance. Kind of like a promotion...
Regardless, you are one of my favorites, and I will enjoy watching you in the future. Most of all, I have become convinced that you are really a person who puts their heart into charity. Others may scoff at me because of the impressions you warrant, but I think it is so.
I think you are fabulous! I just want to say that you are one of my favorite house wives. I think you are a great mother and friend. I think that you have done this show and maintained a lot of class. You, Bethany and Jill are my favorites! Stay true to who you are I think you are one of the classiest ladies I have seen in a long time.
Dear Mrs. de Lesseps,
I was so saddened to hear of your separation from the count. From the coverage of the show you have been shown to be a loyal and kind wife. Obviously this was not your fault. Stay strong for your children, they will need you to be their rock. God Bless and God Speed
Sorry Luann but you are self absorbed and obviously insecure. Again, we are Americans, we don't care if you are a countess. That wasn't something you earned, it's what you married. Get over it...and get some class please. How uncouth was it to make such a rude comment to that little girl. Did you tell her there is no Santa too? It's obvious thru the other posted comments that you do have some fans who think it is perfectly okay to make crass comments to little children but I'm betting most of us know better.
Enough with the "Class with the Countess" stuff already!
Love you luann. People all you heard was luann saying lose weight to that little girl. Come on editing comes into play here, and the whole conversation was edited for entertainment. Folks I don't think Luann is the witch that you are all making her out to be. Yes maybe her making sure everyone knows she is a Countess is tiresome, but she does a lot of wonderful things for the community, you definately have to give her credit for that.
Just a quick question.... What tribe are you from?
PLEASE LUANN !! Clarify what exactly happened before you made the comment to that little girl about losing weight.Please tell us maybe she said,"I want to be a model but I know I am overweight" And THEN you said to her."Well,losing weight is th easy part" Please clarify the situation...if it was due to editing etc.BUT if it was not due to editing,if you just flat out said something mean and nasty,maybe you should apologize.NO MAYBES ABOUT IT !!! APOLOGIZE if you need to.Don't write about all you good deeds to the club in your blog and act as if it wasn't said.Stand up for yourself OR APOLOGIZE.I have a sister who was overweight most of her life and childhood.We have an evil mother that pointed it out to her every chance she got.And she esp. enjoyed doing it in front of others.Like my sisters friends.I can still see tears quietly rolling down my sisters face when my "mother" told her "Maybe you should eat more salad instead of asking for more potatoes" In front of her friends and our cousin of the same age.My sister was 13 at the time.I was 11.I had never in my short life wanted someone to die...until that day.And I wished my mother would...or atrleast run away from home.Instead,it took another 6 months or so but my sister attempted suicide at the age of 14.She is 42 years old today and I truley believe she has never had a day in her life that she has felt good about herself.So please stand up for yourself or make the situation "right" Atleast as much as you can
LuAnn
News flash: there is no royalty in the US and you are no more royal than I am!. The countess title doesn't mean anything to anyone but you. You married a man with 3 failed marriages (are they still considered Countesses?). Class doesn't come from a book! Be proud of your Native American heritage!
You are the Jackie O of the 21st century. Classy and beautiful and always appropriate. You are graceful and a great mom and wonderful wife. The charity work that you do is amazing and giving back is great. Thank you for being a part of the show. Don't ever leave. You should get your own show, you would be wonderful. Come back for another season so I can watch and learn. You are not only a countess you are greatness.
Speaking about The Girl's Club and your comment the girl should loose some weight it was absolutely true. If she wanted to be a model, you cannot say Sure! go ahead! sign now for Elite! That it would be a lie and totally unrealistic for the girl. She knows now that in order to pursue her dreams, she has to work hard, like everybody else.
Maybe your comment not only it would make her a model but also much more healthier.
Oh LuAnn.....I like you so much and was disappointed to hear you tell the 10 yr old girl at the Boys and Girls club to lose weight! Come on, you know better than to say something like that!
For all of you that agree with Luann's comments, you are idiots. I was a chunky child and made fun of about my weight all the time. Whether or not it's the truth, it's not cool to say that to a child. I have had weight issues my whole life. At 19 years old, I starved myself down to 80 pounds and still thought I was fat. I didn't see any changes when I looked in the mirror. I shopped in the children's section for my clothes. I still struggle with eating to this day. Luann, use some tact. You obviously can't relate to today's youth. For the record, I'm African American. So for those that think that eating disorders don't happen in the black community, think again.
Shame on you!!! I don't care how many compliments you had for that little girl. The one insult about her weight negated all the rest. I was embarassed for her. As an African American mother, I wouldn't let you give my daughter a pep talk on self-esteem. It was obvious that you could not relate to those girls and they definitely did not relate to you. Please leave the self-esteem building activities to people who can look beyond physical appearances, money, and titles.
I must join the chorus of those who were concerned over the comment you made to the young lady about losing weight. It seems like such a flip thing, but that is all it takes to trigger an eating disorder in a young girl. As the mother of a 13 year old daughter who has recently been diagnosed with and is in treatment for an eating disorder, I cannot help but wonder if it was a similar seemingly innocent comment that brought this on in her. We will never know for sure, but I think as adults we need to be more sensitive to the pressures that these girls are under to be thin and work hard to lift them up not bring them down.
I really think that you meant well with the kids, but I don't think you were really able to relate to them.
When the girl talked about wanting to be a babbysitter, you should have not laughed. You should have instead related to her about your baby sitting career.
You should never tell a 10 year old to loose weight to be a model. I agree that someone needs to mention weight issues with children, but it should be up to their parents and Pediatricians.
You should not just have talked about being a countess. You should have explained your day to day life, the time you spend helping charities and time you spend with your children.
I guess it has been long since you have related to children that are not your own, but some practice will do you good
Dear Countess, You are beautiful on the outside and seem to be so on the inside, you are a good mom, a good person and you provide entertaining reality tv but someone as well versed in manners as you are should really practice the less is more rule when it comes to your constant Countess references. Please show us more LuLu and less Countesssss. NYC is in America right? The title that was bestowed upon your husband's family was done so in France so please try not to be so imposing with the title.
I have to tell you I thought your comment to the young lady who wants to become a model was rude. The show was about self esteem and what do you do...you tell her that if she loses weight she can become one. How about making her feel beautiful EXACTLY how she is? You crushed that girl..did you see her face after you said that? Unbelievable. Obviously a title does not give you class..you need to get over yourself. It's a shame because that girl will remember that always..the same way I remember the first time someone said something negative to me when I was 7..I'm 45 now. Luckily for me..the comment was not made on TV, nor will people see it in reruns. Shame on you!!
You are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE and the most FABULOUS woman on the show!!!
LUANN IS A GOOD PERSON.AND I LUV HER NANNY.SHE SEEMS LIKE A SWEET DOWN TO EARTH NANNY THAT IN THE SAME TOKEN DOESNT TAKE ANY CRAP FROM THOSE KIDS.THEY REALLY REPECT HER AND IT SHOWS.THAT TELLS ME ALOT ABOUT LUANN///HE REAL LUANN.
LuAnn,
I think that you are a very beautiful woman, who is very confident in herself. But I do have some concerns when it comes to how you say things to people, I think that you have wonderful ideas and you have alot of input on things, like when Bethenny was doing Social Life Magazine, you made the statement about re-touching the photos, I think that you didn't mean it the way it sounded, but it was kind of harsh. In another situation with the little girl at the Boys & Girls Club, when she told you that she wanted to be a model, you stated that she had a beautiful face, I could tell this made her feel really great about herself,but then you told her that losing weight would not be hard, or something to that effect, I could really tell that hurt her feelings, I know that being overweight is a big issue,because I'm an overweight person but when a kid tells you her dreams, don't make her feel even worse about herself by telling her she needs to lose weight,Remember when Ramona told you how old your husband was? and the fact was that he wasn't? It made you feel bad & you didn't like that did you? but nevertheless, I still love you. Just be a little more sensitive with people.
Lou Ann,
I was very suprised to hear that you are a Native American!! But, name your tribe and it's not indian it's more approprate to say Native American-First Nations. You very much pride yourself on your husbands french family than your own heritage!! I understand that he is a Count but, he isn't of royalty here--never heard of him. And actually Lou Ann, Native American-First Nations were of royalty, depending on what tribe you came from.
Eiquette, manners and respect really should start from you, please stop writing that book if you don't follow your own advice. Being a Native American-First Nations people, respect goes along way. I really like you a lot but, it shows in poor taste when you told that young lady "the weight can be lost!" You are the role model at the time, and first impressions last forever, that first impression was very ugly.
Lou Ann, I love it when the Native American-First Nations people can be successful but, please don't disrepect others. You are a lady and you are my favorite one on the show, along with Jill and Bethenny.
Love the show ! However are you really full Native American or just a little? You just don't look like both of your parents are full blooded. If so I sure hope you have a chairty for them. Native Americans have the highest infant mortality rate in our nation.If your going to boast about your blood line then help your people.
LuAnn, I wouldn't worry about the comments of other viewers. I think you were just fine saying what you said to the heavy girl... you stressed that she has the underlying stuff, height and looks and she would have to lose weight to be a model... maybe you could go back and try and teach these girls about eating right and exercising, because if that girl was only 10 years old and was that big already, it will get harder to lose weight as she gets older!!
I hope that the way you act on the show is simply that . . . AN ACT!
Okay, I am british and have known many people who have been born with a title, and I don't recall any of them in the 30 odd years that I have known them to speak of their title. Please stop downgrading the family name that you have married into, one can be proud of one's family heritage without coming over as new money with a title.
Being a Countess does not make a person, nor does it bring class.
Luanne,
Anytime you're ready to be anonymous send me a note let's talk, I think you are the best!!
Please show some etiquette and get over the Countess thing..you are an American in America...we don't care.
The losing weight comment was tactless and hurtful...I really hope the producers edited out the girl asking you about her weight, otherwise you were very mean to that child...especially after your major tantrum to Ramona because she mentioned your husband's age in front of YOUR daughter!
LuAnn,
I don't usually watch these shows, but I caught you one evening, and found you to be the best. Good luck to you.
FACT
Anyone who wants to be a model cannot be obese. Plus size models are usually normal weight or somewhat overweight, not obese. LuAnn's comment related to the child's chosen goal and was not a personal indictment.The modeling world is very tough and judgmental in terms of looks. Don't you people watch MMASM on Bravo as well? Salome calls herself "the fat girl" because she actually possesses a visible rear end!
REALITY CHECK
The girl WILL need to lose weight or she will fail. How is telling her that "white oppression"? Is Salome white or black? Are the rules different for white models? Perhaps the kindest thing to do would be to re-direct the child's future goals to something more realistic.
Obese children develop serious health conditions. Apparently attempting to improve the child's health and future doesn't sit well on this board. What would the reaction be if the comment came from one of the black Housewives of Atlanta?
Countess Luann, you have a lot of class. I admire your style and grace. Very Princes Grace. I think your style is needed in this country. Plus I admire the charity work that you do. All of those people need to stop being negative. What have they done in their community to uplift someone. Nobody's perfect. We've all said something
that we which we could take back. Continue to be you.
I have to agree with the numerous comments regarding the trip to the Boys and Girls club. As a new mother of a baby girl and a speech pathologist in a public elementary school I have become very aware and concerned about the pressures society, family members, and even those trying to help, put on girls in regards to physical appearances. Perhaps you should reference some of your self proclaimed "manners and etiquette expertise". I can only hope that it is because of TV editing that there seems to be such frequent and egregious lapses in the dear Countess' manners.
Luann
At first, I didn't really care for you - just a tad too pompous, but you've certainly grown on me. Sorry to hear about your life changes, but you will be better off. You are so much bigger than this new situation and I'm sure you'll come out the better for it.
love you luann. you are a great role model and a countess all the way!
I am not sure who you think you are to tell a young girl that she needs to lose weight. No one caers if you are a countess or not. Get over yourself!
Yikes - you need to get over yourself. You seemed so uncomfortable around those girls. And etiquette? Your views are SO OUTDATED!!! Women who work, are independent, self made people are role models. Not someone who is riding on her husband's family's coattails.
Thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to help the SMART girls. It sounds like a wonderful program. We admire your sincere effort in helping others as well as your grace and style. Perhaps Kelly could some lessons from you?
Wow LuAnn,
From the moment, the girls started their list your face read like a book. You need to understand that they won't have the same aspirations your children may have because of their backgrounds. Maybe, educating them on the many possibilities would have better served you.
You speak to everyone as if they are in your "circle". Its a shame that we didn't get to see the entire interaction but you did say what was shown. That being said, I commend you for trying to give back.
I thought that your going to the center and spending the one on one Time with those girls was great. Donating one's time to speak with girls and bond (basketball) and laugh and have fun with them is the best role modeling that adults, parents, siblings, teachers, therapists, counselors, coaches, etc. can do. Kids remember those times (THE INTERACTION AND FUN)..more than sitting in chairs talking. GOOD JOB, LUANN!! More people should donate their time with those in need of help..rather than all of the pretentious dinners, expensive parties that they throw for charity that end up costing more than they end up donating!! We all saw that on the Atlanta show. The ladies meant well, but, they fought and spent a ton of money on elaborate charity events that only included the rich and huge tax deductions. None of them ever actually take the time to meet the people they want to help..
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