Braunwyn Windham-Burke and husband Sean Burke have been married for more than 20 years, but it hasn’t always smooth sailing for the Real Housewives of Orange County couple.
While Bravo fans met Braunwyn in 2019 when she joined the cast of RHOC for season 14, she started seeing Sean when she was just 18 years old.
“I learned [doing the show] that I can’t always rely on my husband,” she explained in a 2019 interview. “I’ve been with my husband since I was 18, so I had to stand on my own two feet for the first time in my entire adult life. And that was not always easy.”
Braunwyn and Sean tied the knot in 2000 and went on to welcome seven kids: Bella, Rowan, Jacob, twins Caden and Curren, Koa and Hazel. Before the pair welcomed their twins and youngest daughters, however, they actually separated for a short period of time.
“We fought for our family because Sean and I almost got divorced,” Braunwyn recalled on the RHOC aftershow in November 2019. “We’ve been through infidelity. We’ve gone down this road and Sean and I came back stronger.”
While they welcomed four more kids post-split, Braunwyn ruled out welcoming baby No. 8 in 2020, revealing that she underwent two years of IVF to have the couple’s youngest daughter.
“We worked very hard for this little one, 2 years of IVF and many losses to get her, but when I look at her huge smile, her eyes that light up and her adorable laugh I can tell you, it’s all worth it,” Braunwyn gushed via Instagram. “She’s the easiest baby we’ve ever had, is best friends with her sister and loves to just follow the others around. I’m so grateful for you, thank you for being a part of our family.”
Before season 15 of RHOC started airing in October 2020, Braunwyn sparked split speculation as she promoted a Zoom session with a divorce specialist.
Scroll through for more on Braunwyn and Sean’s ups and downs:
“I run a pretty strict house, as much of a free spirit as I am,” she told Us in April 2020 about raising seven kids. “I do have a lot of rules and a lot of chores when it comes to everyone chipping in and helping out. So everyone wakes up, they do their part and it’s working.”
Courtesy Braunwyn Windham-Burke/Instagram
Braunwyn noted that the pair’s separation was “12 years ago” as she opened up about her past infidelity in 2019.
“I cheated on Sean,” she admitted on the RHOC aftershow. “We separated. I took the kids. He was with someone else too. We were separated, we were in two different homes. I went to Hawaii; I took the kids, I enrolled them in school. I told Sean I was done. I just didn’t want to be a single mom anymore. He traveled 25 days a month.”
Braunwyn noted that her tryst was "very PG.” She explained: “We surfed together, we would go for walks, and I wasn't ready for anything more but it was just nice to have someone listen.”
After a few months apart, the twosome reunited. “After a few months, he flew out to Hawaii and he got down on one knee and re-proposed to me,” she recalled. “He had quit his job; he was the president of a very successful company. He sold his shares and he walked away and he became a stay-at-home dad for like eight years. He said I would rather choose you guys than my work."
Courtesy Braunwyn Windham-Burke/Instagram
On Sean’s 35th birthday, the duo introduced threesomes into their marriage.
"Keep in mind, I've been with him a long time. Everything we've done, we've done together," Braunwyn said during an interview with Bravo in 2019. "So it was sort of like, 'Oh, that would be fun.' And I was kind of like, 'This is your birthday present.' So it started as a joke. And then it became, 'OK, for every monumental birthday, this will be your gift.'"
The twosome also showed off their "love shack" on season 14 of RHOC, revealing they have a special room in their house to sneak away and be "a little bit naughty."
Courtesy Braunwyn Windham-Burke/Instagram
The couple seemed happier than ever as they celebrated 20 years of marriage in 2020. “This is us,” she wrote that March via Instagram. “Good, bad and everything in between. #20years #rhoc #igotyoubabe #parentsof7.”
Courtesy Braunwyn Windham-Burke/Instagram
In April 2020, the Bravo star admitted to Us that things were tense at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“People are not supposed to be together this much. The other day he walked into the room and I just wanted a moment to myself and in my head, I’m like, ‘Please don’t acknowledge my existence, just don’t even look at me, please don’t acknowledge me. Can we just pretend we’re by ourselves?’ No, I didn’t realize and it sounds crazy too, it is,” Braunwyn told Us exclusively. “I think I gave him a five-minute lecture on how to get the clothes into the hamper, not next to it, into it … I joke that I haven’t fed them to the tigers yet.”
Courtesy Braunwyn Windham-Burke/Instagram
A since-deleted Instagram post shared by Braunwyn in September 2020 raised a red flag for fans. “New to the coparenting world? It doesn’t have to suck. It won’t feel like this forever,” the post read. “You just need some perspective … Knowing what to expect will save your sanity.”
That same month, their second oldest daughter, Rowan, shared an Instagram pic with the caption, “F—k. You. Mom.”
Braunwyn subsequently asked her followers for privacy.
“Our family asks for your understanding as we work through some challenging circumstances,” she wrote via Instagram Stories. “45 million Americans will experience mental health issues. This effects almost every family, and ours is no different. We will share with you more when the time is right. We kindly ask for your grace and kindness, and thank everyone for their support.”
Courtesy Braunwyn Windham-Burke/Instagramfrom Celebrity News – Us Weekly https://ift.tt/3cN1BUJ
Comments
Post a Comment