Luann de Lesseps on Rehab Return: ‘I Loved It So Much I Went Back’

Luann de Lesseps is addressing her return to rehab just a few days after returning from another stint in an alcohol treatment facility.

The Real Housewives of New York City star brought up her rehab stay during a Saturday performance of the Amy Winehouse song “Rehab” during her Countess and Friends cabaret show in Long Island, New York, PEOPLE reports.

Referring to the song lyrics, she joked, “I actually loved rehab. I loved it so much I went back.”

Later, de Lesseps told a fan asking about her fit physique that rehab and her failed relationship with ex-husband Tom D’Agostino were partly behind the transformation, joking, “Revenge body and rehab, darling.”

She also made reference to her tough year, in which her marriage to D’Agostino ended and she was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida for allegedly hitting a security guard while drunk in December.

“You have no idea how happy I am to be here,” she told the audience. “It’s been a rough year for me.”

PEOPLE talked with de Lesseps later about her return to cabaret after her second stay in rehab, which required her to miss the RHONY season 10 reunion special while she was away for about three weeks in mid-July.

“I felt like I needed them more than they needed me,” she told the outlet. “Just being onstage, I couldn’t wait to get onstage. I’ve been through so much in the last year, and you know, most recently, so I needed to get out, and get here. It was just therapy for me.”

The Bravo star also talked about her children a number of times during the show, just weeks after news broke of a lawsuit filed against her by first husband Alexandre de Lesseps and their children Victoria and Noel in regards to an $8 million house sale that they claimed breached a stipulation of the divorce settlement requiring her to create a trust for the kids.

“My kids are my children,” de Lesseps told PEOPLE. “The press can write whatever they want.”

“Yeah, I have a little problem, driven by the ex-husband, who I’m not happy about right now, okay? And I’m resolving it as quickly as possible,” she continued. “I’m gonna see my children this weekend. It’s not about the children, it’s about the ex.”

She added that she had “to wait until this is resolved first” before talking about the situation more.

The Real Housewives of New York City airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

Photo credit: Getty / Santiago Felipe