Luann de Lesseps Marks 100 Days of Sobriety as She Returns to ‘Real Housewives of New York’

Luann de Lesseps is celebrating 100 days clean and sober as she makes her return to Real Housewives of New York City nearly a year after her arrest for battery and disorderly intoxication.

TMZ reports that the reality star recently celebrated 100 days sober and is enjoying the positive effects it’s bringing in her personal life, including the fact that she returned as a regular for a new season of RHONY.

She reportedly has begun filming for the Bravo show, but missed the reunion episode taping in July because she had checked into rehab.

“I take my sobriety very seriously and continue taking it one day at a time. Every step forward is a means toward a better life for me and my family,” de Lesseps told TMZ.

The 53-year-old avoided jail time in August after a Florida court accepted a plea deal, in which she pleaded guilty to three charges brought forward by her arrest for allegedly kicking a police officer while intoxicated at a hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. The plea deal dropped a charge of battery on a law enforcement officer and two charges of corruption by threat. It also required that she complete one year of probation in New York, which will consist of 50 hours of community service, two weekly Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, and a Victim Impact Class by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. As part of her deal, she also must refrain from consuming alcohol or illegal drugs and is subjected to random testing.

Meanwhile, she’s touring the country with her Countess and Friends cabaret show, where she’s able to joke about her “rough year.”

“I actually loved rehab. I loved it so much I went back,” she said, referencing the fact that she completed not one, but two stints in rehab following her arrest.

Included in her “rough year” is the lawsuit that her first husband, Alexandre de Lesseps, and their adult children, Victoria and Noel, filed against her in regards to an $8 million house sale that they claimed breached a stipulation of the divorce settlement requiring her to create a trust fund for their kids. TMZ reports that she’s “patching things up” with them and “working on an amicable resolution.”

She previously told PEOPLE that the drama was with her ex, not her kids. “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 said. “… It’s not about the children, it’s about the ex.”