'RHONY' Star Luann de Lesseps Denies Bethenny Frankel's Claim She Used Arrest for Fame

Luann de Lesseps is denying capitalizing on her arrest in order to become "more famous than ever" after her Real Housewives of New York City co-star Bethenny Frankel accused her of not taking the legal saga more seriously. On Thursday's reunion part three, the cabaret singer finally gave the apology for which her castmates were looking all season.

"You actually reveled in that you had a comeback from this arrest and that you were more famous than ever," Frankel noted of de Lesseps' December 2017 arrest in Palm Beach. "It took you on something where you were like, 'Wow this is it. I'm really famous now.' "

A shocked de Lesseps asked, "You think I took that as a positive thing for me?"

"Yes, I do," Frankel responded. "I think you said, 'While I'm at it!'"

The former Countess denied being so opportunistic on her sobriety journey, simply saying, "I really made lemonade out of lemons. I really got dealt a really tough hand."

Frankel insisted of de Lesseps' claim that she hit rock bottom, "Usually when someone hits, they are very humble for a while instead of like, 'Boom! Jail, recovery, and let's go ladies.'"

"I was kind of in a thing called the pink cloud," de Lesseps explained of her self-righteous behavior throughout the season. "When you first get sober, you have this moment of elation."

Regardless of their fighting, Frankel reminded de Lesseps, "I'm rooting for you. We can only do the best we can. I'm rooting for you."

Dorinda Medley chimed in of de Lesseps' apologizing, "I not only accept it, I want to help her get to the finish line."

"It feels really good to have my girlfriends back on my side, because it feels like I lost my team," de Lesseps noted. "By looking at myself I realized that I could have done better as a friend and I was absent because I really just needed to take care of myself. That looked like I was not grateful for them. For that, I'm sorry."

Photo credit: Bravo