Tinsley Mortimer joined Real Housewives Of New York to re-start her life after ending an abusive relationship with Alexander “Nico” Fanjul, an heir to Florida’s sugar industry. Literally.
Tinsley met her much-younger, much-monied former beau Nico after divorcing the much-monied, much social-connected Topper. Her relationship with Nico was dramatic from the get-go, and she confesses to spending “years” covering up the truth about their “tumultuous, terrible relationship.”
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“Things did get pretty dark,” admits Tinsley. She alleges “physical, emotional abuse” from Nico, corroborated by several police reports, a hospitalization, and photos of Tinsley with bruises.
After years of instability, Tinsley finally snapped, reaching a “dark, lost place I never anticipated myself being in.” Last year she was arrested for trespassing at Nico’s house. “Being arrested was the one thing that broke me out of the cycle of violence.”
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“It got really bad,” Tinsley confesses to People. “I had moments of feeling like I wasn’t going to make it. I was going to be one of those tragic stories you see on TV.” Well, not to make light of abuse, but now she has become a tragic story we see on TV – one of the travesty of selling one’s soul to Bravo.
That arrest, which Tinsley complains was “unfairly reported” by the media, “very abruptly” ended her relationship with Nico. A blessing in disguise, “because it ended up getting me back to New York.” And drawing her into the arms of reality TV.
Presently, Tinsley is “so excited” about her life and joining RHONY. “I just can’t believe how much has changed in the past year of my life. I lost myself and I am so happy to be back!”
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“After everything that I’ve been through, um, you know – getting arrested, and having this crazy mugshot plastered everywhere all over the world, I just thought, you know, I’ve hit rock bottom and there’s really no place else I could go, so why not do reality TV?” When that’s your outlook on life, I’m not sure you have hit rock bottom yet.
Actually, Tinsley’s arrest prepared her well for Real Housewives Of New York! She had no problems dealing with the “big personalities” or “cattiness” of her co-stars. “I was like, ‘I went to jail, girls – you don’t mess with me. I can take you.'”
TELL US – CAN TINSLEY TAKE RHONY? ARE YOU GLAD SHE’S BRINGING AWARENESS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
[Photo Credit: Patrick Ecclesine/Bravo]