Leanne: “Real Housewives almost drove me to a nervous breakdown”
Leanne Brown opens up about the devastating toll the show took on her and why she’ll never talk to her former co-star Dawn Ward again
She was the fun, feisty character on The Real Housewives Of Cheshire, but Leanne Brown tells Closer that, behind the smiles, the show left her near breakdown and insists she is relieved after quitting her role earlier this year.
The glamorous mum of three and wife of former Manchester United player Wes Brown, found it too difficult to continue filming after becoming embroiled in a row over money with her fellow co-star and former close friend Dawn Ward late last year. The feud centred on a disputed £500,000 loan from Leanne’s husband Wes’ company to Dawn’s husband Ashley, which is still unresolved and is currently in the hands of lawyers.
Leanne says, “I left the series because it had driven me to the point of a nervous breakdown, so it really was the right decision to go. I’d had enough. There was too much drama in my life and I just couldn’t cope with being in the same environment as Dawn when filming.”
DEEPLY HURT
And Leanne – who has daughters Halle, 15, Lilia, 11, and Lola, seven – insists she has no plans to bury the hatchet with Dawn. She insists, “Our friendship has gone down the pan. I won’t ever speak to Dawn again. I don’t trust her and, when someone has hurt you that deep, there is no going back.”
She adds, “The feud is still on-going. It was very upsetting – and still is now. It has made me grow so much as a person, and now, I have had the strength to come away from that relationship and build myself back up again.
“I’ve had therapy and I have tried crystal healing [a practise that involves placing gemstones on the body to draw out negative energy]. I do meditation as much as I can and have hypnotherapy. Luckily, I am still friends with Tanya [Bardsley]. She became one of my best mates.”
FEELING BROODY
Although she turned 42 back in February this year, Leanne admits she wouldn’t rule out baby number four if her husband Wes, 38, also agrees to it.
She admits, “I’ve already got three girls, but I would love another baby. I’m 42, so Wes is like ‘no more!’ But naturally, Wes would like a son as our house is overrun with girls. He’s torn because our youngest Lola is seven now, and she can almost do everything for herself. To have another baby would be like going back to the beginning.”
Leanne has been with Wes for 18 years and the pair will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary next year. And while Real Housewives, which follows the lives of a group of wealthy businesswomen and socialites in Cheshire, is renowned for its stormy relationships, Leanne insists that her marriage is stronger than ever before.
She says, “Up until now – touch wood – thank God, our marriage is intact. I’ve got a good catch and I’m not letting him go.”
Before finding love with Wes, Leanne has admitted to working as a table dancer – famously saying on the show, “I may have been a lap dancer, but I’m nobody’s lapdog.”
While Dawn’s daughter Taylor, 20, may be appearing on this year’s Love Island, Leanne says that she wouldn’t actively encourage her daughters to go on the dating show – famed for its sex scenes – but would never stop them.
CAREER DREAMS
She explains, “My mum was a single parent and she brought me up on her own. When I was 18 years old, I told her I was moving to Manchester from the Lake District because I wanted to be a glamour model, and she was like, ‘Go for it!’
“She was very open and supportive of what I wanted to do and I think that rubbed off on me. If my eldest wanted to do Love Island, I would let her. She has got a good head on her shoulders. I believe that to a certain extent you have to allow them to do what they want to.”
She adds, “If it was Geordie Shore, I would really hesitate letting her go on the show, but Love Island is probably one of the better ones because it’s not just about having sex.”