Luann de Lesseps Sparks Dating Rumors With A-List Star’s Ex-Husband

Heavy/Getty Luann de Lesseps

Former “The Real Housewives of New York City” star Luann de Lesseps’ dating life has always caused quite a stir, and the Countess isn’t pumping the brakes with her latest lunch date.

The Daily Mail shared photos of de Lesseps, 58, out on the town with Mary-Kate Olsen’s ex-husband, French banker Olivier Sarkozy, 54, on March 4. The pair were pictured in each other’s arms as they left the restaurant Le Bilboquet, a French bistro on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. According to the outlet, the pair spent around two hours together at Le Bilboquet before leaving. De Lesseps was pictured in a red fuzzy jacket, black leather pants with intricate seam detailing, and an over-the-shoulder black purse.

Who is Olivier Sarkozy?

De Lesseps’ latest date made waves given Sarkozy’s previous relationship with child star turned The Row fashion designer Mary-Kate Olsen, 37. According to The U.S. Sun, Sarkozy was born in Paris and is a half-brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He also has two children, Julien and Margot, from a previous marriage to Charlotte Bernard.

According to People, Olsen and Sarkozy met in April 2012 at a party and hit it off right away, connecting over sushi dates at Nobu and heading to the Hamptons for horseback riding. By November of that year, they were spotted in their first paparazzi photo at a New York Knicks basketball game.

The pair dated for about two years before getting engaged in early 2014. Apparently, the couple had successfully kept their engagement under wraps from the public for a few weeks before Olsen was spotted out with the ring on in March. The engagement lasted a bit over a year, with Olsen and Sarkozy tying the knot at their NYC home in November 2015.

The pair’s marriage lasted five years, with Olsen filing for divorce in 2020 after some bumps in the road, with Olsen’s lawyers reportedly receiving an email from Sarkozy’s stating she had about one month to move out of their apartment. Olsen also faced multiple delays in getting to formally file for divorce due to the coronavirus pandemic, however she was able to file in May 2020, with a settlement reached in January 2021.

Luann de Lesseps Recently Shared a Dating Update With Fans

De Lesseps let fans know that she was making her rounds in the dating pool in a February 28 interview with Derek Zagami, in which she shared, “I actually had a date last night with a guy that’s 62 but really attractive. He continues to model to this day, does very well as the salt-and-pepper gray, husband, commercial type of guy but very nice.”

This dating update came weeks after rumors swirled that de Lesseps had hooked up with “Southern Hospitality” star Joe Bradley (despite the fact that he was seeing Danielle Olivera from “Summer House”) after they appeared together on a January 24 episode of “Watch What Happens Live”.

During the February 22 “Southern Hospitality” reunion, Bradley admitted that he did “cross a line” while getting drinks at a hotel with de Lesseps after their WWHL taping, “But I did not kiss her, we did not hook up,” he said, to the disbelief of many of his “Southern Hospitality” co-stars.

De Lesseps shared her own account of their evening with TMZ, telling the outlet, “We definitely had great chemistry, and we went out to have drinks. What’s wrong with that?” and adding, “No he did not sleep over at my house. People love to think those things, of course they do, it’s sexy.”

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