Real Housewives of New York star Brynn Whitfield speaks out about being sexually assaulted and 'heinous crimes'

Dring the first half of the two-part season 15 reunion, which aired Tuesday (January 28), 39-year-old Brynn spoke out about why she chose to share her experience as a survivor of sexual assault on the TV show.

The star revealed that she had been sexually assaulted during the finale episode of RHONY. Brynn explained to host Andy Cohen why she had done this: “I’m still healing from something,” she said. She added that discussing various topics about her life on the show felt “like 17 years worth of therapy.”

Cohen praised Whitfield’s decision to speak about her sexual assault on national television as “brave” and asked her what response she’s received from viewers since the episode aired on Tuesday January 21.

“[People have talked about] the shame of it all and living with the day to day,” she said. “Just how it’s not one of those things you can go around and tell. And to have everyone know something so personal as a woman, it’s just different.”

She cried as she said she did feel a sense of shame. “I suck things up. I move on,” she continued. “Because if I don’t, I never get out of bed. So you just keep going.”

She went on to reveal that the alleged perpetrator was “someone who was courting me” and said that she still sees the man now. “I understand why people commit heinous crimes,” she added.

Whifield said that she considered pressing charges against her alleged assailant following the assault. “But it’s so hard,” she said. “Unless you literally go and walk into an emergency room and say, ‘hi, I’m here because I just got sexually assaulted. Let’s do the rape kit.”

She also said that after the assault allegedly took place her first instinct was to “go home and shower”. She cried further as she said that in the moment she just wanted to “forget that it happened”.

Whitfield previously spoke about the sexual assault, which occurred when she was 34 years old to People. She told the publication “You just go home, and you just shower, and you just want to pretend like it didn’t happen. I think my water bill probably that month was like $10,000 . . . and just there’s not enough soap in the world [to get clean]… You try not to put chlorine in your luxurious bathtub.”

She also spoke about how the incident impacted her life afterwards. She said she went to work the next day and didn’t tell her friends about what happened for months. Brynn explained, “I was hyper-efficient at work, but I didn’t smile, I didn’t laugh, I didn’t bat an eyelash. I didn’t do anything. I blamed myself.”

The star also opened up about how it feels to still see the man, and that no charges have been brought against him. “ “I put on a brave face, and I refuse to cause a scene,” she said. “I don’t think that everybody gets their day of justice. I think this happens frequently. I think that that is the unfortunate reality of so many people. And I think that I’m one of many throughout hundreds, I don’t know, thousands of years that have had to handle it this way,” she added.

• The Real Housewives of New York City reunion part two airs on Bravo Tuesday February 4.
• Anyone who has been victim of rape, sexual assault, or any form of sexual abuse – whether recent or non-recent – is asked to contact police. Information about sexual abuse support services can be found on the NHS website.