Meet Tinsley Mortimer: Why Was ‘RHONY’ Socialite Arrested?
Tinsley Mortimer will be seen making her debut on The Real Housewives of New York City during tonight’s new episodes of the Bravo reality series and right away, several details of her past are revealed.
In a sneak peek at the second episode of the season, Ramona Singer reveals that her longtime friend and co-star, Sonja Morgan, has a new roommate — and that the roommate is none other than socialite Tinsley Mortimer.
“[Tinsley Mortimer] was a major, major socialite. Always photographed, always in the front row,” Singer tells co-stars Bethenny Frankel and Carole Radziwill.
Frankel then revealed that Tinsley Mortimer had split from her former husband, Robert Livingston Mortimer, aka “Topper,” before later being arrested for allegedly stalking an ex-boyfriend.
“I Googled it, and they had a bad co-dependent relationship… I read,” Singer said of Tinsley Mortimer’s relationship with Alexander “Nico” Fanjul, who she dated after splitting from her husband.
In 2016, news broke of Tinsley Mortimer’s arrest and right away, several articles were shared regarding the socialite’s downfall. Months later, after feeling as if she hit rock bottom, Tinsley Mortimer agreed to appear on the ninth season of The Real Housewives of New York City following the sudden exit of Jules Wainstein.
“I feel like after something like getting a mug shot and having it plastered all over every paper and all over the Internet, I felt like I hit rock bottom a little bit, so I just felt like there was no hesitation to join the show,” Tinsley Mortimer explained to Bravo TV of her decision to star on Season 9. “It’s like, ‘What could go wrong at this point in my life?’ Like, I’ve been arrested, I was in jail for three hours, I think now this is fine. I think I can handle the Real Housewives.”
In an interview earlier this year with People Magazine, Tinsley Mortimer opened up about her troubled relationship with Alexander “Nico” Fanjul, the son of sugar baron Alexander Fanjul, and claimed he had been abusive towards her. Throughout their years-long relationship, police had been frequently called to Fanjul’s home to break up fights between him and Tinsley Mortimer and at one point in late 2013, she was hospitalized with lacerations on her head.
“I had moments of feeling like I wasn’t going to make it,” Mortimer says now. “I was going to be one of those tragic stories you see on TV.”
According to Tinsley Mortimer, the volatile relationship she had with Fanjul left her fearing for her life as concerned relatives did what they could to convince her to end the romance. Ultimately, however, it was Mortimer’s arrest that was the final straw. As she revealed, she arrived to Fanjul’s home one final time to retrieve her purse when an argument between them led to police being called.
Although Tinsley Mortimer was unaware at the time, she had been dealt with a trespassing restriction, so when cops arrived, she was promptly arrested and taken to a nearby jail where her mug shot was taken.
As for Tinsley Mortimer’s thoughts on her time on The Real Housewives of New York City thus far, she told Bravo TV, “It’s been great… I was just so happy to be back in New York and getting to know new girls in New York too and having another group of friends.”
To see more of Tinsley Mortimer and her co-stars, tune into tonight’s new episodes of The Real Housewives of New York City Season 9 at 9 p.m. on Bravo TV.
[Featured Image by Patrick Ecclesine/Bravo]
