“HOUSEWIVE” OF NYC IN ASBURY PARK: ONE ON ONE WITH ALEX MCCORD

Posted by thebplot on August 5, 2010 in Celebs, NEWS > Asbury Park | 2 Comments

I met “Housewives of New York City” star Alex McCord while she was in town for the hot-as-sin weekend to promote her book “Big City, Little Kids” with her gaggle of gays and immediately became a fan.

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Alex is more blonde and beautiful in person, smart and has a fabulously naughty sense of humor. She and her husband, Simon Van Kempen, seem genuinely unaffected and have substance to back up their newfound celebrity.

After a photo shoot at local bed and breakfast Mikell’s Big House, I sat with Alex and Simon to talk about their first parenting book and get a little dish about her co-stars.

TBP: There is a “gay-by boom” in our area right now. Any advice for traditional parents about how to talk to their kids about friends in school with two mommies or daddies?

Alex: My best friend from college is a married gay man with an adopted son. Fans of our show might recall a playdate we shot together in Season 2. The best answer is something along the lines of “families come in all shapes and sizes.”

TBP: What are (co-star) Bethenny Frankel’s strengths going to be as a mom?

Alex: Bethenny has the intelligence to know that she can soak up advice from everyone but ultimately make up her own mind about how to raise her daughter, and that’s something I think everyone should have the confidence to do. Of course when you grow up, as I did, not thinking you’ll necessarily have children, almost everything is a surprise when you get to it. I think she’ll do just fine.

TBP: Of all your co-stars, who would your kids rather have babysit them?

Alex: My boys adore Kelly (Bensimon) because she gets down on their level and plays with them. Our oldest, Francois, nicknamed her “tiger.”

TBP: What will six year-old Francois and four year-old Johan say 20 years from now about being on a reality show?

Alex: I hope that they laugh, poke fun at us and consider it to be one of the many crazy things mom and dad did throughout their life.

TBP: Which high profile New York City parents got it “right”?

Alex: It seems Donald and Ivana (Trump) did a good job from what I know. I don’t actually follow celeb parents’ activities too closely, but think Gloria Vanderbilt did a pretty good job, too.

TBP: Howard Stern talks regularly about how miserable the young couples he knows, who have kids, are. A recent “New York Magazine” article detailed one mother’s story of “loving her kids but hating her life.” I think this is an unspoken issue – Yuppies having kids because their friends are doing it, their parents want to be grandparents and they think it is what they are supposed to do but not because they genuinely are prepared to be parents.

Alex: That is so upsetting. Parenthood is not some utopia, nor does having children bring or keep a relationship together. I wonder if people who feel that way looked at parenthood through the eyes of “what is this going to do for me,” or “how great will this be,” and naturally felt disappointed.

Simon and I weren’t planning to have a family but changed our minds, and hoped that we could stay sane. Whether we did or not is debatable, but we love each other more than ever, and the kids too.

TBP: You write about the differences between city and country kids in your book. What about shore kids – lovingly referred to as “beach bums in training” by locals?

Alex: Perhaps they are a bit like island kids? Hard charging but so appreciative of what’s around them like the beach and breezes.

Next week, more things Alex and Simon with behind-the-scenes photos of her weekend in Asbury Park.

Richard@TheBPlot.com