"Real Housewives of
Dallas" star LeeAnne Locken has had quite the season: From extreme highs
(getting engaged!) to extreme lows (contracting a flesh-eating bacteria) and
every argument and hot mic moment in between, Locken has truly been through it
all this year. And she's ready for a break.
"I'm done. Emotionally, I'm
done," she told AOL Entertainment during a recent sit-down. "We've
shot the reunion, and everything that's going to happen has happened. I'm sad
about some of it -- most of it -- but as far as I'm holding up, I'm Texas
Strong. If a flesh-eating bacteria isn't going to take me out, then a freaking
reality TV show won't either."
Locken told us that it took
over three month to kill the bacteria, which she got towards the end
of the cast's trip to Mexico during filming, and that she still has to
undergo a second reconstructive surgery as a result.
In addition to fighting a
flesh-eating bacteria, the outspoken Texas native was constantly at odds with
fellow cast member Cary Deuber this season. Their tense relationship took a
shocking turn when Brandi Redmond told Deuber about the rumors Locken repeated
to her just before undergoing surgery -- essentially, that Deuber's husband,
Mark, had allegedly solicited men at a local gay bar in Dallas. It's a
controversial moment that Locken wishes she could take back.
"I regret saying it,
completely," she admitted to us. "I regret repeating what people told
me, but I will say this: I had taken medication when I left my house. I don't
like surgery, and I'm a control freak. You give me pills, and I'm going to
fight those drugs and be aggressive. If you look at that boat scene where
Brandi says what I said, the look on my face says it all: I don't even remember
saying it! I knew I had said it, because I'd been told that
information. I did not plan on repeating it, though."
"There's several other
pieces of information in my head that I have not repeated, and that's one of
the things that I've truly learned this year: Just because I have the
information doesn't mean that I have to say it," she continued.
Though the explosive moment
represents perhaps the pinnacle of Deuber and Locken's contentious relationship
and potentially a point of no return, Locken recently had an
"epiphany" when it comes to their dynamic.
"I had this epiphany at the
reunion," she explained. "Everybody knows I'm an alpha. I've found
and clawed and that's how I've survived life. Cary wants to be an alpha and,
being the older alpha, at some point I need to be able to say, 'You can have
this one.' Gracefully and not just handing it to her, but letting her believe
that she can be the alpha here.
If I did that, maybe she would ease up with me.
Because I consistently win when I'm around her, she consistently tries to twist
it. She's frustrated."
While not exactly a concession,
Locken's revelation when it comes to Deuber is somewhat of a step forward,
especially when compared to her relationship with Stephanie Hollman, who Locken
says will probably always "hate" her.
"She thinks I'm a
three-headed satan," she told us with a laugh. "She believes I'm
satan walking the earth, and I'll tell you why: Marie downloaded a bunch of
lies into her head, and she is holding onto those. As long as she holds onto
what Marie said as truth, it's easy for her to hate me."
As for her broken friendship
with Redmond, Locken insists that what they shared heading into the season was
a genuine connection, despite Remond's tweet at the beginning of the season
that proclaimed they were never friends.
"Right when the season
started, she tweeted that we were never friends, and that broke my heart,"
she told us. "I called the owner of our production company and was like,
'Am I that stupid?' I believed that we were friends!"
Locken told AOL Entertainment
that she developed a relationship with Brandi in an effort to "show her
what an adult friendship really looks like," alluding to she and
Stephanie's friendship, which is often criticized as immature.
At the end of the day, Locken
says that it's her commitment to being honest that steers her ship, regardless
of what people accuse her of.
"I know it's weird and
rare, but I really do believe in honesty," she said. "Why is it so
acceptable for us t live in a world where people just twist sh-t and make up
stuff? It's not me. I refuse to live in that world. Because I'm this off thumb
in this land full of fingers, people are wondering what to do with a
thumb."
Speaking of fingers, Locken has
been rocking some shiny new bling on her ring finger ever since longtime boyfriend,
Rich, proposed to her during a date at the state fair this season. The massive
ring featured two hearts ("his heart and my heart!") and still makes
Locken emotional for what it represents.
"This was the moment that
I've been waiting my whole f--king life for," she told us through tears.
"For someone who really loves and accepts me just as I am to say that he
wants me."
The night before filming the
reunion earlier this month, Rich and LeeAnne laid down next to one another as
Rich muttered his lifetime promise to her.
"He told me I could always
count on three things," she recounted. "'We're always going to
have a home, you're always going to come home to me and I'm always going to
love you.'"
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