Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, the anachronistic Housewife, has finally loosened up. “I was married for sixteen years, darling,” she informed us at last night’s GLAAD Manhattan Party. “Now I’m playing the field. I just want to have a good time.” Though she’s in the midst of a divorce and dating again, De Lesseps says she stands by the — arguably sexist — dating tips she gave Bethenny: Don’t get lots of guys’ numbers. But the countess is done with older men (hear that, Ramona?). When we asked her pal and co-star Jill Zarin if she’s setting De Lesseps up with her single friends, she told us: “You know, I told her the other night I had a guy for her, but she passed — he’s too old!” We asked Zarin for De Lesseps’s age bracket and, having learned from her Post debacle, she turned to the countess for the answer. “I’m not getting in hot water,” Zarin said. To Ms. Jill, De Lesseps said, “You’re never in hot water with me! We’re real friends.” To us, the countess confessed, “I’m going younger, baby — under 50.” The countess also told us she’s writing a new book: “It’s about relationships with men and women and jealousy. But it’ll be fun and funny.” Given that this is a woman who staked her whole social reputation and career on taking the title of the man she married, there’s something inspiring about the new LuAnn.
