Every Real Housewives of New York fan knows Ramona Singer loves Pinot Grigio, but does she have a drinking problem?"Do I overdrink? No. I drink with responsibility," Ramona told In the Mixx at a recent event for Hamptons Magazine at the Southampton Social Club. "I drink with a beautiful dinner. I would rather have my one or two glasses of Pinot Grigio than dessert which is 700 calories."
Though she admits her name has become synonymous with the white wine, she's using that to her advantage with her own line, Ramona Pinot Grigio.
And besides, the 54-year-old explains, drinking comes with being a Real Housewife.
"All I can say is, we're filmed in social events. If you look at anytime I have a drink in my hand, look what LuAnn [de Lesseps] is drinking. The other people are drinking," Ramona said. "The only person who doesn't drink is Jill [Zarin]. She only drinks Diet Coke – and you wonder why? But anyway, all the other Housewives shows – they're all drinking."
Does it bother her that her costars, like Jill, have said they worry about her drinking? Or that she's portrayed on the show as always wanting a glass of her beloved wine?
"I actually said to Bravo, I called them up I said, 'Wait, is the story line so bad you have to make [my drinking] a story line? Because you know I don't have a drinking problem,' " she said.
She also noted: "I've been on the show for four years. How can I have five businesses, be married 19 years, have a daughter who's a straight-A student? I cannot even be a ... functioning alcoholic if I had all of this stuff going on. It would be impossible. Do you ever see me fall down on TV? Do you ever see me slur my speech? Absolutely not. Do I have a drink or two with dinner? Absolutely."
Credit: PEOPLE (Aaron Parsley)