"There's definitely parts of me that I quelched with alcohol and I never really admitted to myself."
Braunwyn Windham-Burke opened up about reexamining her life during a separation from her husband.
While chatting with Access Hollywood on Tuesday, the "Real Housewives of Orange County" star said she has made some significant realizations after announcing she was an alcoholic on the season premiere of the Bravo series.
"I'm also coming to terms with different parts of my sexuality that I never really gave myself the grace to consider," the 42-year-old blogger said. "Right now I'm protective of this, I'm not blasting it out everywhere, but there's definitely parts of me that I quelched with alcohol and I never really admitted to myself."
"I grew up in a different time than my kids are," she continued. "And so I'm just giving myself the time and the grace to figure out who I am to be as authentic as I can to myself. There's a lot more things about me that I never gave myself the ability to really look into."
On Wednesday's "Watch What Happens Live," Braunwyn addressed the reports that she is living apart from her husband, Sean Burke.
"Currently Sean and I are not living in the same house," she told host Andy Cohen. "I love him dearly, we get along great, we're getting along better than we ever have. But we are redefining our marriage right now, and you know, there are some things I am going through that I'm giving myself the time and the space to acknowledge, and Sean's been very supportive in all of this."
RHOC's Braunwyn Windham-Burke Reveals She's an Alcoholic: 'I Was Scared I Was Gonna Die'
View StoryThe estranged couple share seven kids together -- Hazel, two, Koa, four, twins Caden and Curran, seven, Jacob, 15, Rowan, 18 and Bella, 20.
And although they aren't physically together at the moment, Braunwyn told Access Hollywood they plan on making their relationship work.
"We're still together and I know it's hard for a lot of people to understand," she said. "We're happily married, we plan on staying happily married."
"There's just a lot going on in our lives right now and for a lot of different reasons we just think that we need some space right now to work on ourselves to get through our own issues," she continued. "It's good to not be together. it is the right choice. I love him dearly but I need to get through what I'm going through right now and I need to do it on my own."