Tom D'Agostino has gone from being Luann de Lesseps' rose to her thorn.
The Real Housewives of New York City star announced on Thursday that, after only seven months of marriage, she and her husband are calling it quits and filing for divorce. While the announcement came as something of a stunning surprise, this outcome felt like something of an inevitability for RHONY fans. Since Tom arrived in Luann's life in season eight of the series, there were plenty of signs that this love affair was a bit doomed.
When Luann first began dating Tom, we learned that she was hardly the first Housewife he'd had relations with. As Ramona Singer and Sonja Morgan repeatedly reminded viewers, they'd both been involved with him, but in different capacities. Ramona revealed she'd gone on a couple of dates with him, while Sonja claimed to have had an ongoing friends with benefits situation with Tom. While Luann and Tom attempted to downplay the seriousness of his connections to both women, one couldn't help but notice Tom had something of a type. This became even more apparent when a clip from way back in season one resurfaced, showing Tom hitting on a then-married Ramona. Red flag!
The next bump in the road came in the season's final episodes courtesy of Bethenny Frankel when she revealed during a girl's trip to Miami that she'd received damning photos of Tom at The Regency kissing someone other than his fiance. The exchange gave us the now-iconic moment when Luann confronted Tom over the photos, dictating a text message, saying "How could you do this to me. Question mark." But when the ladies returned home in the season finale, it became clear that Luann was sticking by her man, even going so far as to try and rope Dorinda Medley into a lie about Tom's antics. Dorinda, however, would have none of it.
When the show returned for season nine, Luann was busy planning her New Year's Eve wedding, while Ramona's friend Missy surfaced to share that she'd been dating Tom when news of his engagement broke. Thanks to some pot-stirring on the part of the Singer Stinger, Tom and Luann came face-to-face with Missy at Ramona's apartment renovation reveal, during which Tom told Missy he felt like "a dog with a collar" in reference to his engagement ring.
During the ladies' annual Berkshires trip, the women made their final pleas with Luann to consider what she was doing with Tom, but she pointedly insisted that she was making the right choice for her and she had no concerns with the constant chatter surrounding his behavior, despite her friend Barbara telling Carole Radziwill that she'd rather go through with the wedding and get divorced than call it off and prove everyone right.
And who can forget when Lu and Tom returned home from Palm Beach to throw their party for the people they didn't invite to the wedding, where Tom "joked" about not wanting to wear his wedding ring?
Of course, the biggest hint at the troubles ahead may still be to come in next week's season finale. As the preview for the episode hints, Tom and Missy wind up in each other's obit yet again, with Tom actually "de-mic"-ing on camera to talk to her (or about her and the last time he saw her) and not get caught. Yikes.
The Real Housewives of New York City airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.
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