Alex McCord, Simon van Kempen, Gay Rumors, Parenting Book, Nude Photos and the Love, Hate Relationship with Viewers

He’s been described as a shopaholic, speedo wearing goateed pseudo-celebrity metrosexual spouse who could be gay. She’s been described as “skeletor”, an anorexic/bulemic uninhibited shopaholic wife married to a gay man. Together, they’re described as the joined-at-the hip, couple-absorbed, fame-pushing parents of bratty kids. That’s if you believe some of the reviews as well some viewer’s comments.

The couple are also described as hip, fashionable, jetsetting, educated caring parents capable of writing their new book on raising small kids in an urban area. Loved or hated, they’re Alex McCord and Simon van Kemper, The Real Housewives of New York City’s most interesting couple.

Beginning in March, the Bravo TV reality series begins its third season. Returning to the series, Alex and Simon, the “breakout” couple of Real Housewives of NYC. Simon, 46, is a native of Brisbane, Australia and manages Hotel Chandler, a 124-room boutique hotel three blocks from the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan.

Alex, 36, writer and former actress, was laid off in March from her position as visual merchandiser at Victoria’s Secret.

From People:

The McCord-VanKempens have a plan to manage the financial storm. “Alex has got until the end of April [when her severance package runs out] to replace her income,” VanKempen tells PEOPLE, “otherwise we’ll have to start cutting back on discretionary income.”

Since VanKempen still has his job as a hotel manager, McCord says the family shouldn’t have trouble paying their monthly bills. But her salary was the one that tended to pay for their infamous shopping sprees, not to mention the cost of their full-time nanny.

As for those famous shopping sprees on Real Housewives:

But won’t they miss the shopping? She reveals: Those shopping sprees that you see on the show? That’s only once or twice a year. We don’t have time to shop like that. We do killer kamikaze shopping sprees for like two hours and then don’t shop for six months.

What may help, appearing on Real Housewives. According to one of the housewives of Real Housewives of NYC, the first season the cast was paid a pittance of $9,000. There’s no doubt that by season three the cast was paid a far more substantial sum as the cast of the Real Housewives of Orange County earn upwards to $120,000 per season. Not a bad gig if you can find it, acting in a reality tv show based on your real life. Even so, there are pitfalls, such as Bravo TV producers who shape episodes and viewers perceptions by way of editing footage guaranteed to garner the most ratings. Alex and Simon, who, if you believe their version, are victims of producer editing, cast as nonchalant parents of bratty young sons and capricious shopaholics.

Alex and Simon fought back by posting their side on their blog, McCordVan Kempen.com. It’s well worth the read, a counterpoint to the Bravo producers portrayal of the couple as well as the rumors concerning Simon’s sexuality and Simon’s obsession with clothing, especially those well-made-a lost art in America.

At the end of January, 2009, the couple launched a parenting book at a swank cocktail party held at Bruno Jamais Supper Club on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. From Splash Magazine:

The evening was a smashing success with a host of celebrities and well-wishers in attendance to celebrate Alex and Simon’s parenting book and like some expectant parents they haven’t decided on a name quite yet. With the due date later this year we are eagerly waiting the title.

And,

Others in attendance were WCBS Reporter Dr. Max Gomez, TV host of Cognac’s Corner and the always celebrity chic, Cognac Wellerlane as well as Black Tie International curator, Gloria T. Cessler. Over 500 members of the media and paparazzi enjoyed the event. Popular media represented included, People Magazine, The New York Times, The Social Diary and of course, Splash Magazines Worldwide.

And,

The hors dourves flowed as freely as the wine and ranged from a whipped mousse foie gras and chicken pate to delicate spring rolls, rolled crab cakes and creamed spinach canapes in thin wraps.

All guests received gift bags containing an assortment of bath and beauty treatments as well as prizes, and gift certificates:

Additionally KMR added a complimentary copy of New Beauty Magazine, which provides a very detailing look at the art of beauty and medical providers who offer those services. A charity raffle was held to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation with items donated by jewelry designer Rebecca Koven, a Marilyn Monroe collection purse, a Weekend stay at The Hotel Chandler and many other amazing prizes.

An excellent way to smooze potential critics of your upcoming book, or, perhaps the way parenting books are launched. Since I’ve never launched a book, I haven’t clue. On March 9, 2009, this post appeared at the site City Mama titled, Dear Alex McCord and Simon Van Kempen of Real Housewives of New York City fame.

Here’s an excerpt:

I would appreciate it very much if you told your publicist to stop sending me emails asking if I want to interview you. Or ask you for parenting advice. Or hear your tips for having a happy Christmas or Festivus or Valentine’s Day. Trust me, there is no advice I would ever take from you about how to raise my children.

I have told this to her repeatedly and yet, the emails keep on coming. Since January 27 I have received 4 emails from her company about you two. Add these four to the countless emails I have received since you went on this publicity blitz. I finally took matters into my own hands on January 30 and responded:
This must be the 5th? 6th? letter I have written to you about these two jackasses. Please, I do not care about alex and simon. In fact, I think they are two of the biggest aholes on the planet. Please remove me from your distribution or I just might blog about how desperate alex and simon are for publicity that they keep siccing their PR people on me.

On February 11, I opened my email to find yet another email about you. Did I want to interview you about your parenting book? No! No! A thousand times no!

Little Kids, Big City: Tales from a Real House in New York City

Alex and Simon’s book, Little Kids, Big City: Tales from a Real House in New York City is listed at Amazon, available for pre-order. Even so, Amazon notes “this title has not been released”.

Amazon’s product description:

As breakout stars of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City, Alex McCord and Simon van Kempen have inspired, infuriated, and entertained parents everywhere. Their new book continues that trend, with the added bonus of educating families dealing with the daunting task of raising children in an urban environment. Writing with unique and humorous insight into the challenges facing city parents today, Alex and Simon use their own hard-won experience as a springboard to discuss a host of parenting topics, including baby’s first six months, traveling with infants, hiring caregivers, disciplining, dealing with accidents, dining out, making the most of urban life, and scheduling time for non-urban escapes. Their informative and often hair-raising stories of life in the concrete jungle, coupled with parenting and pediatric advice from outside experts, make Little Kids, Big City a must-read for urban parents, as well as for any fan of the show.

Major Movie Star Versus Reality TV Celebrity Spat, Or, Reality Celebrity Can be so Cruel

Alex and Simon made the New York City celebrity news on November 6, 2009, with the following headline from the New York Daily Gatecrasher section: Kevin Spacey’s remark sparks ‘Real Housewives’ spat on Twitter.

Seems Simon and Alex took immediate offense to major movie star Kevin Spacey’s opening remarks at the Stella Artois Short Film Project celebration which Spacey hosted. Spacey thanked the crowd who attended which included John Stamos, Jeff Goldblum and Gina Gershon, then added:

“Clearly, the most remarkable pair we have present are the Real Housewives of New York City,” Spacey jested, referring to Van Kempen’s wife, Alex McCord, and her reality TV cohort Ramona Singer.”

Also in attendance, Simon, who, according to a Daily News spy, was “livid”:

“Alex had to physically hold Simon back from getting in Kevin’s face later on in the evening,” a spy said. “They were completely livid.”

More from the Daily News:

And Van Kempen was still fuming after the bash, tweeting that Spacey’s comments were “derogatory.” Brunetti promptly complained about the after-party altercation, saying he and Spacey were attacked by the “skeletor housewife” for no reason. “Who the “f” let her into the party?” he asked.

Brunetti, is movie producer Dana Brunetti, who, like Simon, tweeted about the altercation on the airplane flight back to LA. Simon tweeted it was Spacey who started the altercation:

“Neither of us made a speech referencing to those in attendance & disdainfully referenced Real Housewives,” he tweeted.”

Last year, Alex’s nude photos and her “reaction” made the celebrity scandal spreadsheet news.

From Celebgalz, dated Jan. 3, 2009:

Alex McCord, a star inside the Real Housewives of New York City, has managed to stay in the gossip news for being nude. McCord, after becoming a mummy, auditioned for Playboy. The cameraman, James Demaria, informed a website that he took McCord’s naked photos as her audition for Playboy.

From The Insider:

If Alex McCord is a Real Housewife of New York City, imagine what a show based on The Real Strippers of New York City would show.

With naked pics of this reality TV star scattered around the Internet, McCord is being forced to explain how such shots ended up online. Not that she seems to care one bit about the attention. Shocking.

On February 24, Alex did an interview with EOnline’s Marc Malkin. In the interview Alex addressed the nude photos and Simon’s sexuality:

One of the hardest things you probably had to deal with last season was the nude photos of you that got out there. It wasn’t fun. But Im one of the million people out there who have them. They exist, so what? But because of the show, someone decided that they wanted to throw them out there. Um, I wasn’t thrilled about that.

And,

There’s a lot of speculation on the show about your husband’s sexuality. How do you deal with that? It doesn’t bother me in the least. I know who he is. And it does make me laugh that when someone is different than they are, people feel the need to put a label on that. It’s pretty silly. I can certainly say that he’s the type of guy that if he actually were gay, he’d be out and loud and proud. But it makes me laugh. It really does.

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