'Real Housewives of Orange County' star Braunwyn Windham-Burke comes out as gay

Braunwyn Windham-Burke is opening up about her sexuality. The Real Housewives of Orange County star gave a candid interview with GLAAD where she came out as a lesbian.

"I like women. I'm gay," she said. "I'm a member of the LGBTQ+ community. It has taken me 42 years to say that but I am so proud of where I am right now. I'm so happy where I am. To be able to be comfortable in my own skin after so long is just so nice."

Braunwyn added, "I'm just now starting to feel like I'm becoming the woman I'm supposed to be. I've always known it, but it took me, personally, 42 years to be comfortable in my own skin to say that."

As for her husband of 20 years, Sean Burke, Braunwyn says they have no plans to divorce. The two share seven children together, Hazel, 2, Koa, 4, twins Caden and Curran, 7, Jacob, 15, Rowan, 18, and Bella, 20, and while they did briefly live apart this year, they have since moved back in together.

"I love Sean. I love him dearly, he is my person, he is my family," Braunwyn shared. "But I'm not attracted to men and I never have been."

Further explaining their reason for not splitting up, she noted, "We are in unchartered territories. Sean and I are still married, I plan on staying married. We are not sleeping in the same bedroom right now, but we are in the same house. We are raising our kids together, he's my best friend. He knows the girl I'm dating."

Braunwyn said she started to come to terms with her sexuality after she kissed her RHOC co-star, Tamra Judge.

"I had a scene with Tamra that everyone kind of talked about," she recalled. "When we were getting ready for the reunion I was talking to a producer that I trust a lot, his name was James, and he said, 'How do you feel about this? Was it a drunken mistake or is this a part of who you are?' And I said, 'This is who I am.'"

Braunwyn continued, "When I went to the reunion last year I kind of started baby-stepping into, 'This is who I am. I like women.' I was testing the waters with my friends, my cast, my family."

After getting sober and discovering more about herself, Braunwyn is now dating someone.

"I met someone that I was interested in pursuing a relationship with," she said. "It became something that I didn't want to hide anymore and I didn't want to keep secret anymore."

The reality star even says her girlfriend spends time with her husband and kids. "It's only as weird as you make it," she said, noting that her children weren't "shocked at all" when she came out to them. "I don't know how we are making it all work right now, but we are."

Braunwyn just recently spoke to ET about her marriage. Check out our exclusive interview with the Housewife.