Alex McCord

Alex McCord is a television personality, author and psychologist best known for starring on the first four seasons of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City. McCord was born in Washington, D.C., but raised in Kansas, Texas and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She attended Northwestern University before moving to New York City in 1996. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in psychology after relocating to Australia with her family, eventually earning a PhD in clinical psychology in 2026.

Before joining The Real Housewives of New York City in 2008, McCord worked as a graphic designer and in visual merchandising, including for Victoria’s Secret. She also had acting and voice-over credits, appearing in projects including One Life to Live and Uptown Girls (2003). Her four-season run on RHONY made her a familiar face among Bravo viewers, while her relationship with her husband, Simon van Kempen, and their Brooklyn lifestyle became central to her story line. She later appeared on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in 2023, but the season has yet to air.

McCord and van Kempen coauthored the 2010 book Little Kids, Big City: Tales from a Real House in New York City. The couple married in May 2000 and share two sons, Francois (born in 2003) and Johan (born in 2005). They moved from Brooklyn to Australia in 2014.