Tinsley Mortimer

**Tinsley Randolph Mortimer** (nee Mercer; born August 11, 1975) is an American television personality and philanthropist. She is best known for starring in the Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of New York City.

## Early Life

Mortimer was born in Richmond, Virginia to parents George Riley Mercer Jr. and Dale Tatum Mercer. She has one younger sister, Dabney Winston Mercer.

She attended St. Catherine's School and later the Lawrenceville School where she was a member of the Kirkby House. She went to the University of North Carolina but later transferred to Colombia University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History. She later obtained her master's degree in Decorative Arts from the Cooper Hewitt design museum.

## Career

Mortimer first worked as a beauty assistant at Vogue and an event planner for Harrison & Shriftman. She had a line of handbags and clothing in Japan for Samantha Thavasa, for which she was featured in an advertising campaign. She also features prominently in Samantha Thavasa USA's online promotional materials and in the company's Madison Avenue store, which also carries her handbags. She subsequently formed her own clothing line, Riccime by Tinsley Mortimer, which was sold exclusively in Japan. In 2008, she became involved in branding and design for a condominium development.

She has served as Christian Dior's beauty ambassador and helped to create a lip gloss named Tinsley Pink. She has appeared in several magazine editorials, including Vogue, WWD, Harper's Bazaar and Marie Claire. In May 2012, she appeared on the cover of Vestal magazine, which also featured an editorial styled by Lo'renzo Hill-White and shot by fashion photographer Kevin Sinclair. She has appeared on the magazine covers of Page Six Magazine, Virginia Living, Avenue, CVLUX, Maniac and New York.

Mortimer made a cameo on the season two premiere episode of Gossip Girl, which aired on September 1, 2008 on The CW. In an interview for Vanity Fair, Gossip Girl's costume designers Eric Daman and Meredith Markworth-Pollack considered New York socialites Tinsley Mortimer and Arden Wohl as a muse when dressing actress Blake Lively and when asked if they were influenced by New York socialites, respectively. Daman and Markwrorth-Pollack said that "if you put Blair and Serena together, you get Tinsley Mortimer. Tinsley's hair is always set and she always looks perfect, but she takes risks." On March 10, 2010, she debuted her own reality television show called High Society, starring Mortimer along with other socialites such as Paul Johnson Calderon and Devorah Rose. The show documented the lives of Mortimer and her friends in New York City, but it was critically panned and cancelled after eight episodes because of low ratings. The failure of the show was credited with causing Mortimer's subsequent "downfall" as a New York socialite.

She wrote a novel titled Southern Charm, which follows Minty Davenport from South Carolina to New York, where she is the victim of rumours. It was published by Simon & Schuster in April 2013. She also wrote a chapter in the book The Park Avenue Diet, which outlines recommendations on improving one's coversaion and social skills, written by Manhattan diet doctor Stuart Fischer. She has been a contributor for Town & Country magazine since 2017.

In 2014, she launched Home Collection manufactured by Pop Culture Living, an e-commerce site featuring curated collections of home accessories. She currently has her own line of housewares products sold at Bed Bath & Beyond and Wayfair. The collection includes dinnerware, decorative glasses, barware and ice buckets. In Jue 2019, she launched a new collaboration of fake eyelashes with the beauty brand Winky Lux titled "XXO Tinsley for Winky Lux." She designed the product packaging herself. In September 2019, she walked the runway for Garo Sparo's fashion show at New York Fashion Week. In October 2019, Mortimer announced that she had partnered up with RuMe to launch a Resort 2020 Collection, which consists of travel, fashion and beauty accessories.

### The Real Housewives of New York City

In 2017, Tinsley joined the cast of the Bravo reality television series for the ninth season. She then appeared in Season 10, 11 and 12 before departing the series.

#### **RHONY Taglines**

* Season 9 - "A good set of lashes can fix anything. Even a mugshot."
* Season 10 - "Come on, why would I cook when I can order room service."
* Season 11 - "Game, set, now I need a match."
* Season 12 - "Life isn't a fairytale but I'm hoping mine is the exception."

## Personal Life

### Marriages and Children

Mortimer has been married once. She married Robert Livingston "Topper" Mortimer after eloping when they were both eighteen. Their parents forced them to annul the marriage but they re-married on May 4, 2002. The couple divorced in 2010.

She was then in a relationship with Alexander "Nico" Fanjul but they too separated.

She was then in a long-time relationship with CEO Scott Kluth. The couple were in an on-and-off long distance relationship between New York and Chicago. They announced their engagement in November 2019 but broke up in March 2021.

### Philanthropy

In July 2020, Mortimer appeared in a pro-adoption billboard "Buy Shoes, Not Dogs" for PETA. The billboard was located in Chicago, Illinois and Mortimer also appeared in a video, where she encouraged people to adopt dogs from shelters. She has adopted her two dogs called Strawberry and Shortcake.

### Legal Issues

In April 2016, she was arrested for trespassing on her former boyfriend Alexander "Nico" Fanjul's property in Palm Beach, Florida. The charges were later dismissed.

## Family

**Husbands and Partners**

* Robert Livingston "Topper" Mortimer (Ex-husband; 2002-2010)
* Alexander "Nico" Fanjul (Ex-boyfriend)
* Scott Kluth (Ex-fiance; 2017-2021)

**Parents**

* George Riley Mercer Jr.
* Dale Tatum Mercer

**Siblings**

* Dabney Winston Mercer