Alex McCord and Simon van Kempen's Son Turned 21 in the Wildest Way
See how the RHONY alum's oldest child, Francois, celebrated the milestone birthday.
Alex McCord’s eldest son is all grown up.
On Saturday, October 26, The Real Housewives of New York City alum took fans inside Francois van Kempen’s 21st birthday celebration. And, let’s just say, it was a far cry from the traditional cake-and-ice cream party.
Francois goes bungee jumping for his milestone birthday
Alex — who shares Francois with her longtime husband, Simon van Kempen — posted an Instagram Story of her firstborn literally diving into the milestone birthday.
“Celebrating [Francoi’s] 21st with a New Zealand bungee jump,” Alex captioned the video, which showed Francois bungee jumping off the Auckland Bridge.
The former Housewife tagged AJ Hackett Bungy, an international bungee-jumping company founded 30-plus years ago.
Alex explains why she and her family relocated from NYC to Australia
Bravo fans were introduced to Francois and his little brother, Johan, in 2008 when Alex appeared on the inaugural season of RHONY. Roughly three years after Alex exited the series (2014), she and her family relocated to Simon’s home country of Australia, where they remain to this day.
Alex spoke about the move in a 2014 interview with The Daily Dish, saying she and her husband simply wanted to be closer to his relatives.
“We’ve made the decision to move to Australia to be with family,” she explained. “Over the last few years, all of Simon’s family have reconvened from as far as Europe to all live within 20 minutes of each other on a collection of beautiful beaches on the north coast of New South Wales. We are the last of the family to move back, and it’s time.
She continued: “Our children have never had the opportunity to live within walking distance of grandparents and cousins, and with our two boys aged 8 and 10 it’s the perfect time for the extended family to enjoy each other. We both love New York City, and Brooklyn specifically, almost as much as each other; however, we’ve been there, done that and written the book—literally—on raising Little Kids in the Big City. It’s now time for a new adventure.”
Alex and Simon make major career shifts
Since moving Down Under, Alex and Simon have made major career changes. Simon, who previously worked in the luxury hotel industry, is now a solicitor at his family’s law firm. Alex also went back to school to receive her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology. According to her Instagram bio, she is now pursuing her PhD.
“Back when I was 18 and going to Northwestern [University], I sort of was up at night figuring, ‘Am I gonna do theater or am I gonna do science?’” she recalled during a 2017 interview with The Daily Dish. “And at the time, I decided on theater, was an actor for 10 years, quit, did the Housewives. I’ve done all that. Now it’s time for science. I won’t age out of it. I don’t need boobs or Botox for it. I’m fascinated by the way the brain works.”
