Taylor Armstrong has revealed she is in the process of "reinventing" her life.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star saw her world crumble when her estranged husband Russell Armstrong committed suicide in August last year.

But now the mother-of-one says she is rebuilding her life and is using Madonna as a role model.

"I hate to bare my age," Taylor told RadarOnline. "But my first idol was Madonna and the fact that this woman has been able to reinvent herself over and over and somehow still has the hottest arms on the planet is unbelievable to me."

"She was an icon to me growing up and now I'm in this stage of reinventing my own life, she's an inspiration."

Taylor was in decidedly better spirits on Sunday night at the Weinstein party in Hollywood compared to her appearance last Thursday where she was seen sobbing in the arms of a friend.

Sources told the site that the reality star is drinking heavily at the moment in her bid to cope with her grief and is nervous about tonight's episode of her show where she speaks openly about the abuse she endured at the hands of her late husband.

"Every time I've been around her lately she drinks excessively," the source revealed. "We're all worried about how badly she seems to be doing."

Taylor's memoir Hiding from Reality: My Story of Love, Loss and Finding the Courage Within will be released next month.