Gutsy Joan Kennedy Finally Beats Bottle!

But cheating Ted’s ex-wife has become a shocking recluse

Fueled by decades of boozing and bitterness, Joan Kennedy is living her final days as a tragic recluse — a sad, broken woman shattered by her cheating hubby Ted, who destroyed her life!

The once-beautiful blond socialite hasn’t been seen in public for years and has “basically faded from the scene,” an insider spills.

Sources say she’s still haunted by Ted’s betrayal that drove her to drink and the brink of devastating collapse.

Now squirreled away in the Cape Cod home of a longtime friend, who is trying to keep her from “falling off the wagon,” the 82-year-old has been known to guzzle anything alcoholic, say sources.

“She was drinking mouth wash and vanilla extract because it has alcohol,” tattles the insider. “She’s had a really messed-up life. I’m surprised she hasn’t been put in a nursing home.”