New York’s newest “Real Housewife” is denying blockbuster charges that she beat up her boyfriend, but the bruised beau said it happened – and it wasn’t the first time. Kelly Killoren Bensimon, 40, was arrested last week for misdemeanor assault after 30-year-old Nicholas Stefanov called cops, saying she punched him.Bensimon, who appears on Bravo’s hit reality show “The Real Housewives of New York City,” hit him “with a closed fist, thereby causing informant to suffer a laceration below informant’s left eye and substantial pain,” the criminal complaint he filed with police charges.

The model/editor/reality TV star – who is actually divorced – turned herself in Thursday, two days after the incident. She was released on her own recognizance. “The allegations are by a jilted lover saying she struck him during the course of an argument,” said her lawyer Stephen Turano. “We deny the charges and we are hopeful this will be resolved.”

In an exclusive interview, Stefanov said he still loves Bensimon, but blamed stress from their recent engagement and the pressure of being on the show for causing her to snap. “She is a great girl,” he said. “I do want to work it out. But what are you supposed to do when a girl is hitting you, just sit there like a punching bag?

“If I had hit her, I’d be sitting in a jail cell right now,” he said, adding that it was not the first time he’s been socked by Bensimon.

Stefanov said he called cops because he wanted the incident on the record, but that he doesn’t want to press charges. It’s out of his hands now, however, as cops are obligated to charge Bensimon and even filed a restraining order against her on his behalf. Stefanov said the couple was fighting over the “usual stuff that couples fight about.” Stefanov said Bensimon “sucker-punched” him during the fight, but noted that at least she “had the courtesy to take her [engagement] ring off first.” She also returned it to him that night, he said.

Turano took issue with Stefanov’s account. “They are most certainly not engaged and his allegations of past abuse are false,” the lawyer said. Fellow “Housewives” co-star Bethenny Frankel stood by Bensimon: “I cannot imagine this being true, but all I can say is love shouldn’t hurt.”

Bensimon was married to famed fashion photographer Giles Bensimon until they split in 2006. They have two daughters. In recent years, Bensimon and Stefanov have been staples of the society pages, photographed together at swanky celebrity parties. Bensimon is due back in court March 31. Turano said he doesn’t think the charges will stick.

A Bravo rep declined to comment, saying, “We don’t comment on the personal lives of our talent.” Outside her posh SoHo home, Bensimon refused to comment Monday night as two doormen shielded her with an umbrella and tried to shoo a reporter away.