Real Housewives of Potomac star Ashley Darby has announced her split from husband Michael, nearly eight years after they got married.
The 33-year-old confirmed their separation in a lengthy statement, insisting that they will always have ‘love and respect for each other’.
In the message, the RHOP veteran – who shares two children with the 62-year-old businessman – explained that many things impacted their relationship, but there is not ‘one reason’ which caused the end of their relationship.
‘Almost eight years ago, when Michael and I said “I do,” we anticipated sharing every single day together from that moment forward. Unfortunately, that is not our current reality. We have decided to separate,’ she began.
‘We are aware that there will be many speculative views as to why we have made this decision. People will be quick to assume that the causes were too much intrusion by reality TV into the most personal parts of our lives, age gap issues, cultural problems, or child-rearing differences.
‘Pieces of all these may have affected our pure love for each other, but no one reason is the root cause of our mutual decision to go our separate ways.
‘We are now both at very different stages in our lives and have different goals for our futures. We both want the other to achieve true happiness and fulfillment and feel that we cannot do this together.’
Ashley continued her statement, shared with : ‘While our romantic bond is broken, we will always love and respect each other. We also know that true happiness can only be achieved by continuing to work together and putting our hearts and souls into raising our two beautiful boys, Dean and Dylan.
‘They will always feel loved and supported, for they were truly created out of love.
‘As this is a personal matter for us, we appreciate everyone who has been a part of our journey and ask for your continued support by respecting us as we go through this emotional situation.’
It is not clear whether their break-up will play out on screens in the upcoming series of RHOP, which is currently filming.
Ashley met Michael 11 years ago – when she was 22 – while bartending, and revealed it was ‘love at first sight’ between them.
She began working as a marketing intern at his company before asking him out after a few months – with the pair announcing their engagement less than a year later.
They tied the knot in 2014 and welcomed their first child together, son Dean, in 2019.
Last year, the former couple added to their family once again, introducing son Dylan to the world in March.
Ashley has been on Real Housewives of Potomac since the very first season, alongside pals Gizelle Bryant, Karen Huger and Robyn Dixon, and has given viewers a front-row seat into her marriage with Michael.
The pair haven’t shied away from letting the cameras into their ups and downs, including claims that the restaurateur was unfaithful, and allegations that he groped a cameraman while filming the Bravo series in season four – something he has fiercely denied.
He was charged in connection with felony assault and misdemeanor improper sexual conduct, but the charges were later dropped as result of a lack of evidence.
Speaking to Fox 5 DC about the allegations, the star added that he was ‘completely cleared’ following an investigation by authorities.
Real Housewives of Potomac airs on Bravo and is available to stream on hayu now.
