Ashley Darby Announces Divorce From Michael Darby After Almost Eight Years of Marriage

On Tuesday, April 19, 2022, Ashley Darby revealed that she and her husband of seven years, Michael Darby, are heading for divorce. The star of The Real Housewives of Potomac shared details about the breakup via an exclusive statement shared with Bravo.

As she explained, she and Michael decided to part ways because they are at "very different stages in [their] lives and have different goals for [their] futures." Here's what you should know about the latest RHOP divorce.

Ashley Darby and Michael married on May 15, 2014, after around two years of dating. As RHOP fans are bound to recall, the close to eight-year-long marriage marked Michael's second. Michael divorced his first wife in 2010 after 20 years of marriage, and Michael shares two kids with the mystery woman.

During the early stages of their relationship, Ashley and Michael would frequently embark on romantic dates, posting swoon-worthy snaps on Instagram.

However, like most couples, the duo came upon various obstacles during their time together. In the summer of 2021, Michael became the target of cheating allegations after a photograph of him and an anonymous woman taken at a nightclub started making the rounds on the internet. In May 2020, a video of Michael and another woman went viral, attracting widespread scrutiny. Raw footage of Michael's face following an incident involving a cameraman working on the show became the topic of heated discussions in 2019.

"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," Ashley shared with Bravo via an exclusive statement on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. "We have decided to separate. 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," she added. "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," she explained. "We both want the other to achieve true happiness and fulfillment and feel that we cannot do this together."

As Ashley pledged, they will continue to prioritize the interests of their kids, two-year-old Dean and one-year-old Dylan. Michael didn't immediately share a statement clarifying his side of the story with the outlet.

RHOP fans are psyched to hear that Ashley is about to embark on a new chapter.

"I really hope the Darbys divorce. I want to see Ashley out of that bachelor pad! Michael brought a negative, dark energy to the show. I’ll be able to enjoy RHOP better with a single Ashley and not seeing that decrepit old man," tweeted @KashPetty.

"Ashley Darby is snatching five more seasons after this divorce," tweeted @heyyitsjared.