Inside Erika Girardi's Messy Divorce on 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'

There is a lot going on with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Girardi (or Erika Jayne, her pop star stage name). She's ultra glam, supremely rich, and seems to live a pretty idyllic life. However, at the start of Season 11, which premiered May 19, it turned out that Erika's personal life really isn't so fabulous. Or at least, her marriage isn't. Right after filming for Season 11 started, Erika announced that she and her husband, Tom Girardi, were divorcing.

There are a lot of moving parts involved, including embezzlement and cheating, so if you're not totally caught up with what's been happening in regards to Erika's love life, let's dive in.

Erika Girardi is either divorced from ex-husband Tom Girardi, or certainly in the process. After 21 years of marriage, Erika announced that they were splitting up for good. The news hit our laptop and phone screens on November 3 2020, but it's unclear how long the process had been going on (divorces can take years).

Erika told PEOPLE, "After much consideration, I have decided to end my marriage to Tom Girardi. This is not a step taken lightly or easily. I have great love and respect for Tom and for our years and the lives we built together. It is my absolute wish to proceed through this process with respect and with the privacy that both Tom and I deserved. I request others give us that privacy as well."

Then, about a month later, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Erika and Tom were being accused by the Chicago law firm Edelson PC of embezzling money owed to families whose loved ones were killed on the ill-fated Lion Air Flight 610. It crashed in 2018 and there were no survivors. It turns out, Tom represented the victims' families in a major lawsuit against Boeing.

The case against Tom and his law firm states that he embezzled money in order to keep up appearances and "project a public image of obscene wealth at all times, and at whatever the cost." An obtained voicemail from Tom reveals he stated, "We screwed up here a little bit. … We had three different air crashes and they got a little screwed up. I’ll have everything worked out by Thursday. I’m so sorry, this never happened before, anyway, everything will be smoothed over on Thursday.”

Both Tom and Erika are accused of leading "notoriously lavish lifestyles." Erika allegedly spends $40,000 a month on appearances alone, and apparently Tom made daily reservations at the expensive Los Angeles-based steakhouse called Morton's. The lawsuit, no joke, points out that “Erika even performs a song called ‘Exxpen$ive,’ featuring the hook ‘it’s expensive to be me.’” Apparently the couple actually have a lot of debt and possibly may not be able to actually afford their lifestyle.

Then, on December 18, Erika took to Instagram to share with fans that Tom cheated on her. Erika shared the texts from Tom's alleged mistress, and wrote, "This is Justice Tricia A. Bigelow. She was f***ing my husband Tom Girardi and he was paying her Saks bill and paying for her plastic surgery" in the caption. The post has since been deleted. It appears that those texts were sent in 2011.

Fast-forward to now: We already knew Season 11 would uncover details about Erika's divorce, but we weren't sure how much. In the season trailer, Erika says, "I did not see it ending this way. I was going to hold that man’s hand 'til he died."

According to a source, Erika has definitely moved on. "Tom is fully supportive of her move and independence. They haven't been sexual in a long time, and the split had been on the cards for months. Erika has had another rental property in L.A. for some time, but it's more of a club house, so she's been spending her time between the two properties."

There are rumors that Erika Jayne already has a new boyfriend. According to those rumors, Erika's new person is "in the business," "very well known," and "not an actor, musician, or athlete." However, Erika herself hasn't mentioned anyone new in her life, so it's unclear if there is any validity to any of this.

It sounds like things are only going to get spicier from here on out on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

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