Real Housewives of Potomac’s Ashley Darby is ending the year with closure. The reality TV star filed for divorce from her husband, Michael Darby, two years after announcing they were separated.
The Australian businessman, 65, told TMZ that he and Ashley, 36, had “an amicable and fair settlement” with the help of a prenup. The soon-to-be-divorced couple also agreed to split custody of their two boys, Dean, 5, and Dylan, 3.
Regarding the kids, in November 2023, Ashley told US Weekly she was ‘parallel parenting’ with her ex. The RHOP star learned this terminology from TikTok, which refers to minimal engagement between parents in a co-parenting relationship.
“We’re just really only communicating for the children, which I think is the best until we get to a better place personally,” she explained.
In April 2022, Ashley broke the news that she was separating from her husband of almost eight years.
“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 wrote in a statement to Bravo’s “The Daily Dish” around the time of their separation.
“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,” she added.
Ashley also explained that they were at “very different stages” in life and had “very different goals.”
“We both want the other to achieve true happiness and fulfillment and feel that we cannot do this together,” she explained.
That said, Ashley has publicly dated someone since getting separated–post separation in 2022, she was linked to “Summer House” star Luke Gulbranson. The romance didn’t last long as the reality TV star told Page Six at a “Virtual Reali-Tea” live taping in September 2023 that they grew apart.
Earlier in November, opened up to Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” about how she was navigating the divorce.
“It’s hard out here, OK? I wish that I could put a time stamp on it that everyone wants me to in relation to this divorce. It is so emotional for me. It’s a point of grieving,” she said.
“I even went through a little bit of a depression of, like, thinking about where my life is now versus where I thought it was going to be and coming to terms with that.”