The Real Housewives of Potomac’s Ashley Darby may be loving her new life as a single mom, but with her divorce mediation just around the corner, she still has some feelings about the end of her marriage.
Ashley broke down in tears in Season 9, Episode 8 of RHOP when talking with her family about moving forward with her divorce, just days before a planned mediation with ex Michael Darby.
“Last year, I wasn’t ready to do this,” she admitted. “You know, there’s just so much finality in this, like the end of that time, you know? To see like that’s our last time that I may see him as we’re married.”
Although Ashley has been vocal this season about her desire to take the next “big step” toward finalizing her divorce and starting a new chapter of her life, she admitted making the move was harder than she thought it would be.
After confessing to the mixed emotions, Ashley’s Uncle Lump — who was on hand at her Arlington, Virginia home to celebrate her 36th birthday — reassured her that she was doing the right thing.
“Well, I think it’s a good thing,” he told the GnA cofounder. “You have kids together, you’ll see him often. He’s gonna remind you of this good decision you made.”
What is the status of Ashley Darby’s marriage?
Ashley and Michael first tied the knot in 2014, but announced their decision to separate more than two and a half years ago. She officially filed for divorce in November 2024.
Ashley, who shares sons Dylan and Dean with her ex, explained on RHOP that part of the reason she’s been dragging her feet is that she didn’t want to go through the messy divorce process.
“I was really apprehensive to go through with my divorce process because I knew the man I married. If you ever backed that man into a corner, he comes back stronger and heavier and I just didn’t fully feel prepared to undergo such a tumultuous fight,” she confessed to producers.
Ultimately the “unpredictable nature and volatility” of her relationship with Michael, propelled her to take the next step and proceed with mediation, but with the legal meeting now just days away Ashley was admittedly feeling on edge.
“When you go through mediation, part of what you have to do is lay it out on the table,” she told her family. “So you know to have to, like, get into the nitty gritty and talk about some of the things like infidelity and things like that is just going to be really challenging.”
Although rumors of Michael’s alleged infidelity have followed the couple for years, Uncle Lump asked her whether she had any “legit proof of infidelity.”
“Uh, it’s on the internet,” Ashley replied.
“That’s legit proof,” he told her.
Ashley’s Aunt Monica also weighed in, offering her own explanation for why the marriage didn’t last.
As she saw it, Ashley was just “a child” when she met Michael — a man nearly three decades her senior — but as Ashley grew into herself over the years, the marriage couldn’t survive.
To find out more about how the mediation process goes, watch The Real Housewives of Potomac Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo or available streaming the next day on Peacock.
