Ashley Darby has filed for divorce from Michael Darby — over two years after they separated. Michael then shared his response. Shortly before the news broke, Ashley teased that she recently took a “big step,” and she addressed having “depression” after the breakup.
Credit: Shutterstock/Michael Mattes
In April 2022, the Real Housewives of Potomac star confirmed that she and Michael were separating after nearly eight years of marriage, as they were in “very different stages in our lives.” Since then, her castmates have questioned why Ashley never pulled the trigger on the divorce filing, despite her claims that she would.
According to court records via TMZ, Ashley filed for divorce.
Michael told the outlet that they’ve already reached “an amicable and fair settlement,” noting they had a prenuptial agreement. According to him, Ashley’s attorneys filed the agreed settlement on Wednesday with the court. This included their choice to share custody of their two sons.
Around the same time, Ashley opened up about the “depression” she’s had since the separation.
“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,” said Ashley on Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast. “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.”
“As much as I wanted to just be a bad bitch and be like, ‘Yeah!’ — in actuality, it was still really hurting me,” she explained of the breakup’s aftermath.
Ashley shared that she just took a “very big step” in the divorce, which put her “in a much better place.”
“I will say that now, I’m in a much better place. I did something very big actually this [month],” the star revealed. “I can’t quite share with you yet, but it was a very big step that I took this week. I shed a tear or two, but I’m feeling good otherwise.”
When she needed to feel better, Ashley turned to friends and therapy.
“I really relied on my therapist, my friends,” said the mom of two. “My friend Cory, for example, he has this sixth sense and knows when I’m in a down-in-the-dumps place … He calls me, takes me out, makes me get dressed up and look pretty and flirt with some boys. And that always makes me feel better.”
