Yahoo Finance RHOP 's Ashley Darby's Troubles with Ex Were 'Piling Up' Before a 'Pivotal Moment' Triggered Their Split
Ashley Darby is preparing to relive her separation in the new season of Real Housewives of Potomac.
Nearly six months after she announced her split from husband Michael Darby, Ashley has opened up about their breakup and how it will play out on the reality show.
"Michael and I have decided to separate, and it's a really difficult decision, but ultimately I think it is the best decision for us, because I just really am a different person than I was when he met me," she told Entertainment Tonight.
"It has just sort of been a long time coming," she admitted, "it's just been piling up."
The reality star also noted there was a "pivotal moment that made it come to fruition" in the midst of the couple's ongoing struggle with with "different expectations for the relationship."
RELATED VIDEO: RHOP's Ashley Darby Announces Separation from Husband Michael: 'No One Is the Root Cause'
As for what this means for the upcoming season, she revealed Michael will not be making an appearance.
"Michael has decided that he doesn't wanna be a part of [the show] anymore, and I respect that," she told the outlet. "It was a really difficult thing where he didn't have any privacy for a while there."
She added that, according to Michael: "I'm 62 years old, and I just wanna have my life back."
RELATED: 'Trust Issues' and 'Inconsistencies' Led to RHOP Stars Ashley and Michael Darby's Split: Source
Brian Stukes/Getty Images Michael and Ashley Darby
Ashley wed Michael in 2014. They are parents to sons Dean, 3, and Dylan, 1.
The Bravolebrity announced the separation in April after eight years of marriage. At the time, she indicated that the former couple "will always love and respect each other" despite calling it quits.
"We have decided to separate. We are aware that there will be many speculative views as to why we have made this decision," she said in a statement shared with Bravo's Daily Dish. "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. 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 continued, "We are now both at very different stages in our lives and have different goals for our futures. We both want the other to achieve true happiness and fulfillment and feel that we cannot do this together."
RELATED: RHOP's Ashley Darby Says She's Taking Dating 'Slow' amid 'Conflicting Emotions' About Her Divorce
Bravo
The show's upcoming seventh season will show Ashley telling her costars of their separation. "When I told the ladies it was very fresh so this season really does go through the ins and outs and the very conflicting emotions that I had about the separation," she said, "it's really rocky."
"I wish I could say it's all peachy keen and I'm just that b---, you know?" she continued. "But I'm not. It's made me question a lot about my confidence, about how my life is gonna look, who I am, my identity... so it's been a major shift altogether and, yeah, it's gonna be out there for the world to see."
But for some good news, Ashley also shared an update on how she's doing. "I'm feeling so much more inspired to just engage more," she said. "I'm starting to do more yoga sessions. I'm starting to do more public speaking. I'm more active and involved in my passion, which is communicating and meeting people."
Ashley Darby/Instagram
With that said, she's cognizant of the time away from her two kids. "The hard part of that is, it is pulling me away from my children," she said. "When I first had kids, I thought I was just gonna be a stay-at-home mom, like, be in the kitchen cooking and cleaning and doing homework and arts and crafts all the time. That's what I thought I wanted. So now that the landscape is different, it's a little bit of a dichotomy for me. It's not really who I thought I would be as a mom."
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Season 7 of The Real Housewives of Potomac premieres Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
