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Real Housewives of Potomac (RHOP) star Ashley Darby has separated from her husband of 8 years, Michael Darby. The 33-year-old announced their split on Instagram stating that "it has been almost 8 magical years," and told Bravo Dish that they shall always love and respect each other despite going their separate ways.
Amidst this news, a Twitter clip showing Ashley and Michael discussing signing a pre-nup has gone viral.
An insider who attended Karen Huger's RHOP: Karen’s Grande Dame Reunion premiere party on Saturday, April 16, 2022, told US Weekly:
“Ashley was going around saying that her marriage is ending, and she’s about to be on the dating market."
Ashley and Michael tied the knot two years before RHOP premiered on Bravo. The pair's relationship quickly became a topic of conversation after Michael allegedly grabbed the rear end of Katie Rost's then fiance, Andrew Martin, at a party.
He was also accused of groping a cameraperson while working on the reality series. The contractor was then suspended from filming and charged with second-degree felony sexual assault and improper sexual contact.
RHOP star Ashley Darby and Michael's pre-nup video goes viral amidst separation announcement
RHOP star Ashley opened up to Bravo Dish about her separation from Michael and said:
“We have decided to separate. We are aware that there will be many speculative views as to why we have made this decision. 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 continued to claim that none of these reasons were the the root cause of their decision to go their separate ways. She said:
“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.”
Soon after the announcement, a viral video on Twitter shook things up. In the video, Ashley and Michael are seen signing a prenup, and as per this prenuptial agreement, if the marriage ends in divorce after five years, Ashley would be entitled to inherit half of Michael's wealth.
This clause was supposed to come in after they had spent three years together. 2022 marks the end of the clause, which means Ashley's net worth will see a big jump after their divorce is finalized.
The star welcomed sons Dean in July 2019 and Dylan last March with the real estate developer and talked about raising their sons together. She said:
"We also know that true happiness can only be achieved by continuing to work together and putting our hearts and souls into raising our two beautiful boys, Dean and Dylan. They will always feel loved and supported, for they were truly created out of love."
She concluded by saying:
"As this is a personal matter for us, we appreciate everyone who has been a part of our journey and ask for your continued support by respecting us as we go through this emotional situation."
The pair have had a rocky marriage, with the star often getting accused of getting with Michael mainly for his money. They were first introduced to fans back in Season 1 of Bravo's RHOP. Viewers have since then seen their relationship evolve, and while it does come as a shock to most people, some feel they saw it coming considering the completion of the prenuptial agreement.
