Real Housewives Couples Who Divorced After Their Time On TV

Since 2006, Bravo lovers have been tuning in week after week to watch the lives of rich ladies unfold before their eyes. From welcoming more kids to losing their fortunes and squabbling amongst each other, plenty of drama has ensued over the years. But perhaps the most captivating thing to watch in any franchise is the demise of a marriage that viewers have come to know.

The success of "The Real Housewives" franchises resulted in 11 cities to date, with only one of those cities – Salt Lake City – holding the esteemed distinction of no divoirced housewife (yet!). However, an argument can be made that it's also one of the newer franchises, debuting in 2020, with just three seasons under their belt. For the record, E! News crunched the numbers on the franchise with the most divorces, and "The Real Housewives of Orange County" came out on top with eight.

So why are there so many splits between Bravo stars? Original "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" cast member Kyle Richards told E!'s Daily Pop back in 2017, "I really believe that a lot of people go into doing the 'Housewives' because they're not happy in their marriages. They're thinking, 'This is going to give me some independence, this is going to be my out.' And then the pressure starts, and they crack. It's inevitable." We're checking out some of those "inevitable" marriage endings now.

The most scandalous housewives' split in recent history? That honor goes to Erika Girardi and Tom Girardi from "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." Their messy divorce included lawsuits, money allegedly stolen from orphans and widows, and infidelity. It all started in November 2020 when news broke that Erika had filed for divorce after 22 years of marriage.

Despite their 33 year age difference, the news came as a surprise to "Housewives" fans. The Girardis onscreen relationship had seemingly been close and loving over the years. In the weeks following the split announcement, the news got increasingly complicated. The couple was sued for allegedly using their split to embezzle money, including allegations that his firm mishandled money from settlements for victims of a Lion Air flight settlement.

The once-esteemed attorney not only lost his license to practice law and saw his once prestigious law firm file for bankruptcy after being $101 million in debt, he went from personally being a multi-millionaire to being absolutely broke. The Los Angeles Times reported that Tom testified in court later that year, "At one point I had about 80 million or 50 million in cash. That's all gone. I don't have any money."  In the aftermath, viewers saw fellow Beverly Hills housewives question how closely they should align themselves with Erika, while the reality star also became the target of lawsuits regarding the bankruptcy of her ex's law firm.

It only took one season on reality television for Camille Grammer and Kelsey Grammer's union to crumble. The end of their 13 year marriage played out during the end of Season 1 of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," with Camille filing for divorce in July 2010. 

After Camille's brush with fame on Bravo and Kelsey's celebrity status, their split made plenty of headlines. That was largely in part to Kelsey's quick decision to move on — their divorce was finalized in February 2011, and Kelsey remarried later that month, tying the knot with British flight attendant Kayte Walsh.

For her part, Camille didn't walk away from the marriage empty handed. The reality star received a $30 million settlement. She would later reveal the couple didn't sign a prenuptial agreement on "Andy Cohen's Then and Now" in 2017, stating, "Thank God I didn't have a prenup. Thank you Kelsey. I guess you loved me at one point." And during "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" Season 9 reunion, she defended the hefty settlement amount, sharing, "Well, I was married for 13 years. That's a long time ... I just felt that, you know, working — and I worked hard. I just didn't sit back, buying fancy clothes and shoving bonbons in my face. I mean, I worked hard." 

Viewers watched a 20 year marriage end on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." However, stints in prison by both parties were likely more to blame than their time in front of the cameras. Teresa Giudice and Joe Giudice faced serious legal issues that put them both in prison, Joe's punishments ultimately resulted in deportation back to Italy, effectively putting an end to their union.

The sad news of their split broke to People magazine in December 2019, though a source told the magazine at the time that divorce wasn't yet in the cards. The source said at the time, "They still love one another, but as Teresa told Andy Cohen on the WWHL special, they are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Neither is interested in a long distance relationship."

The couple did, however, eventually legally divorce. It was finalized by September 2020, and discussed on an episode of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" in 2021. On the episode, Teresa raved about their divorce process, telling Joe on a phone call, "I mean, it's so nice to be finalized but I think our divorce is the easiest divorce in the whole entire world." In a confessional on that same episode, Teresa noted she knew things would be amicable, sharing, "I knew Joe would always do the right thing, because he would be thinking about our daughters. If he would hurt me, then they would be upset with him."

We watched the end of Phaedra Parks and Apollo Nida's marriage go down on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" after watching it play out in front of the cameras. The couple wed in 2009, shortly before Parks joined the cast of the Bravo series for Season 3, so viewers watched the beginning of their marriage unfold. 

Nida's legal woes ultimately contributed to the demise of their marriage when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud in May 2014. He was sentenced to eight years in prison that July, and by October, Parks hired an attorney to prepare to divorce Nida. 

Parks later reminsced about the difficult time to DailyMailTV in 2019, revealing she was blindsided by his legal issues, explaining, "I had no idea what he was doing until after the news broke and I read about it in the media." She originally stood by his side after trusting in his innocence, explaining, "When I asked him if he was guilty, he said, 'no, I'm not'. So of course I tried to help him as much as I could because I believed him." Parks stated that after she found out he was untruthful and had shelled out over $100,000 in legal fees to prove his innocence, it was a wrap. "I was done. From the moment I discovered that he had done all this stuff, I was finished with that relationship," she said.

Bravo fans really got to know Bethenny Frankel's future husband, Jason Hoppy, as he appeared on two shows on the network. The couple's relationship began during Season 3 of "The Real Housewives of New York." Their courtship, marriage and the welcoming of their daughter Brynn happened on "Bethenny Ever After," a spinoff that ran from 2010 until 2012 (and was billed as "Bethenny Getting Married?" before the title change). 

Unfortunately, all of those cameras didn't translate to marital bliss. They would go on to have a very messy reality-television-worthy split that took eight years to finalize, beginning in January 2013 after almost three years of marriage. The reality star put out a statement at the time, which read in part: "It brings me great sadness to say that Jason and I are separating. This was an extremely difficult decision that as a woman and a mother, I have to accept as the best choice for our family." 

That September, Frankel would open up on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" about the divorce. When asked if there was any one reason they broke up, Frankel chalked it up to two words: "Fundamental differences."

It took eight more years for a judge to sign off on their divorce, as things got contentious with fights over custody of daughter Brynn and a restraining order granted to Frankel in 2017 over verbal threats complicated matters.

Though "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" viewers watched Cynthia Bailey delay and prepare for a COVID-era wedding to Mike Hill in 2020, all the stress didn't pay off. After two years of marriage, the couple pulled the plug on their romance. In October 2022, both parties took to social media to announce the split via Instagram Stories, writing in part, "LOVE is a beautiful thing. While we both will always have love for one another, we have decided to go our separate ways."

Bailey opened up to Page Six about the reasons for the split, citing their dual-city relationship as the main factor. "Our relationship and our marriage came with a lot of big transitions. I basically moved to a different city, a different house, started a whole new career at 55 years old. So that was all a lot of stress for me," Bailey revealed. "I think there was some incompatibility. We've always been, for the most part, in a long-distance relationship and that's not easy." 

The beauty also told the outlet that her ex Peter Thomas had reached out after news broke of her split. "He said he just wishes me the best. He told me I was a queen and that I deserve the best, so that was really, really nice," Bailey revealed.

Kenya Moore tried to keep her union with Marc Daly pretty quiet. However, seeking privacy while starring on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star didn't help save her marriage. Though their union started out with a romantic elopement in St. Lucia in June 2017 after six months of dating, it would sadly end a little over two years later, and less than one year after they welcomed their first child together, daughter Brooklyn.

Moore released a statement to People to share the news of the dissolution of their marriage. "It is with profound sadness that I regret to inform my fans that I am divorcing my husband Marc Daly," she said. "Due to recent and ongoing circumstances, I can no longer continue in the marriage. My sole concern and focus is and will always be my daughter, Brooklyn, my miracle baby."

The couple would temporarily reunite in 2020, but Moore would eventually file for divorce in May 2021. And like many other housewives, she faced difficulties in the divorce process. A year later, it still wasn't finalized. She jokingly begged Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live," "Get me free! Get me free!"

This one wasn't a huge surprise! Since the beginning of the series, Bravo viewers watched as Adrienne Maloof and Paul Nassif bickered on camera constantly on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." By the end of Season 3, the fighting took its toll. The couple split after ten years of marriage, with Nassif filing for divorce in August 2012. 

At the time, Maloof had recently seemed optimistic about the marriage when speaking to People, sharing, "We're at that point where it's that bump in the road, [but] we're trying to work things out. I always like to keep a positive attitude and hope that we can resolve our differences." Sadly, that wasn't the case. 

The divorce turned into a nasty he-said, she-said nightmare, with Maloof's personal chef taking to social media to post photos of alleged abuse Maloof suffered at the hands of Nassif. Nassif, for his part, made his own claims that Maloof had been physically violent in the past. Fortunately, things wrapped up by November 2012, with both parties reaching a settlement they were pleased with. "We're happy to announce we have reached an agreement on a settlement," their representative said in a statement to TMZ. "We want the best for each other and we're confident we can help each other make a continuing positive impact with our children."

One of the saddest relationships to watch end on Bravo? That honor goes to Yolanda Hadid's four-year marriage to David Foster while Hadid was battling Lyme disease and other health issues. "Sadly, we have decided to go our separate ways. We've shared nine beautiful and joyous years together," the couple told People in 2015. "During that time we experienced love, friendship and the inevitable challenges that come with managing a marriage, careers, blended families, and health issues."

Hadid would later elaborate in 2017 that her Lyme disease diagnosis was the main reason for the split. "All of a sudden all of the things we shared, all of the things we used to love to do together, go for walks in the morning, having a studio in the house and blasting music all day, having dinner parties, that all shut down," she told People. "I couldn't participate in that life anymore." According to The Blast, their divorce became final in October 2017. 

Another "The Real Housewives of Orange County" split? Despite a seemingly picture perfect life and marriage, Alexis Bellino and Jim Bellino eventually divorced five years after she left the show. The news broke in June 2018 with a statement to Us Weekly. "It is with heavy hearts that we inform the public of our mutual decision to end our marriage — but it's important to us that you know we made this choice together," the couple said. "We strongly support each other just as we have since the beginning of our relationship." 

It was Jim who filed for divorce while also requesting spousal support. Jim had previously had money problems that resulted in filing for bankruptcy in 2010. Their divorce was finalized by August 2018, with The Blast reporting that Jim's request for spousal support was denied. He was required to pay $10,000 a month in spousal support in addition to $6,000 a month per child in child support. The couple had three children together. 

While her first onscreen divorce was surprising, eagle-eyed Bravo fans weren't shocked by this next split. Luann de Lesseps second on-camera marriage to Tom D'Agostino was fodder for a lot of Season 8 and Season 9 "The Real Housewives of New York City" drama before their eventual divorce. Are you curious why the split was such a major plot point on the Bravo series? D'Agostino had previously been linked to not one but two of de Lesseps's co-stars — Sonja Morgan and Ramona Singer. Upon news of de Lesseps and D'Agostino's engagement, Singer spoke to the Daily Mail, confirming she'd dated him, but hadn't known about his past with Morgan, sharing. "I had no clue, no clue at all, that he'd gone out with Sonja. Otherwise I never would have dated him," she said.

D'Agostino and de Lesseps's marriage only lasted seven months. She announced their split on Twitter in August 2017, writing, "It's with great sadness that Tom & I agreed to divorce. We care for each other very much, hope you respect our privacy during this sad time!" The reality star would later open up to People magazine about the split, revealing, "This has been one of the toughest times of my life — that, and getting divorced the first time. I have a sense of failure, and I hate to fail. I wake up at night, and my bed feels empty now that he's gone."

Though many of these "Housewives" splits weren't total shockers, the end of Ramona Singer and Mario Singer's marriage on "The Real Housewives of New York" came as a surprise. The couple ended their 22-year marriage after putting it on display for six seasons after Ramona allegedly caught her husband cheating. 

A source told People magazine in January 2014, "She saw him [at the couple's Hamptons home] with the girlfriend and made a big scene and called the police." Ramona put out a statement of her own to People at the time, which read in part, "This is a personal and private matter for our family. For my daughter Avery's sake, I would appreciate everyone respecting our privacy during this difficult time." She would go on to file for divorce that same month. 

Though the couple temporarily reconciled, Mario continued to see his mistress, and Ramona resumed divorce proceedings that August. That month, she told People magazine she kicked him out of their family home the previous month after he was seen with another woman. She told the outlet, "I tried to make my marriage work because I have strong values and I believe that people make mistakes. But you reach a point where you realize the other person isn't putting in as much effort as you are. And I reached my breaking point." Their divorce was eventually finalized in September 2016.