‘RHOA’ Divorce Details: Phaedra Parks Defends Skipping Apollo Nida’s Sentencing — ‘The Marriage Was Over!’
Nov. 10 2014, Published 8:02 p.m. ET
As Phaedra Parks continues to wrap up her divorce from incarcerated Apollo Nida, the Real Housewives of Atlanta star is insisting she was a devoted wife to the end. Despite the fact that she skipped his fraud sentencing earlier this year, and distanced herself from her husband as soon as his legal issues became public, the reality star says their marriage issues went much deeper — and RadarOnline.com has all the details!
As RadarOnline.com reported, Nida was first implicated in a massive fraud scheme in January, after which he and Parks were rarely photographed together.
In her new Bravo blog, she explained the distance as the result of her busy schedule. "I received my mortuary science degree this summer after attending school full-time for two years,” she wrote. I have also been on a national book tour to promote the paperback release of Secrets of the Southern Belle, which has given me the opportunity to meet supporters across the country whose love and support has been much appreciated. And of course I’ve been spending lots of time with Ayden and Dylan; being a mother is always my first priority and a true labor of love.”
As for Nida’s legal issues, she wrote, "Words cannot express the turmoil this situation has caused our family, and I can’t even begin to articulate how hard it has been. When you face a situation like this, you can choose to either break down or stay strong; I chose to stay strong because I have two young children that need a parent to give them stability and keep the ship sailing.”
"I’ve been criticized for not being at Apollo’s hearing, but the truth is I had been there for him in so many ways for such a long time,” she continued. "By the time all of this went down, it was apparent the marriage was over and my focus needed to be exclusively on the wellbeing of our children. I don’t think there’s a parent out there who wouldn’t agree.”
She’s since filed for divorce, and Parks said the experience has taught her who her true allies are among her fellow housewives.
“NeNe and Porsha have been extremely supportive of me and very attentive throughout this entire ordeal, and for that I am extremely grateful,” she revealed. "Unfortunately, some of the others decided to use my personal crisis as an opportunity to further their own interests and talk to the media to get press for themselves. The lack of compassion was, at times, shocking.”
But she insisted, “I have been on such an emotional rollercoaster that there really isn’t anything that would have surprised me. After a while you reach a point where you are so numb that nothing fazes you anymore. And again, by that point my attention was exclusively on the children’s needs and doing everything I could to minimize the impact of this on their lives. My children's health and happiness will always be center stage."