Mention it all! The Real Housewives of multiple cities had an action-packed 2022, filled with divorces, legal trouble and general drama.
The year kicked off with the continued saga of Erika Jayne‘s split from Tom Girardi, from whom she filed for divorce in November 2020. One month later, the estranged couple were named in a fraud lawsuit that accused them of embezzling $2 million in settlement funds earmarked for families of plane crash victims — and that was just the beginning of their legal woes.
The Pretty Mess author has not been accused of any crimes, but she’s been open about how much her ex’s alleged misdeeds have personally affected her. “This has been the darkest part of my life,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star told E!’s Daily Pop in February. “Just the most desperate, most afraid I’ve ever been in my life. Most unsure, most volatile.”
Two months later, another Housewife confirmed the end of her own relationship. In April, Real Housewives of Potomac star Ashley Darby revealed that she and husband Michael Darby had called it quits after eight years of marriage.
“We have decided to separate. We are aware that there will be many speculative views as to why we have made this decision,” she told Bravo’s Daily Dish in a statement at the time. “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.”
While her year started with heartbreak, the ZenGem by Ashley founder hinted she was ready to date again by October, when BravoCon 2022 hit New York City. After Ashley confessed that she was “attracted” to Summer House star Luke Gulbranson, the duo exchanged phone numbers at the fan convention — and seemingly confirmed their romance two months later.
In December, Ashley shared a photo of herself snuggled up to the Winter House alum in cold weather gear. “The definition of a winter wonderland I didn’t know I missed snow so much! Thank you for showing me the beauty of Minnesota! @lukegulbranson,” she wrote via Instagram.
Her fellow Housewives couldn’t help but ask questions in the comments section, with her RHOP costar Robyn Dixon commenting, “Ok so is this your boyfriend?” Cynthia Bailey, for her part, gushed: “Y’all are so dang cute!.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at the biggest Real Housewives moments of the year: