Porsha Williams and Simon Guobadia‘s divorce has been finalized, with the Real Housewives Of Atlanta star taking her to story to People, where she recreated an iconic Angela Bassett scene from Waiting To Exhale.
Williams spoke to the mag about her “nightmare” of a divorce and how much she can now relate to the “message of rage and resilience” found within the scene, where Bernadine, played by Bassett, piles her soon-to-be ex-husbands suits into his car and sets it ablaze in reaction to his deceit and betrayal.
“I didn’t expect today to be emotional,” Williams, 44, said on-set. “But the moment I sat down at that vanity and started brushing my hair, just like Angela in the movie . . . it hit me: I’ve prettied up the ugly in my life too, when it wasn’t so pretty. And I’m done doing that.”
Williams and Guobadia’s divorce was finalized on June 11 in Georgia. Guobadia appeared in court via Zoom, as he was deported to Nigeria from the U.S. for bank and credit card fraud.
“You go through different stages,” the reality star shared. “You have that anger. You have the moment where you have to fight for your life in a court situation. And then, toward the end, you have the clarity where you realize you are still blessed. Your family is by our side, your child is protected; there’s a whole new life that you can start.”
Williams went on to saying being a “hopeless romantic” led her and Simon to connect so quickly, as they announced their engagement just one month after confirming their relationship. “And Simon matched my energy,” she added. “He’s very warm. He loved spending time with me. We were freakin’ extra. If we wanted to fly out of the country every weekend or post on Instagram together about how much we loved each other, he was down.”
However, “complex” issues with his legal status soon led to problems the mother of one couldn’t ignore. She claims she knew things were “headed down a dark road,” and hired an immigration attorney in January 2024.
ATLANTA, GA – JUNE 22: Simon Guobadia and Porsha Williams attend Porsha Williams Private Birthday Celebration on June 22, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.(Prince Williams/Wireimage)
“We had a real serious conversation because, being a supportive wife, I wanted to deal with this head-on,” said Williams. “I got it spelled out completely by an attorney who had been in immigration for 30 years. And my conclusion was: ‘I don’t want you to travel.’ I begged for him not to leave the country. That was not honored.”
Williams calls the “point of no return” a confrontation between the two of them on Valentine’s Day.
“There was some paperwork that needed to be handled, and I wanted to bring in some attorneys to represent me, and that was frowned upon,” she revealed. “And it wasn’t really what he said, it was a look—a look that just felt dark. I just knew I was not looking at the same person I loved before. I could tell that he was just pretty much checked out of the relationship at that point.” She filed for divorce eight days later.
Check out the full People story here and revisit the original Waiting To Exhale scene below.
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