Porsha Williams is opening up about her marriage to Simon Guobadia and setting the record straight on the misconceptions surrounding their relationship.
In a new interview for PEOPLE, the Real Housewives of Atlanta star spoke candidly about her ex-husband and the theories fans have about why they were together in the first place.
“People really thought it was fake!” Williams shared, referring to what she calls the “biggest misconception” about their marriage.
“They thought I was just in it for the money, and none of our love was really real.” The 44-year-old reality star understands why some might think that, given how glamorous their life together looked on social media.
Their whirlwind romance, filled with trips on private jets and two extravagant weddings — one in Nigeria and one in Atlanta — painted a picture of perfection. But behind the Instagram posts, things weren’t as simple as they seemed.
Williams, who had just rejoined Real Housewives of Atlanta after a three-year break, was preparing to let fans into her life with Guobadia when things took a turn.
Before the cameras could capture their dynamic, she filed for divorce. “Look, you’re not going to really get to know us from Instagram,” Williams said.
“And I know the fans, they were excited to see Porsha Guobadia on Housewives. Okay, listen — I was too. You think I wasn’t excited about bringing Porsha Guobadia and Simon Guobadia from Instagram to Real Housewives? Of course! We were going to have so much fun, and we were preparing for it together and all that! But life happened.”
Despite the public’s assumptions, Williams insists that love — not money — was at the heart of their relationship.
“The people who thought I just got with him because he had money, maybe those people are new to Housewives or don’t have Google or haven’t looked up anything I’ve ever done, because I’ve always been a businesswoman,” she said.
“Now, was it great that Simon took me and put me on that jet? Yes, honey! Was our lifestyle beautiful? You bet it was. It was great. But that’s not the reason I was with Simon. I make my own coins.”
Williams, who runs several successful businesses like Go Naked Hair, Pampered by Porsha, and her YouTube channel Porsha4Real, shared that despite the end of the marriage, the emotional toll has been real.
“We really loved each other,” she said. “And it’s sad. The hardest part is that we are in this place and that we are not friends and we don’t speak. And I don’t know if we’ll ever hold space again together. I really hate that.”
Speaking through tears, Williams reflected on what it feels like to lose that connection.
“Just imagine a person on this earth who you connected with, who you laid in a bed with, who you lived with, who you confided in, who confided in you. You were their world, they were yours. And now, that’s completely over and you’re supposed to live like it never even happened? It’s hard.”
She added, “I can never know if he’s okay again. I can never talk to him again. I can never experience happy moments or any moments with him again. And I guess that I’ll have to care from afar, and that’s okay. And I’m okay with that.”
