‘Real Housewives Of Atlanta’ Star Phaedra Parks Opens Up About Divorcing Apollo Nida A Second Time

Life’s not all peachy for “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Phaedra Parks. After a difficult season on the Bravo reality show, a judge also overturned the ruling in her divorce from Apollo Nida.

The pair have started the process again, but have a long road ahead of them. For Parks, the hardest part has been losing the independence she thought she’d won back when her divorce was finalized in July 2016. Their second round of divorce proceedings are in their earliest stages, which the “RHOA” star called “disheartening.”

Read: Phaedra Parks, Porsha Williams’ Friendship Ended Over Drug, Rape Allegations

“[The divorce] was finalized last year in July so of course that obviously made me assume that I had regained my independence and a new start,” she told Us Weekly. “So to be placed back into a position where I have to do it all over again...it’s disheartening but it’s a process and I can’t obviously change it.”

There’s been a lot of buzz about the reason the judge overturned the initial ruling, granting Parks and Nida a divorce. The mother of two shut down speculation that she intentionally flubbed paper work to keep her estranged husband, currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for fraud, out of the loop. She maintained during her interview with Us that that’s simply not the case.

“There was never any intention of keeping him out of the loop,” she said. “He was very active throughout the process.”

The decision to overturn the divorce ruling was made in March. At the time, the judge claimed the ruling was unfair to Nida. He was not able to attend hearings, which the judge suggested he had been lead to believe would be possible. TMZ reported that Parks was “intentionally misspelling the parties names.”

Her rep responded to the judge’s decision in a statement. Steve Honig called the situation “confusing,” blaming Nida. He suggested that Parks would be working with a lawyer to weigh her options moving forward.

“It’s very confusing why a man who is engaged and enjoys frequent visits with his fiancée would work so aggressively to avoid ending his marriage,” Honig said. “Regardless, Phaedra is reviewing her options with her attorney to determine the most efficient path toward ending this marriage so she can move forward and focus on raising strong, healthy and happy children.”

The fiancée in question’s name is Sherien Almufti. The pair went public about their engagement in November 2016. Fans questioned the timing of their relationship and whether Nida was unfaithful to Parks, which Almufti swears is not the case.

“I think the night we took him away [to prison] I felt something completely different,” she recalled of the moment they stopped being friends and became lovers (via Us Weekly).

Read: Was Phaedra Parks Fired From ‘Real Housewives Of Atlanta’?

Their engagement took place inside Fort Dix prison, where Nida’s currently being held. The first photos of them after their engagement surfaced on TMZ. The pair were seen posing before a fake background sans engagement ring, as Nida couldn’t procure one while behind bars.

She has since gotten one and regularly shows it off on Instagram.