RHOBH: Erika Girardi Sheds Light on Divorce from Tom - 'I Couldn't Live That Way'
Paul Dailly
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The rule of thumb on The Real Housewives franchise is that whoever is making headlines will not show up to events and stay away from their co-stars.
But that's now how Erika Girardi operates, and she finally lifted the lid on what really went down when she filed for divorce from her husband, Tom Girardi, after 21 years of marriage.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 11 Episode 6 picked up with Erika arriving at Sutton Stracke's party, and she wasted no time in addressing "the elephant in the room."
"My life drastically changed this week. I let go of my Lamborghini, I let go of my 16,000-square-foot home, I let go of my marriage - I let go of everything. I literally made a decision that I had to," she shared with her Bravo co-stars.
Erika shed light on how the relationship ultimately broke down.
"I left because he pushed me further and further out," she said during a confessional.
"The conversations that I used to have were now reduced down to a sentence or two. I just kept walking around that house, and knowing that this marriage was headed down a really s----- path, I had to make a choice to do what was right for me. I couldn't live that way anymore."
If you watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills online, you know Erika opted to keep the women in the dark, something she admitted was "on purpose" to avoid putting them "in a bad position."
"I didn't want to do that, and that's the truth," she explained.
"It also doesn't serve me to talk a lot about what is happening legally or will happen legally because I am married to somebody who's very good in that area."
Erika dished in a confessional that she knew for a long time that she had to end the relationship, so she "spent a good 30 days closing out certain parts" of her life.
"I cried every day," she shared.
"This was the end of a massive part of my life, stepping into basically a void."
Erika said that she tried to work things out with Tom, but she was met with resistance because her feelings were always dismissed.
Erika moved into a new home after dropping him off at work one day.
"After finding a place to go to, I dropped him off at work, and I went home and moved out," she dished.
"I was out within the day. It's frightening, you know, when you think about it."
"It's the uncertainty and the instability of being, you know, really out on your own. So to all of a sudden live somewhere else and know that you're never going home, you know, for now, this is home. Hope you chose wisely, this is it."
She said leaving the marriage, and the relationship was tough because of how long she invested in it.
"There's always that underlying pressure of wanting to please someone that's provided for you," she said.
"And I felt always that I should shut up and be grateful to an extent."
Later in the episode, Girardi dined with Lisa Rinna and shed some more light on the situation.
"It's insanity. I've not felt this vulnerable in maybe never," Erika said.
"I really tried and talked and attempted. So he left me no room, and that's the only way I can say it right now."
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills continues Thursdays on Bravo.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
