The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Cynthia Bailey, 55, dished about what was the final straw in her marriage during the Oct. 31 episode of the Two T’s In A Pod podcast. She told the hosts, RHOC alum Tamra Judge, 55, and RHOBH alum Teddi Mellencamp, 41, what ultimately led to her emotional decision to dissolve her relationship with Mike Hill, 52. “I felt like we weren’t friends anymore,” Cynthia said around the 10.40-minute mark. “I felt like it was just going toward we’re just not going to be friends if we didn’t pump the brakes.”
Cynthia then went on to address the fact that this is not her first marriage to end, as she was previously married to Peter Thomas from 2010 to 2017. “This is not my first rodeo. I think friendship just has to be there in a marriage,” the TV star continued. “Like, love is great, but friendship has to be there. I truly want to be with my best friend.” She also told Teddi that attending this year’s BravoCon “helped” her get through some tough days. “I love our fans, I didn’t even think about it [the split] for three days because I was too damn tired,” the mom-of-one quipped. Cynthia also confirmed to the 41-year-old that she did feel love-bombed in her relationship with Mike. “Yeah, but I like a good love-bomb, but I just want it to continue,” she laughed. “I want to be love-bombed for the rest of my life.”
After telling Tamra that she was with the sports journalist for about four years, Cynthia talked about feeling like a failure when her first marriage ended. “Going into this unfortunate divorce, I don’t want to ride it out – I’m 55 years old,” she went on. “I deserve to be happy and at peace, I want my man to be happy and to have peace. And if we’re not able to achieve that together then we shouldn’t be together.” The model also addressed how she is feeling post-split. “I do have good days and bad days,” Cynthia told the hosts.
She also dished that she and Mike do not regret their choice to end their two-year-long marriage. “I don’t think either one of us regret our decision to move forward in the way we have decided to move forward,” Cynthia continued. “It’s not final yet. We’re still going through the process, so we’re still technically married. For me, there’s still just a lot of respect stuff on my end that I still feel like he’s my husband.” In addition, she shared that she removed her wedding ring on the day they publicly announced the separation. “I took my ring off the day of the announcement but until then, I had it on all this time. Although, we were going through some things,” she added. “It’s just weird, you guys. It’s just weird.”
Mike and his estranged wife took to Instagram on Oct. 12 to tell their followers the news of their divorce, per CNN. “LOVE is a beautiful thing,” they wrote in a since-deleted Instagram selfie. “While we both will always have love for one another, we have decided to go our separate ways.”
The caption of the former couple went on to say that neither of them blame each other. “No one is to blame and we are grateful that we remain good friends. We will always cherish the many memories we’ve shared together as husband and wife.” Mike and Cynthia also thanked everyone for their support. “Many of you have been on this journey with us from the very beginning, and we appreciate our family, friends and beloved fans for your positive support as we move forward and start new chapters,” the statement concluded. Cynthia and her ex were married from Oct. 10, 2020, and split on Oct. 12, 2022. She is the mother to one daughter, Noelle Robinson, 22, who she welcomed in 1999 with singer Leon Robinson, 60.