Erika Jayne’s divorce was a point of conversation for the first time on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Wednesday’s episode opened with Jayne reflecting her high-profile split from husband Tom Girardi.
“There’s so many layers to this divorce. It’s so f**king complicated,” Jayne shared in the first moments of the new episode. “It’s very difficult to explain.”
The episode began on Election Day 2020, shortly after Jayne revealed to her friends and fellow castmates that she and her husband were divorcing. The news seemingly came as a big surprise to many others on the show.
Jayne went on to say of her fellow RHOB co-stars, “You know, I’m sure that they were very shocked and that they’re going to have a lot of questions.”
Dorit Kemsley said the news had come as a surprise, and Lisa Rinna echoed the sentiments explaining, “I didn’t know until she sent that text to us today. I instantly called her and, you know, I was just as surprised as we all were.”
In a preview of the dinner conversation between Jayne and her friends, the “Xxpen$ive” singer shared, “I did not see it ending this way. I was going to hold that man’s hand till he died.”
However, the remainder of the episode largely involved everyone else talking about the divorce, such as how they didn’t expect it or Garcelle Beauvais not-so-subtly implying that she doesn’t understand why Jayne didn’t just “wait” it out (i.e. stay married until the 82-year-old lawyer dies of old age).
This particular implication seemingly shocked the others more than the divorce itself.
However, Jayne’s eventual dinner-time heart-to-heart with her pals appears to have been a tease for next week’s show, as the episode ended with a “To Be Continued” right as Jayne appeared for the soiree.
This episode comes just a few days after the premiere of the ABC News documentary The Housewife and the Hustler, which explored the allegations of embezzlement and the lawsuit filed against the pair in December on behalf of several families who lost loved ones in the Lion Air Flight 610 crash, which occurred in October 2018.
Girardi allegedly embezzled settlement money that was supposed to go to the family members of the victims. Girardi and Jayne are accused of using that money to fund their own lavish lifestyles and allegedly pay off loans to keep Girardi’s law firm afloat.
Jayne announced her split from Girardi in November, a month before he was forced into involuntary bankruptcy.
The special also addressed one of the latest developments, which came in February, when Girardi was placed under a temporary conservatorship. In March, a psychiatrist told courts that Tom suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, and that he is unable to care for his own personal or financial matters.
Following the release of the doc, Jayne’s attorneys filed a motion to withdraw as her lawyers in Girardi’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. According to docs obtained by ET, the attorneys state that “the relationship of trust and confidence that is essential to a properly functioning attorney-client relationship has broken down and, in good faith assessment of counsel, the relationship is irreparable. Withdrawal is appropriate under such circumstances.”
Check out the video below for more on Jayne’s ongoing marital issues and pending legal battles.
