Reality star Phaedra Parks, 50, divorced her ex-husband, Apollo Nida, in the same year she parted ways with the Bravo show that made her a household name. But now she’s finally found her “peace.”
The former Southern belle of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” says that she believes living so publicly for the last 14 years caused her to age, but now she’s regaining her natural glow and rejuvenating her life.
“I think you can be aged by your surroundings. Being on terrible shows with terrible women, being in terrible marriages that will age you. So, once I got off a terrible show and got out of a terrible marriage and had my wonderful children … I could focus on myself and not all the bulls—t,” she said in an interview with People magazine.
Parks, a noted entertainment lawyer, joined ‘RHOA” during season 3 in 2010. A year prior, she married Nida, who was five years her junior.
The two appeared on the show as a newly married couple and allowed cameras to capture their love, the birth of their two sons, Ayden Adonis Nida, 13, and Dylan Nida, 10, and the launch of various business ventures. However, by season 7, things seemed to fall apart.
In 2014, Nida pleaded guilty to a conspiracy involving mail fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to pay $1.9 million in restitution and began serving an eight-year prison term.
Previously, Nida was arrested and jailed for three years due to car theft charges.
Shortly after he was incarcerated for the second time in 2015, Parks filed for divorce. Their divorce was officially finalized in July 2017, ending their eight-year union. Nida was released from his sentence in 2019 and later accused his ex-wife of abandoning him and their marriage once he got in legal trouble.
Anyone watch Real Housewives of Atlanta? Phaedra's hubby Apollo sentenced to 8 years in prison for bank fraud ~Ash pic.twitter.com/0zJdyAaePJ
— CHUM 104.5 (@Chum1045) July 8, 2014
“When it first happened, she wasn’t there. My sentencing, she wasn’t there. My self-surrendering she wasn’t there. Basically not allowing me to see my children. There was a lot of things that showed me she really wasn’t there for me,” Nida expressed during a cameo “RHOA” appearance in season 14, concluding, “When I went away, Phaedra was definitely cold-blooded, cold-hearted.”
The same year of Nida’s incarceration, in a dramatic turn of events, Parks found herself ousted from the “RHOA” cast ahead of its highly anticipated 10th season.
The decision came in the wake of a scandalous rumor propagated by Parks, implicating fellow “RHOA” cast members Kandi Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker, in an alleged “sex dungeon” and drugging controversy involving Porsha Williams and Shamea Morton.
Parks also had conflicts with other cast members, including Nene Leakes and Kenya Moore.
The attorney-turned-funeral home director admitted that her outburst at Moore during the reunion episode for the sixth season was steeped in “bottled-up anger” that spilled over onto the beauty queen. While trying to defend her then-husband, she accused Moore of “peddling through sperm banks” to find a father for her child.
Years later, Parks returned to Bravo and joined the cast of “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girl Trip.” During one episode, another cast member, Vicki Gunvalson, asked her to share the details about her departure from “RHOA,” but she wouldn’t.
Later she explained that she had spoken about it before but the producers chose not to air it, stating, “You only heard one and obviously they chose not to play the other side. And so it is what it is, but I’m living in the present.”
Both Parks and Nida reunited on camera during the upcoming finale of the 10th season of “Married to Medicine.” He talked about their relationship and how they co-parent, characterizing it as “impeccable.”
“It started out topsy-turvy when I first came home,” Nida said. “I was like always upset. She was upset.”
The parents revealed that they would meet up at Chic-fil-A to have Nida’s visitation with the boys. Eventually, the two came to an agreement that worked for everyone involved. He is allowed to come over to her home, but not allowed inside. Parks still does not have a relationship with his current wife, Sherien Almufti, and does not think that it is neccessary.
Around the time of his recent filming of the new show, text messages and footage were leaked that appear to show Nida has been cheating on Almufti.
One of the messages with his alleged mistress mentioned Parks, saying, “All is well heading to talk to PHAEDRA in regards to my children…Today has been hectic but very productive at the same time.”
Parks has not weighed in on her ex-husband’s infidelity allegations, nor has he spoken out to deny or confirm the rumors.
