Ashley Boalch Darby is reflecting on the end of her relationship with Luke Gulbranson.
The Real Housewives of Potomac star, 35, admitted that the pair “just sort of grew apart” before calling it quits after less than three months of dating.
“My situation is complicated. My stuff with my previous partner has gotten better but at that time, [it] was really bad,” she said on Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast, referring to her ex Michael Darby.
“He stuck out through a lot of it,” she added of the Summer House alum. “And I commend him but there was a final straw that we decided to keep between us. And I respect that.”
Darby’s comments came eight months after she confirmed her split from Gulbranson, 39, on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
“Luke and I are not romantically involved anymore,” she said in January after speculation spread about the two going their separate ways. At the time, they had deleted pictures of each other from their respective Instagram pages.
She shared that her ongoing divorce from Michael — with whom she shares sons Dean, 4, and Dylan, 2 — was to blame for their split.
“It was my situation with Michael that affected Luke and I,” Darby also said on WWHL, noting that she and Michael have had “a really hard time” with co-parenting and being separated. “Really, my life is very complicated. As you guys can imagine, I’m going through a very difficult situation.”
“Luke was a trooper, believe me; he went through some things,” she continued, adding that she had even met his entire family during their time together. “They were amazing, I fell in love with them. So great.”
Darby and Gulbranson were set up by Cohen, who happily played matchmaker at BravoCon 2022 after she called the former model “hot.”
After spending time together at the annual fan convention, Darby revealed during a panel at the event that she and Gulbranson “have a lot of common interests. We both like horseback riding and hiking and all that crunchy s — -.”
In December, she seemed to make things Instagram official with a selfie of the pair.
“The definition of a winter wonderland ❄️ I didn’t know I missed snow so much!” she wrote on Dec. 20. “Thank you for showing me the beauty of Minnesota! ♥️ @lukegulbranson.”
Darby also posted a video of a snowy trip they took through the woods on her Instagram Story. Naturally, it was set to Michael Bublé’s cover of the holiday classic “Winter Wonderland.”
Darby announced she and Michael were splitting in April after eight years of marriage.
As for how interested she is in dating post-split, the Potomac Housewife initially told Entertainment Tonight: “ I dabble here and there, to be honest, but it’s still not something — especially while I’m still living here, I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do, you know? And I can’t really give myself to anyone emotionally. I’m still pretty connected to Michael.”
