Reality TV star Porsha Williams has broken her silence following the finalization of her divorce from her Nigerian husband, Simon Guobadia, expressing a sense of relief and freedom.
In a recent interview with People, the former RHOAstar shared her feelings now that the legal battle is over.
“Well, now that my divorce is finalized, yes I’m able to exhale. I really am. It comes with mixed feelings”, she stated.
Porsha, however, appears more focused on the emotional closure than the financial terms in the prenup judgment-emphasizing her excitement to move forward with her life.
The pair were married for just 15 months before Porsha filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Now with the chapter closed, the TV personality says she’s embracing a fresh start and looking forward to the future.
Williams’s divorce from Simon Guobadia was finalized on June 11 by a Georgia judge. Guobadia, 61, appeared on Zoom from his native Nigeria, where he was deported to from the U.S. because of immigration violations, including bank and credit card fraud.
“I didn’t expect today to be emotional,” she says on-set of the new season of the Bravo Show. “But the moment I sat down at that vanity and started brushing my hair, just like Angela in the movie . . . it hit me: I’ve prettied up the ugly in my life too, when it wasn’t so pretty. And I’m done doing that.”
“You go through different stages,” says Williams, 44. It got to a point where you have to fight for your life in a court situation. And then, toward the end, you have the clarity where you realize you are still blessed. Your family is by our side, your child is protected; there’s a whole new life that you can start.”
“I’m a true hopeless romantic. Once I decide to be with you, I dedicate everything to you,” she says. “And Simon matched my energy. He’s very warm. He loved spending time with me. We were freakin’ extra. If we wanted to fly out of the country every weekend or post on Instagram together about how much we loved each other, he was down.”
He also provided Williams with what she thought was a “safety net” given their 17-year age difference. “I’ve been hurt really bad in different situations. I’ve felt defenseless, I’ve been lied to, I’ve been asked to change who I am and have not felt heard,” she says. “But Simon, he was settled in his life. And the biggest thing he used to stress to me was how he had grown. He was very upfront about the things he did in his past relationships and how he had worked on himself. I felt very protected by him. I felt like I met someone I could trust.”
That sense of security was short-lived. After she uncovered what she calls “complex” issues with his legal status, Williams said she knew the relationship was “headed down a dark road,” and she hired an immigration attorney in January 2024.
“We had a real serious conversation because, being a supportive wife, I wanted to deal with this head-on,” says Williams. “I got it spelled out completely by an attorney who had been in immigration for 30 years. And my conclusion was: ‘I don’t want you to travel.’ I begged for him not to leave the country. That was not honored.”
On Valentine’s Day the two had a confrontation, which Williams now calls “a point of no return.”
“There was some paperwork that needed to be handled, and I wanted to bring in some attorneys to represent me, and that was frowned upon,” she says. “And it wasn’t really what he said, it was a look—a look that just felt dark. I just knew I was not looking at the same person I loved before. I could tell that he was just pretty much checked out of the relationship at that point.”
Williams insists there was no infidelity on either side. “There were some old habits, some desires he wanted to accomplish outside of family. And I think that he possibly chose those things over me. That part took over in the end. I don’t know that person,” she says.
There were “big factors that really, really hurt in the divorce,” she says. “I loved him so much because I trusted him, and I felt safe with him, and that’s what I lost. I couldn’t trust him.”
“Honestly, I feel like I filed before I was ready to file. I filed out of necessity to protect myself,” she says. “This one, I would think he would feel like it was a blindside for him. He was so used to me always finding a way to compromise what’s best for me. And this time I just didn’t do that.”
According to People, Guobadia continued to travel internationally during the 12 months of their divorce proceedings. And in February 2025 Guobadia insisted on returning to Atlanta for a court date connected to their divorce case. Before he even made it there, he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
News of Guobadia’s detainment made headlines nationwide, which is how Williams says she learned of it: “I found out like everybody else that he had been taken in for questioning.”
Though their relationship was over by then, Williams admits she was saddened by the news. “I find it to be very unfortunate,” she says. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to Simon. I don’t want him in a horrible situation like that.”
Guobadia spent four months in a detainment center before he returned to Nigeria on June 6.