Kandi Burruss says she was caught off guard by the split between Drew Sidora and Ralph Pittman. In an exclusive interview, Burruss said that she was “extremely stunned” by the divorce news after spending time with Sidora at a recent Real Housewives of Atlanta photo session.
“I was stunned,” Burruss, 46, said of her RHOA costar’s silence the day before the divorce was made public.
“I’m praying for Drew, I’m praying for Ralph and the kids. I hope they can figure it out,” she added. “But obviously I’ve been around them a lot for the last couple of months.”
Next, the TV star reflected on the time she and her husband Todd Tucker had spent with the former couple.
“She’s in a film that my husband and I have produced recently and Ralph was coming the whole time and they even spent Ralph’s birthday — which is the end of January — at The Piano Lesson in New York with us,” she shared. “So I was like, when did it fall apart? I have no clue. I don’t know.”
On Wednesday, Sidora and Pittman announced their separation after eight and a half years of marriage.
“Love is a beautiful thing,” Pittman, 37, said in a statement shared. “Unfortunately we have made the difficult decision to move on to our next chapters, independent of each other. Drew and I have decided to file for divorce.
We have three amazing young children, and their mindset and growth is what is most important. As we navigate this difficult time, I ask that you please respect our privacy.”
In a separate statement to PEOPLE, Sidora, 37, said: “After eight years of wholeheartedly fighting for my marriage, I have made the agonizing decision to release my husband with love.”
“Although Ralph and I have decided to move forward separately, the hope is to remain friends so that we can co-parent responsibly,” she added. “In spite of our very public life, I am asking for privacy during this difficult time as my children and I learn how to navigate through our new beginnings.”
On Monday Pittman filed for divorce in Gwinnett County Superior Court. We were also able to get court records proving that Sidora filed for divorce from Pittman an hour before he did.
Pittman has filed papers asking for joint legal and physical custody of their children, while Sidora has filed a response stating that “there is no opportunity or hope of reconciliation” between them. She is seeking temporary and permanent primary physical custody with shared legal custody.
On Wednesday, the Step Up actress filed an updated divorce petition in which she made shocking charges against Pittman, including that he is a “serial cheater and adulterous” and that he emotionally and financially abused her. And he allegedly became “physically hostile” towards her at one point.
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In August 2014, Sidora and Pittman tied the knot. After that, in June 2015, they had a son named Machai, and in February 2018, they had a girl named Aniya. The former That’s So Raven star also has a kid named Josiah, who is 11 years old.
Both The Real Housewives of Atlanta and SWV & XSCAPE: The Queens of R&B have new episodes premiering this weekend on their respective streaming services and on Bravo at 9:30 p.m. ET.