The Real Housewives of Potomac's Ashley Darby and husband Michael Darby are separating. Ashley confirmed the news in an exclusive statement to The Daily Dish on Tuesday (April 19).

“Almost eight years ago, when Michael and I said ‘I do,’ we anticipated sharing every single day together from that moment forward. Unfortunately, that is not our current reality. We have decided to separate. We are aware that there will be many speculative views as to why we have made this decision. People will be quick to assume that the causes were too much intrusion by reality TV into the most personal parts of our lives, age gap issues, cultural problems, or child-rearing differences. Pieces of all these may have affected our pure love for each other, but no one reason is the root cause of our mutual decision to go our separate ways," she said. "We are now both at very different stages in our lives and have different goals for our futures. We both want the other to achieve true happiness and fulfillment and feel that we cannot do this together."

Her statement continued, "While our romantic bond is broken, we will always love and respect each other. We also know that true happiness can only be achieved by continuing to work together and putting our hearts and souls into raising our two beautiful boys, Dean and Dylan. They will always feel loved and supported, for they were truly created out of love. As this is a personal matter for us, we appreciate everyone who has been a part of our journey and ask for your continued support by respecting us as we go through this emotional situation.”

Ashley and Michael were first introduced to fans back in Season 1 of RHOP. In the years since viewers have watched their relationship evolve and they have been open about their ups and downs along the way. Fans have also been there as the couple expanded their family with the addition of two sons, Dean Michael Darby, 2, and Dylan Matthew Darby, 1.