Why Ashley Darby Hid Her Pregnancy from Her Real Housewives of Potomac Costars
Ashley Darby learned that she was pregnant on Sunday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac finale, but she wasn’t exactly running to tell her Bravo costars.
While at a party with castmates Karen Huger, Gizelle Bryant, Robyn Dixon, Candiace Dillard, Monique Samuels and Katie Rost, the former restaurant owner decided to stay mum about her baby-to-be — even denying she was pregnant when her asked about it point-blank.
“What? No no,” she said, insisting that the glass of water she was drinking (rather than her signature Corona beer) was part of “just an overall detoxifying.”
Days before the big event, Ashley and her husband Michael Darby, 60, had gotten the good news that they were expecting their first child.
At the time, Ashley was six weeks and two days along, and was told by her doctor that she would be giving birth on July 2. (Her son, Dean Michael Darby, was born on July 7.)
RELATED: Meet RHOP Star Ashley Darby’s ‘Cutie’ Son, Dean Michael: ‘I’m Overwhelmingly Happy’
So why did Ashley keep things from her castmates?
As she told audiences in Sunday’s episode, she wanted to wait until she was further along in the pregnancy.
“I’m not telling the girls I’m pregnant tonight because it’s still very early,” said Ashley, who had previously suffered a miscarriage.
Adding to her decision to stay quiet? The fact that Dillard, Bryant, Huger, Dixon and Rost had spent the season questioning whether she was truly committed to getting pregnant and poking at her relationship with Michael in the face of his sexual assault charges (which were dismissed by the court back in October).
“The ladies have not been supportive of Michael or me throughout this process,” Ashley said. “So I have to play it cool tonight.”
RELATED: Real Housewives of Potomac‘s Ashley Darby Welcomes Son with Husband Michael
Ashley may not have told her fellow Potomac Housewives, but she did tell her mother Sheila after an evening yoga session at their apartment.
Erupting into cheers and hugging her daughter, Sheila was elated. “I’ve been waiting,” Sheila said, through tears.
“We’re really family now, guys,” Ashley told Michael and her mother.
Looking at the sonogram, Sheila told Ashley that she was “in love already.”
“Here’s my grand-baby,” she gushed.
“This baby’s going to have a lot of love,” said Ashley.
Since giving birth, Ashley has been keeping her Instagram followers up to date on the ups and downs of motherhood.
She told PEOPLE in July that she hopes she and Michael — who has two adult children from a previous relationship — will welcome more babies.
“I definitely want more children. I want as many kids as I can have,” Ashley said.
And her husband is nearly on board: “Michael has some limitations and he’s practical about his lifestyle and his age. He’s very practical. Like, ‘I don’t want to be in this position of not being able to be there for my kids.’ “
She added: “But he actually has been changing his tune a little quicker than even I expected, and he’s already talking about another child. … It’s almost a when, instead of an if.”
