It may be grand opening, grand closing for Ashley Darby’s swirlship with Luke Gulbranson, but the #RHOP star is admitting that she caught some serious feelings.
Source: Bravo/ Santiago Felipe / Getty
Less than a month after the Bravo baes made their romance IG official in December, Ashley announced that they called it quits. What appeared to be a brief rebound romance, was apparently much deeper than that.
During part one of the #RHOP reunion, Ashley will confess that she fell in love with her fellow Bravolebrity.
“Do you think there’s a chance for the two of you in the future? You and Luke?” Andy Cohen asked.
“Um, I don’t know. I started falling in love with the guy,” Ashley admitted about the Summer House and Winter House star.
Andy and her fellow Housewives were all stunned at Ashley dropping the L bomb already. After all these years, it’s tough to surprise the Housewives franchise creator, but this did the trick.
“You did?!” Andy said with shock.
“I did,” Ashley said confidently. “I did, yeah.”
Isn’t She Married? The Timeline Of Ashley’s Fast & Furious Fling With Luke
In April of 2022, Ashley announced that she filed for separation from her alleged glute-grabbing husband Michael Darby While waiting out the mandatory year of separation to get divorced in the state of Virginia, Ashley got her groove back. Amid all of this, Ashley’s questionable cohabitation plans to share a home while co-parenting their young sons, 4-year-old Dean and nearly 2-year-old Dylan raised questions from her family and castmates. However, that didn’t stop the hot mama from wearing less and going out more.
The former beauty queen previously said she couldn’t emotionally give herself to anyone else during the divorce but something changed a few weeks later when Ashley met Luke at BravoCon in October. They clicked at a performance during the Bravo After Dark party and sparks flew!
“Both of us got really wrapped up in the music. I was, like, with somebody who I was meant to be [with] at that concert. It was a really surreal feeling,” Ashley told Page Six.
“We just were vibing and singing together,” Ashley elaborates. “And that was when I was like, ‘OK, this is something a little more than what I thought it was going to be,’” she explained.
Between Ashley’s messy separation and Luke splitting his time in Minnesota and New York, they decided to take it slow.
In November, she said her soon-to-be ex didn’t care about the budding relationship until he saw pictures of her hugged up with a new man. The Aussie entrepreneur apparently wasn’t “too fond” that after Ashley went viral in the arms of another man almost 30 years younger than him.
(Hate the game, not the player, Mike)
Michael was out “living his best life” according to Ashley, but that didn’t stop him from hating on her for moving on with the hockey-playing hottie. The couple made it official in December, posting plenty of coupled-up pictures in Minnesota’s winter wonderland.
By early January, however, it was a wrap and Ashley confirmed the breakup on Watch What Happens Live. The 34-year-old called Luke “a trooper,” but hell hath no fury like a bitter ex!
“It’s not really about Luke, but [Michael and I] just have a hard time period with co-parenting and with separating. It’s my situation with Michael that affected Luke and I, and like I said, he was a trooper but ultimately it’s just not there,” she said.
During the reunion, Ashley shared some “wise words” that Luke shared about her difficult situation. He advised Ashley to “to reinforce stricter boundaries” with Michael.
As fellow castmates Giselle Bryant and Robyn Dixon proved with their second-chance romances, you can always spin the block, Ashley—and Luke looks he might be worth a second try.
The Real Housewives of Potomac reunion premieres TONIGHT Sunday, February 19 at 8.
Part 2 airs Sunday, February 26, and Part 3 closes out the season on Sunday, March 5.
