Celebrity Celebrity Relationships Celebrity Breakups 'RHOP' 's Ashley Darby Says Luke Gulbranson was a 'Trooper' amid Co-Parenting Issues with Ex-Husband Appearing on Watch What Happens Live on Sunday, The Real Housewives of Potomac star shared that co-parenting issues with ex Michael Darby played a role in her split from Luke Gulbranson By Angela Andaloro Angela Andaloro Angela Andaloro is a Society & Culture Staff Writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, and LittleThings. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 10, 2023 02:26PM EST Photo: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty, Heidi Gutman/BRAVO via Getty, Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty The Real Housewives of Potomac's Ashley Boalch Darby is explaining how co-parenting problems with her ex contributed to her recent split from Summer House alum Luke Gulbranson. Appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Sunday, Ashley, 34, confirmed that she and Luke have called it quits after only a few months of dating. She then revealed that her ongoing divorce with estranged husband Michael Darby — with whom she shares sons Dylan, 22 months, and Dean, 3½ — contributed to their breakup. "Really, my life is very complicated. I'm going through a really difficult situation," she said, referring to her divorce. Ashley praised Luke as a "trooper" for dealing with what he did in their nearly three months together. "Believe me, he went through some things." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 'RHOP' 's Ashley Darby Calls Ex-Husband Michael 'a Really Good Dad' amid Divorce When Cohen asked if this meant that Michael, 63, wasn't happy about the relationship, Ashley clarified, "That, and it's not really about Luke, but we just have a hard time co-parenting and separating." "It was my situation with Michael that affected Luke and I," she added. "And like I said, he was a trooper, but ultimately it's just not ... it's not there." Ashley announced she and Michael were splitting last April after eight years of marriage. "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," she continued, adding, "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 continued, "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." Ashley went on to say that though she and Michael's "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," she concluded.