Jeannie Mai Reveals Her Divorce Has Taken a Dark Turn Because 'Money and Ego Got Involved'

Jeannie Mai’s divorce from Freddy Harteis has taken a dark turn.

While the 39-year-old The Real co-host, initially said her 2017 split from Harteis was amicable, the exes are no longer on good terms.

“It f—— sucks. It’s terrible,” Mai said on Friday’s episode of The Breakfast Club, opening up about her divorce.

“You wake up with a rock in your heart and you feel like you can’t really make it through the day because it’s just so heavy. Especially when finances get involved. Especially when people change,” Mai continued.

As for the shift Mai is referencing, she feels she and Harteis’ divorce “turned when, I would say, when money got involved and ego.”

“This is where you learn how things change. People say money changes people. So does ego and so does social media. And so does the press. I think that all of that mixed in between— you really gotta keep yourself grounded.”

“One thing he always said, and I love this quote and I really believe it, my ex said, ‘You don’t truly know a person until they don’t get what they want. That’s when they show you who they are,” Mai said.

“You wouldn’t think that the person you were married to and were with for 10 years and taught you the quote would be the best number one example to prove it,” Mai added.

Mai also addressed the reason for their split saying, her not wanting to have children wasn’t the only factor.

Harteis is now expecting his first child with girlfriend Linsey Toole. Harteis revealed the news six months after Mai announced their divorce.

When asked directly if her estranged husband had cheated on her, Mai said she does find the timing “interesting.”

“And you know what’s funny, I was never really the type to really sit there and actually calculate and do math… but then, our Real fam comes in and goes, ‘Wait, when you announce you met this person at this time and now you’re together having the baby at this time, Jeannie just came out with you guys getting divorced at this time,’ that’s funny!” Mai said.

“That’s when you have to face the facts,” Mai added.

Mai and Harteis, who hosts The Hollywood Hunter, got married in 2007. Harteis did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Mai previously opened up about Harteis’ desire to start a family on The Real in 2014.

“I guess it’s just really hard because I can’t just have a child for another person, and you don’t have a child to save your marriage, but we are in love, and we are enjoying life, and he’s my Freddy, and I’m his Jeannie, and we don’t have any other problems except that, which, you never know what could happen in the future,” she said.

“So right now we are clinging to each other, and we’re waiting for God to kind of tell us what that means, and it’s kind of weird to go to sleep every single night holding on to that person you love so much, not knowing where it’s gonna go.”