On Wednesday, Phaedra Parks made her first television appearance since Apollo Nida pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court in May. The Real Housewives of Atlanta star opened up to Ellen DeGeneres about her feelings of betrayal and addressed rumors that she cheated on Nida with a man they call Chocolate.
"Did you have anything in the back of your mind that he was doing anything?" the comedienne, 56, asked her guest, 40, on her eponymous talk show. "This was for fraud right? Did you have any idea?"
"I really didn't," the Bravo realit ystar insisted. "I mean, I work. I just got my fifth college degree. And so I'm pretty much an overachiever. I have two very small children. I just stopped breast-feeding three months ago. So, I didn't have any idea this was going on until he called me and he said, 'Hey, I've been arrested and I'm having this problem, but it's not true.' So I went out of my way to get him the best attorneys, the best investigators, and to do anything I could, because I'm an attorney myself and so I wanted him to have the best. So we could fight this together, but obviously it did not turn out like that."
DeGeneres noted that Parks met Nida when he was on parole. "So, there was a flag right? Or no?"
"Well, um...," Parks stammered as the audience laughed nervously. "Well, to be honest, he had been to prison and he was a changed person," she offered. "So the person I married, I thought he was changed."
After meeting in 1996, Parks and Nida wed in 2009. They are parents to Ayden, 3, and Dylan, 17 months. As E! News exclusively reported Friday, she plans to divorce.
"You're gonna have to raise these babies by yourself, which has gotta be really hard," DeGeneres said. Parks agreed, saying, "It is extremely hard. I mean, my heart aches for my two sons because they are the heart and soul of who I am. That's the best thing we ever did together. We have great kids."
Regarding Nida's rocky reputation, Parks said, "I never wanted to do anything to diminish his character in public. But we've had some times where he's done things that weren't so cool, weren't so nice."
DeGeneres also asked Parks about accusations that she was unfaithful to her husband.
"I mean...I think it's totally absurd to think that I cheated," the Secrets of the Southern Bell author admitted. "They're saying that I had an affair with a man from Africa named Chocolate. Now, everybody knows that I do like a Snicker bar every once in a while, but it's definitely not a man from Africa that I've ever had an affair with. I mean, It's just absurd. I think sometimes when people are hurting they do things to hurt other people. There's been a lot of lashing out from Apollo because I think he's in a place, a very angry place, and I think you hurt the people closest to you sometimes. It's unfortunate."
"Do you know a man named chocolate?" DeGeneres asked.
"I don't," Parks replied before joking, "I do know Mr. Goodbar, though!"
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