Ashley Darby announced on Sunday, Oct. 12, that her estranged father passed away. The Real Housewives of Potomac cast member took to her Instagram Story, where she opened up about his passing and why she made the decision to not attend his funeral.
“Last week, while I was in New York, and I was actually coming home on the train, my mom informed me that that my father had passed away,” she said in the video filmed outside of her house in Arlington.
“And if you saw, I believe it was Season 5 of the show, I tried to meet my dad. I’ve never met him, never spoken a word to him, we’ve had no conversation,” she noted. “And he closed the door on my face.”
“Today was his funeral,” she continued. “And I contemplated going, almost to have my own sense of closure, but, I’ve been traveling so much, and I really wanted to be with my own kids this weekend. And my rationale was, ‘Why would I want to take away time from my own kids [for] someone who never made time for me?'”
She also revealed to The Daily Dish on Oct. 8, shortly before her father passed, that she would not be “an invited guest” to the funeral.
Ashley Darby reveals that she found out new details about her father after his passing
In the videos posted to her Instagram Story, Ashley revealed that she found out new information about his dad at his passing. “I found out I have siblings, and all of the things that I have no idea about my father, I found out through his obituary,” she admitted in the video.
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“I learned he liked to garden, he taught himself how to play guitar, he was an avid fisherman, really so many of the things I also love to do,” she noted. “I read his greatest accomplishment was being a father to his two sons, it stung a little bit, whatever, but it’s interesting how you can mourn and have some sort of unique form of grieving to someone who you have no relationship with, right, just, blood relations. But no emotional connection, like, that is so interesting.”
Ashley Darby reveals she held out hope for reconnecting with her dad
She also revealed in the videos that his passing put perspective on their relationship. “I’ve always held out some sort of hope that maybe, apparently my dad was in hospice, maybe prior to him passing, he would have this sudden wave of conscience, to be like, ‘Oh, let me at least, like, make amends or say something to my daughter.’ But nothing like that, you know,” she said.
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“And it’s just so weird, I really can’t understand how any human being doesn’t want to love their children or can’t love a child,” she concluded. “But, it is what it is. And life will certainly go on.”
Ashley Darby opens up about getting closure on her relationship with late father
When Ashley spoke with The Daily Dish on Oct. 8, she admitted that her dad’s passing has officially brought their chapter to a close. “For people who — and there are many I’ve connected with who have experienced the passing of a parent, you always wonder, ‘What if.’ Or, is there a possibility that we could reconnect, you know?” she noted.
“And so I am really coming to terms with the fact that, like, that possibility is closing,” she admitted. “But the other side is, I may get to meet my younger brothers, and it’s really cool to think about. That I could potentially meet my younger brothers and have a relationship with them. That’s the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Learn more about Ashley’s trip to Georgia to visit her father during RHOP Season 5.
— Additional reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
