The Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s Angela Oakley is a self-described “open book,” and her candor even extends to a painful chapter in her marriage to Charles Oakley.
On The Real Housewives of Atlanta After Show, the Season 16 newcomer opened up even more about Charles’ “instances of infidelity” shortly after their 2016 wedding.
“I married someone who kind of checks a lot of boxes: famous, attractive, money, all of the things. With that, came a lot of women — a lot of women,” Angela explained to Drew Sidora and Cynthia Bailey. “When we got married, I didn’t expect him to need so much time to cut his single ways. I will say that. I thought when he got married, I’m like, ‘You’re old enough, you know what marriage is. Like, we can’t do none of that. This is what it is.'”
She emphasized, “Baby, [it was] the fight of my life.”
Angela Oakley reveals Charles Oakley cheating theory
According to “healed” Angela, Charles’ affairs started in 2017 after he “got [dragged] out of Madison Square Garden,” where he had previously played for the New York Knicks from 1988 until 1998.  Â
“He was just like, ‘Where am I safe? You know, this is where I played 10 years, and they did this to me on national television,'” she further shared in the above RHOA After Show clip. “It wasn’t until now I can empathize with him a little bit about being potentially humiliated on national television, right? So, now I get it. I get it. And I’m not making excuses for him, but I empathize with him on the humiliation.”
So, when the “throwbacks started to call,” as Angela put it, Charles would entertain the women, in an effort to “feel good about” himself again. “And it wasn’t because he got [dragged] out of the game; it was because of what happened to him and who he became after that humiliation,” she elaborated. “He wanted to know he was still the man.”
Inside Angela and Charles Oakley’s separation
Angela went on to share that she wasn’t exactly sitting around waiting for the retired NBA star to change his behavior: “No, baby, I was on LegalZoom printing out separation agreements,” she revealed.
In light of the infidelity, Angela and Charles did eventually “take a break” from their marriage. “I was just like, ‘You know what, Charles? Go find yourself. Like, go figure this out,'” she recalled.
Having four children between them — Ahmauri, Avan, Charlie Jr., and Arleigh — ultimately factored “a lot” into Angela and Charles’ decision to eventually reconcile.
Though they weren’t separated for “long at all,” that brief time period ultimately shattered Angela’s fairytale marriage fantasy. “I [had] this idea of my knight in shining armor coming to save me, like, ‘Oh, you waited all your life for me,'” she described. “And then when we get married, it’s not that. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”
Did Charles Oakley have a baby with another woman?
Admitting that Charles’ affairs were not easy to navigate, Angela pointed out that Brit Eady’s decision “to weaponize” their past marriage issues at Cynthia’s Juneteenth Bailey-que only added insult to injury. During the same Episode 9 celebration, Kelli Ferrell also joined in to reference Charles having a “secret baby.”
Confronting Kelli about her vague accusation in Episode 10, she explained that when Wendy Williams first ignited the rumor, the former talk show host incorrectly stated that Angela had privately confessed to Charles having an affair that resulted in the other woman having a baby. However, Angela clarified that she was referring to daughter Ahmauri’s late father, not Charles, during their conversation.
“But the lie lived on,” added Angela, who was glad she could finally “put the rumor to rest.”
As she reiterated on the RHOA After Show, Charles “does not have a side baby.”
Hear more of her candid confession in the above After Show clip, and don’t miss why Angela called her marriage to Charles a “dream come true.”
