Girardi met Erika in the late 1990s at Chasen’s — a Beverly Hills restaurant where Girardi was a regular and Erika was a waitress. At the time, she was in her late 20s, newly divorced with a young son; Girardi was 32 years older.
Erika Jayne’s split from Tom Girardi is still a topic of conversation on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills — and she’s had enough.
“I’ve moved past the last three years, but I don’t know if others will let me move past,” Erika, 52, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the season 13 premiere. “I still have legal things that are tying up, and they will take time because that’s the legal process. But I want to move on. … Every time someone asks me about Tom Girardi or something like this you realize you’re cutting open a healing wound, and you’re stabbing around in it, and that hurts.”
Erika went on to say that she’s tired of rehashing the same topics over and over again. “I don’t care who you are,” she added. “If every time you sit down, someone says, ‘So, tell us about this,’ or, ‘Look at this, what were you thinking?’ Isn’t it obvious what I was thinking at that time? That’s what I dislike.”
The reality star and Tom, 84, split in November 2020 after 20 years of marriage. One month later, the estranged couple were named in a class action lawsuit that accused Tom’s former law firm, Girardi Keese, of misusing funds earmarked for the families of plane crash victims.
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Erika has never been accused of a crime, but Tom faced further lawsuits and disbarment. In 2021, he was placed in a conservatorship overseen by his brother after he was diagnosed with dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Later that year, he moved into a senior living facility that specializes in memory care.
Tom and Erika are technically still married, but the Pretty Mess author told Us that she’s doing her best to put the situation in the rearview.
“I still will heal. It’s a process,” she explained. “Grief all the way around is a whole process that comes in waves. But what I am doing is I’m choosing to move on. And I wish those around me would allow me to do so.”
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Erika went on to say that she doesn’t regret her choice to “stick it out” as her costars questioned her about Tom and his legal battles.
“I can’t change the fact that I was reactive and that I felt so very cornered every day that I came to work. I can’t change the fact that I started out very calmly explaining my position, and I was not heard. And then I raised my voice, and I still was not heard,” she told Us. “It is what it is. I mean, there was no playbook. There was no one here to walk me through it. I was walking through it alone. Yes, I had lawyers, but they don’t hold your hands. … What I kept telling myself was, ‘You’re right.’ And to hold on and don’t quit.”
I just don’t think about it. The day I filed for divorce, and we were legally separated, that was it for me.”Jayne added that the timing of everything all comes down to needing to protect herself. “Even after a two decade-plus marriage, that’s what it came down to, looking out for yourself,” she explained.“I just don’t think about it. The day I filed for divorce, and we were legally separated, that was it for me,” she told Entertainment Tonight Tuesday.
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Despite backlash from some “RHOBH” viewers, the singer, who is currently performing in her Bet It All On Blonde Las Vegas Residency through December, recently filmed and despite the fact that she still hasn’t finalized her divorce, Jayne is keeping her heart “open” for a potential new romance. Jayne has maintained her innocence and has continued filming “RHOBH.” She also said she is keeping her heart “open.”But at the moment, she’s still grieving the death of her marriage.“I had a complete change of life — not just a marriage.
Pat the … divorce papers. After Erika Jayne went to court to end her marriage to Tom Girardi, Bravo fans were shocked to learn that what seemed like one of the strongest couples in Real Housewives history was not so picture-perfect after all.
