Credit: Gizelle Hernandez/Bravo
Monica Garcia revealed where she stands with estranged husband Mike Garcia during an interview on Monday.
As she teased the shocking reason for their second divorce, the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, 39, opened up about her 18-month affair with her brother-in-law, explained why she shared the relationship on the show, and spoke of her experience with the Mormon church as new details about her past and current divorces from Mike were shared.
In court documents obtained by The U.S. Sun on September 15, it was noted that Monica and Mike were first married in 2009 and split in 2013 after welcoming their now-13-year-old daughter Jaidyn.
At the time of their breakup, Monica, who also has an older daughter, Bri, 17, from a previous relationship, was awarded sole physical custody of Jaidyn, and Mike was granted visitation. According to paperwork, Monica was making over $4,500 per month when they divorced. And although Mike was making less, he was ordered to pay $399 per month for child support.
Following the split, however, Monica and Mike mended their relationship and seemed to stay together for eight years before Monica filed for divorce on June 12 of this year.
Although Monica’s second filing has been sealed from the public, it was noted that neither party can “harass, intimidate, or disturb the peace of the other party.”
They also can’t “use the other party’s name, likeness, image, or identification to get credit, open an account for service, or obtain a service.”
As RHOSLC fans have likely heard, Monica, who lived in a $425,000 home owned by Mike during their marriage, worked as Jen Shah‘s assistant for a period of time and has been quite candid that her life is less extravagant than her castmates. She’s also spoken of life as a single mom to her four daughters, who include West, 6, and Kendall, 5.
As Monica continues to open up about her life on the show, she says fans will be surprised to learn the reason she and Mike called it quits for a second time.
“You guys are going to be shocked when you discover the real reasons why we’re actually getting a divorce now,” Monica told E! News on October 2. “Because it’s not because of the affair.”
Although Monica hasn’t shared the reason quite yet, she said that she and her estranged husband are “great co-parents.”
“He is a wonderful dad and provider and we just weren’t good together and that’s OK,” she stated. “He calls and checks on me. He’ll see something in the news and he’ll get defensive and be like, ‘That’s not even true!’ I am the mother of his children and we’ll always love and respect each other because of that.”
After admitting to her affair with her sister-in-law’s husband, which resulted in her being excommunicated by the Mormon church, Monica said she didn’t hesitate to come clean on camera.
“Hopefully I get the chance to clear things up and explain timelines, but the people in my life have already known about this,” she explained. “They’ve already known about the affair, they’ve already known about the excommunication and we’ve all had the time to process this information already.”
“It is something that I’m telling these women for the first time but it was not something that I was nervous sharing,” she continued. “Because, as you’ll see throughout the season and hopefully at reunion, you’ll be able to put pieces together and I understand more so why it’s easier for me to discuss.”
Also during the interview, Monica said that despite her negative experiences with the church, she is not against the idea of her daughters embracing religion.
“This is a very personal decision,” she noted. “I had religion forced on me growing up as a child and young adult and I’m taking a different approach with my children in regards to that and just supporting their feelings and how they want to do it. If they want to participate and it’s important to them, then I support that. If it’s something that they disagree with or don’t align with, then I support that as well.”
Live Viewing Thread – This is also the live viewing thread for the RHOSLC season four. Feel free to chat and comment below as the episode airs tonight on Bravo at 9/8c.