This was the end. Yolanda and David Foster knew that their marriage was over for several months before they formally announced that they were divorcing on Tuesday, Dec. 1, a source tells Us Weekly exclusively.
The insider says that the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills couple have “been separated for months,” but were figuring out how to handle their breakup publicly. According to the source, both Yolanda, 51, and David, 66, “knew it wouldn’t work,” but weren’t quite ready to make the split official.
Another source previously told Us in October that things were “rocky” between the couple. Yolanda, who’s struggled for many years with Lyme disease, battled her debilitating condition through most of their union. “Things got really bad when she got sick. She didn’t think he was there for her,” the insider told Us. “He would take off for days at a time.”
Indeed, on the premiere of Season 6 of RHOBH on Tuesday night, Yolanda expressed frustration about spending so much time apart from her husband. “He travels and does charities all over the world,” she said on the Bravo series. “It’s been like that since the day I met him . . . Just because I’m sick doesn’t mean that’s going to change.”
A third source told Us several months ago that the couple have lived separate lives for a long time. “David is always off traveling the world for work,” the insider said of the Grammy-winning record producer. “And Yolanda’s entire life has become her bedroom. It’s like a cave and she spends months on end in bed . . . She has basically been sick since they first got married, so through the whole marriage.”
Still, the same source told Us that her husband was devoted to her, even though he couldn’t always be by her side. “David loves her,” the insider said in October. “But it just hasn’t been much of a marriage.”
The couple reiterated to Us Weekly in their statement on Tuesday that they tried to work out their issues. “We are grateful for the years we’ve spent together and believe wholeheartedly that we did our best,” the pair said. “I hope that we can pave the road ahead of us with all we’ve learned and with the love and respect we will always have for one another.”
On Tuesday, following the season premiere, Yolanda blogged about her struggle with Lyme disease, hours after her divorce reveal. “One day soon I hope to have the ability to write about uncovering the mystery of this chronic disease and share with you the true depth of my story,” the Dutch model wrote on her Bravo blog. “But until then I am just a housewife on a mission with laser focus on one thing and one thing only…my health! I have faith that God often uses our deepest pain as the launching pad of our greatest calling.”
