Author and relationship expert, Demetria Lucas, announced that she has left her husband after two years of marriage.
The former star of Bravo TV’s “Blood, Sweet and Heels” announced the news in a lengthy and candid Instagram post to her followers. In it, Lucas revealed that she and estranged husband Greg Doyley had trouble in their marriage for nearly a year.
‘He didn’t beat me’
The “Don’t Waste Your Pretty” author did not specify the cause of the marriage spiraling, however, she did make one thing clear: “He didn’t beat me.”
“I think it’s tacky to drag a partner or spouse publicly, so that’s all I have to say about that,” Lucas wrote. “I only mention that because a surprising number of people have asked, and upon hearing he didn’t, have encouraged me to work it out. Apparently being beat on is the only acceptable reason to leave your husband.”
She adds, “So what if a woman is perpetually unhappy, keeping a husband is far more important than that.”
‘I’ve been consumed with embarrassment’
Lucas, who is a former relationship editor at Essence, and has penned books as a life coach and dating expert, said that she felt embarrassed over her marriage failing.
“I’ve been consumed with shame, embarrassment, insecurity and fear,” she said.
“Over the last five months, I’ve been told that having a husband validated me, that he gave me credibility and I will be nothing without him. I’ve been told no one will want me. I’ve been told my career as a life coach, dating/ relationship expert and author is over. Maybe if I had been in a better place, I wouldn’t have believed those things.”
‘I am in a better place’
Despite it all, Lucas says she’s now in a better place and is getting back to her happy. “I decided not to waste my pretty. I go out, and I dress up, and I smile despite what I’m going through,” she wrote.
“I chant the lyrics to Anthony Brown’s “Worth” on the treadmill. I have a therapist. I read a lot of autobiographies and self-help books.”
But she admits: “There are days I still pull my truck over in the emergency lane and cry.”
Ultimately, she says, she’s still trying to figure it all out as she goes.
“I don’t know what all the lessons in this are yet, but I am actively trying to discover them,” Lucas says. “One thing I’ve (re)learned is the truth of my grandmother’s words, ‘just keep going’. My world imploded and I faced all my worst fears at once. What I thought would destroy me, did not. I am grateful.”