RHOBH’s Erika Jayne and Husband Thomas Girardi ‘Were More Like Close Friends Than Husband and Wife’

Over for good. A source tells In Touch exclusively Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne and husband Tom Girardi “were more like very close friends than husband and wife” following news of their split.

“Erika and Tom have led separate lives for years,” the insider divulges of the pair. “[She] would go off touring and doing her own thing, and Tom would do his.” The duo “realized it wasn’t working during lockdown” amid the global coronavirus pandemic “when travel restrictions were enforced.”

“The pandemic is having a mental impact on everyone, and Erika’s been reflecting on what she wants moving forward. Being married to Tom isn’t part of her plan.”

On November 3, the singer, 49, confirmed her breakup with the attorney, 81, in a statement. “After much consideration, I have decided to end my marriage to Tom Girardi,” she told Us Weekly. “This is not a step taken lightly or easily. I have great love and respect for Tom and for our years and the lives we built together. It is my absolute wish to proceed through this process with respect and with the privacy that both Tom and I deserved I request others give us that privacy as well.”

Erika and Tom, who is 32 years her senior, met in 1999 while she was working at Chasen’s restaurant in Los Angeles. “After a year of working in the restaurant, one night I decided to slip Tom my telephone number,” the Bravo star recalled in her 2018 memoir, Pretty Mess.

Tom then reached out to Erika through his secretary. “I told her, ‘Tell Mr. Girardi if he wants to take me out on a date, he needs to call me himself and ask me and give me enough time to prepare,'” she wrote. “You know how men are, especially if they are successful. They expect you to drop everything right away. That’s not how I work, I don’t care who you are.”

Six months later, the duo were engaged. Although he rarely made an appearance on RHOBH, Erika constantly defended their relationship.

“I’m tired of having to justify my 20-year marriage. Go get a 20-year marriage and then come f–king talk to me,” Erika said during an episode of the show in April. “It’s great to have financial support. But having someone’s emotional support is something that I wish I had more of growing up.”

While “Erika is upset, and the feelings she has for Tom will never disappear,” she’s “a strong woman and knows that she’s making the right decision by filing for divorce,” the insider continues. “She wants 2021 to be a fresh start!”

In Touch reached out to Erika but did not hear back at the time of publication.