Todd Tucker is opening up about the “dark” and isolating period he experienced while separated from “Real Housewives of Atlanta” alum Kandi Burruss in a candid interview with Page Six.
“I’m gonna be honest, when we separated, I stayed in the guesthouse, which is just me in this big house by myself. My kids and the family are next door, and it was a lot of alone time,” Tucker, 53, exclusively told Page Six.
With so much time alone, Tucker said he found himself consumed by painful questions about the end of his marriage and the possibility of losing his family. “What did I just do? What just happened? Did I lose my family?” he recalled. “So I’m gonna be honest, I had nobody really to lean on.”
The entertainment producer also repeated a disturbing admission featured in his upcoming docuseries, “Til Divorce Do Us Part,” revealing that during some of his most difficult moments, he “looked at [his] gun.”
Tucker said he ultimately pulled himself back by focusing on his responsibilities as a father. “But then I snapped out of it, like, ‘No, you have a family. You have kids that you have to see them through,’” he remembered.
Tucker and Burruss, 50, have four children between them. They share 10-year-old son Ace and 6-year-old daughter Blaze, while each has an adult daughter from a previous relationship: Kaela Tucker, 30, and Riley Burruss, 24.
“It was a lot of dark times, but since then, I’ve been going to church, I’m about to find me a therapist and just take this journey of rebuilding myself,” Todd said. He added that he wants to become “the best dad and the best co-parent” while moving forward.
Previews for “Til Divorce Do Us Part,” which Todd described as his answer to Kandi’s recent “I Do. I Did. I’m Done.” tour, feature serious conversations with several of his male friends. Many of those friends have appeared on “RHOA” or remain connected to the franchise.
Tucker said making and appearing in the docuseries was “very emotional,” but he believed it was “important” to share his perspective and, as a man, “get it out” and “tell [his] side of the story.”
“I think we [men] carry a lot of stress, we carry a lot inside, and sometimes, it’s too late, you know? It’s a stroke, or he’s got cancer because he’s been holding it [in],” he said.
His message to other men is to seek help before emotional pain becomes overwhelming. “Just get it out, speak to a therapist, however you got to get it out,” Todd urged. “Don’t try to bash anybody, don’t try and make anybody look bad, but just get it off your chest.”
Tucker also believes he is entitled to speak publicly about his experiences because Burruss has frequently discussed their relationship in the public eye.
“I’ve been labeled everything in the book for over a decade on ‘Housewives.’ And I’ve never really spoken, and I just wanna be heard. And after that, I’ll go fade into the darkness, and you won’t hear nothing again,” he said.
“And I’ll just do my movies and, you know, still do my projects, but I won’t be talking,” vowed Todd, who will host a double-feature premiere of his docuseries and new film, “Don’t Bring Your Man to Atlanta,” next month as part of an AMC Theaters weekend takeover.
The TTucker Productions founder, who famously left his job as a “RHOA” producer so he could date Kandi without a professional conflict, also said he is confused by her reaction to a moment featured in the first “Til Divorce Do Us Part” trailer.
In the preview, “RHOA” alum Cynthia Bailey’s former husband, Peter Thomas, asks Todd, “Is the threesome s–t for real for real?” Todd responds, “We did, we did. I would say [for] most of our marriage, we did.”
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Burruss later criticized Todd for “choosing to sensationalize [their] sex life to stretch his five minutes of fame.” She argued that “what consensually happens between a husband and wife in the privacy of their marriage is exactly that: private.”
Todd disputed that characterization, pointing out that the Grammy-winning musician and former Bravolebrity had discussed their sex life during her 14 seasons on “RHOA.” Burruss also shared details on her adult-themed talk show, “Kandi Koated Nights,” and created the Bedroom Kandi sex-toy line.
“I gotta ask you a question: Do we have a private marital sex life?” Todd asked rhetorically during the interview.
“And this is not even from me. Like, you’ve heard it from her. So how private is it?” he continued. Todd added that Burruss had discussed their threesomes without consulting him, but said he generally chose not to object. “For the most part, I’m a good sport, so I never made a problem of it or an issue of it.”
He claimed Thomas’ question arose from Kandi’s own confessions.
“So at the end of the day, I’m not throwing out there any new information,” Todd insisted. “I’m not out there doing a tell-all or naming any people or doing anything like that. It was just a conversation, and that’s really all it was.”
As for why Kandi pulled the plug on their 11-year marriage, Todd admitted vaguely that there was one particular “incident” involving another woman, which he will elaborate on in the docuseries.
“A lot of our friends were like, ‘Buy her flowers, buy her flowers.’ But I was like, ‘Hey, this is bigger than flowers.’ So I set up for us to go to therapy ’cause this was beyond buying flowers. ‘Cause if I buy flowers and she’s happy and we’re cool, I’m still not 100%, you know what I’m saying?” Todd said.
“So I wanted to deal with the overall relationship issues, and I think looking back, she wanted me to fix where she was at in the moment before she could fix the bigger part of the relationship issues, if that makes sense. So I just think when I saw she wasn’t willing to fight with me, I just thought that it’s probably best for me to just kind of bow out. If she wants a divorce, give her the divorce.”
But Todd, who told us repeatedly that he misses his family, added, “I made vows to be with her forever, and I would have stayed forever.”
However, he accepts Kandi’s decision and acknowledged that “sometimes, things aren’t meant forever.” And even though they’ve experienced rocky moments amid their very public split, Todd made sure to stress, “We’re always fine with each other. There’s never any tension or anything. Even though we may be pissed off or mad or feeling a way, we put it to the side for our kids.”
Though Todd doesn’t necessarily blame reality TV for the demise of his marriage, he does feel it “played a part.”
He also believes he “allowed a lot of disrespect” from Kandi’s historically critical mom, “Mama Joyce” Jones, and said he feels a weight has been “lifted off [his] shoulders” now that she’s no longer an active part of his life.
“I was trying to prove myself to somebody who didn’t like me, and I never stopped,” he told us. “And I’ve never stopped caring about her seeing my kids and making sure [they know], ‘That’s your grandma. Make sure you call her.’”
As for whether he’s currently dating, Todd explained he “need[s] some time to get [himself] together” before he can be “ready to be a good man for somebody” else.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.