DeShawn Snow and former NBA player Eric Snow ended their marriage after roughly 12 years together. Eric filed for divorce in Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia in May 2010, citing irreconcilable differences and requesting joint custody of their three sons.
The legal filing itself used the standard language of irreconcilable differences. But DeShawn later gave a more personal account, saying she had been blindsided by Eric’s affair. Contemporary entertainment reports also alleged that the woman involved was pregnant at the time of the split and later gave birth to Eric’s daughter.
Who Filed for Divorce?
Eric Snow was the spouse who initiated the divorce case.
He filed in May 2010, about two years after DeShawn appeared on the first season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. The couple had three sons together: Eric Jr., Darius and Jarren.
In the filing, Eric reportedly asked for joint custody. Because he had spent many years in the NBA and the couple owned valuable property, the breakup was also widely described as a high-asset divorce.
What Was the Official Reason for the Divorce?
The court filing cited irreconcilable differences.
That phrase does not identify one specific act or event. It generally means the marriage has broken down and the spouses are no longer able to continue the relationship.
For years, however, reports about the Snow divorce focused on allegations that Eric had become involved with another woman. DeShawn later spoke publicly about being blindsided by an affair, making infidelity an important part of her own explanation of what happened.
Was Another Woman Involved?
Multiple reports from 2010 alleged that Eric was involved with Marisela Alvarado, a woman he knew from his college years at Michigan State.
Reports at the time said she was pregnant while Eric and DeShawn were separating and later gave birth to a daughter. Eric did not publicly provide a detailed response to the affair allegations in the early coverage.
Years later, DeShawn herself described the end of the marriage as involving an affair, saying she had been blindsided by what happened. That makes the affair more than just an internet rumor, although some of the specific details surrounding the relationship were originally reported through entertainment and gossip outlets rather than established in a public court finding.
How Did DeShawn React to the Breakup?
DeShawn has described the divorce as one of the darkest periods of her life.
In later interviews, she said she withdrew from people, struggled emotionally and spent a long period trying to rebuild herself. She has also said that, looking back, she was grateful the divorce was not filmed for Real Housewives because she did not believe she would have wanted to go through that experience on camera.
Her recovery became part of her public story. She focused on faith, personal development, writing, coaching and raising her sons.
Did the Divorce Lead to DeShawn’s Weight Loss?
Yes, DeShawn has connected a major physical transformation to the aftermath of the divorce.
She said she lost around 30 pounds after the split. At a time when much of her life felt outside her control, exercise and diet gave her something she could manage directly.
She later emphasized that the transformation was not only about appearance. She described it as part of a larger process of rebuilding emotionally and spiritually after the marriage ended.
Did Real Housewives of Atlanta Cause the Divorce?
There is no reliable evidence that RHOA caused DeShawn and Eric to separate.
DeShawn appeared only during the show’s first season and was not asked back for Season 2. The most dramatic events in her marriage happened after her television run had already ended.
In later interviews, DeShawn actually said she came to view leaving the show as fortunate because the cameras were gone by the time her marriage fell apart. Her own account points to problems in the relationship and Eric’s alleged affair, not reality television, as the central issue.
How Long Were DeShawn and Eric Snow Married?
DeShawn and Eric met while attending Michigan State University and married in the late 1990s.
By the time Eric filed for divorce in 2010, they had been married for roughly 12 years and had built a family with three sons. During DeShawn’s RHOA season, the marriage was presented publicly as stable and family-centered, which helped make the later breakup especially surprising to viewers.
What Happened to DeShawn After the Divorce?
DeShawn gradually rebuilt her career and public identity outside reality television.
She continued work connected with philanthropy, became involved in real estate, wrote books and later moved into coaching and motivational work. In a 2019 interview, she described the period after the divorce as painful but said it ultimately forced her to discover who she was beyond being an NBA wife.
More recently, in a 2025 podcast conversation, DeShawn again discussed divorce, infidelity, healing, self-acceptance and turning painful experiences into a sense of purpose.
Did Eric Snow Remarry?
Eric Snow later moved on from his marriage to DeShawn. Public biographical reports describe him as having remarried after the divorce.
Because Eric has kept much of his later personal life relatively private, fewer reliable details are publicly documented about his current family life than about the highly public 2010 breakup.
DeShawn Snow Divorce: What Was the Real Reason?
The simplest accurate answer is that Eric Snow legally filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, while DeShawn later said she was blindsided by his affair.
Reports from the time alleged that Eric had a relationship with another woman who was pregnant during the divorce period. Those reports became a major part of the public story surrounding the breakup, and DeShawn’s later comments about infidelity support the broader conclusion that another relationship played an important role.
At the same time, the public does not have every private detail of the marriage. It is therefore more accurate to say that infidelity was a major factor described by DeShawn rather than claiming that outsiders know every reason the 12-year marriage ended.
For DeShawn, the divorce became a turning point. She has since spoken less about assigning blame and more about how the experience pushed her toward healing, independence and a new sense of purpose.