In the 1995 movie ‘Waiting to Exhale,’ a heartbroken, fed up Bernadine Harris (played by Angela Bassett) gets revenge on her deceitful husband and releases her pain by piling his wardrobe into the back of his luxury car before dousing it all in lighter fluid and setting it ablaze. With the flames growing behind her, she lights a cigarette and walks away with her head held high.

It’s been 30 years since that iconic scene, but for The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Porsha Williams, its message of rage and resilience couldn’t be more relevant. As she posed for People’s re-creation of that moment and more memorable images from the film on May 16 in her hometown of Atlanta, she was processing her own feelings of betrayal and loss in real time.

I didn't expect today to be emotional," she says on-set. "But the moment I sat down at that vanity and started brushing my hair, just like Angela in the movie . . . it hit me: I've prettied up the ugly in my life too, when it wasn't so pretty. And I'm done doing that."

She means it. Just weeks after the shoot, following an intense legal battle, Williams's divorce from Simon Guobadia was finalized on June 11 by a Georgia judge. Guobadia, 61, appeared on Zoom from his native Nigeria, where he was deported to from the U.S. because of immigration violations, including bank and credit card fraud.

"You go through different stages," says Williams, 44, who returned to the Bravo show this season after a three-year hiatus. "You have that anger. You have the moment where you have to fight for your life in a court situation. And then, toward the end, you have the clarity where you realize you are still blessed. Your family is by our side, your child is protected; there's a whole new life that you can start."

The two met through Guobadia's ex, who also appeared on RHOA. She and Guobadia went public with their relationship on Instagram in 2021 and announced their engagement just one month after.

They celebrated their union with not one, but two weddings in November 2022: a traditional Nigerian ceremony honoring Simon's heritage, followed by a lavish American celebration in Atlanta.

"I'm a true hopeless romantic. Once I decide to be with you, I dedicate everything to you," she says. "And Simon matched my energy. He's very warm. He loved spending time with me. We were freakin' extra. If we wanted to fly out of the country every weekend or post on Instagram together about how much we loved each other, he was down."

He also provided Williams with what she thought was a "safety net" given their 17-year age difference. "I've been hurt really bad in different situations. I've felt defenseless, I've been lied to, I've been asked to change who I am and have not felt heard,” she says. “But Simon, he was settled in his life. And the biggest thing he used to stress to me was how he had grown. He was very upfront about the things he did in his past relationships and how he had worked on himself. I felt very protected by him. I felt like I met someone I could trust."

That sense of security was short-lived. After she uncovered what she calls "complex" issues with his legal status, Williams said she knew the relationship was “headed down a dark road,” and she hired an immigration attorney in January 2024. (PEOPLE, but headline rejigged)