Phaedra Parks: I Did All I Could for Apollo

The 'RHOA' star breaks her silence about her marriage.

Oct 15, 2014, 9:21 AM ET

In her first interview since her husband Apollo Nida reported to prison for fraud, Phaedra Parks is speaking out about the state of her marriage, raising her two children on her own, and what's in store for the future.

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"I went out of my way to get him the best attorneys, the best investigators, and to do everything I could," Phaedra tells Ellen in an interview airing on the talk show host's program today. "I'm an attorney myself and so I wanted him to have the best so we could fight this together, but obviously it did not turn out like that."

Since Apollo reported to a Lexington, Kentucky prison for an 8-year sentence last month, Phaedra has been raising her two sons, Ayden and Dylan, on her own. And she admits it's been a challenge.

"It is extremely hard," she says. "My heart aches for my two sons because they are the heart and soul of who I am. That's the best thing we ever did together. We have these great kids. I never wanted to do anything to diminish his character in public. But we've had some times where he's done things that weren't so cool… weren't so nice."

On the new season of Real Housewives of Atlanta (premiering next month), Phaedra will be faced with allegations that she had an affair with a man named Chocolate. But she insists that all those rumors are bunk—with her trademark wit intact.

"I think it's totally absurd to think that I cheated," she says. "They're saying that I had an affair with a man from Africa named Chocolate. Now, everybody knows that I do love a Snickers bar every once in a while, but it's definitely not a man from Africa that I've ever had an affair with. It's just absurd."

Now, as she is set to dissolve her marriage to Apollo (she revealed last week that she intends to file for divorce), she's focusing on what's best for her boys. "I work," she says. "I just got my fifth college degree -- I'm pretty much an overachiever."

Watch a preview of the interview below.