Dennis McKinley’s blunt reasons for cheating on his fiancée, Porsha Williams, stunned fans who tuned into the Dec. 15 episode of ‘RHOA.’
Dennis McKinley’s honesty did not impress Porsha Williams, and neither did it go over smoothly with fans who witnessed their therapy session play out on the Dec. 15 episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Porsha and Dennis are now re-engaged, but at the time the episode was filmed, the parents had split due to Dennis’ cheating scandal that unraveled not long after the parents welcomed their first child, daughter Pilar Jhena, in March of 2019. He blamed his affair on the impact Porsha’s pregnancy had on their sex life — yes, really. “We had a rough pregnancy, all the way from start to finish. Sex during pregnancy, it’s nothing that a man wants to do,” Dennis revealed to Porsha’s therapist, Dr. Sherry. He added, “And after PJ got here, postpartum was very real. We cried together, like, every night. That’s not a good enough ‘why,’ but that’s the ‘why.’”
“It was a poor decision and it was a selfish decision. I made a mistake, I cheated,” Dennis further said at the therapist’s office. “I’ve done my best to let Porsha know that I love her and I’m remorseful and apologetic. The priority for me is the baby.” Despite Dennis’ attempt at being earnest, viewers of last Sunday’s episode couldn’t believe their ears.
“Dennis McKinley said he cheated on porsha whilst she was pregnant because 1) sex wasn’t the same and 2) dealing with her postpartum depression. Wow is all I can say,” one fan tweeted. Another fan disagreed with Porsha’s decision to give Dennis a second chance, writing, “W in the ever living Heck is this BS?? Porsha honey you are way too good for that BS man. Single mamas be doing every day and so can you! #RHOA.” A third fan rephrased Dennis’ confession, tweeting, “Soooo she pushed an entire HUMAN out of her vag, for you to betray her when she needs you the most?”
Porsha was on the same page with her fans after hearing Dennis’ real reasons for cheating. To the Bravo star, Dennis committed a much more grave offense than a “mistake,” which is what he labeled his infidelity. “A mistake, to me, is taking the wrong exit. You don’t make a mistake and set up with someone and cheat. That’s not where he need to be in order for me to heal and move forward. He needs to be in a place in my eyes where he’s taking full accountability for his actions, period,” Porsha declared during their therapy session. “No matter how it looks and feels. It insults me when he says mistake.”
Porsha later presented Dennis with a choice: “Our daughter is growing up by leaps and bounds every single day. If we’re going to be together for her, we’re going to have to start working on it…If you’re going to live how you want to live because that’s just what your loins want, we can move on with our co-parent life. But if you are really trying to make a commitment over here, that’s what I want to know from your heart.” Dennis assured the mother of his child that he didn’t want to keep their relationship at a co-parenting level, a goal that Porsha ultimately wanted too.
It has been several months since reports of Porsha and Dennis’ split surfaced in June, and they’ve come a long way since the therapy session that fans just watched. “Porsha and Dennis have been working really hard to get their relationship back on track since the summer and they’re doing better than ever,” a source close to the production EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife in December. The insider added, “It was really hard for Porsha to forgive Dennis for cheating and it’s been hard for them as a couple to relive it and hear people talking about it now that it’s airing on TV. It filmed months ago and they’re in a different place now.”