RHOA Newbie Kelli Ferrell’s former lover was recently jailed
Kelly Ferrellnewcomer to The Real Housewives of Atlanta, brings drama to the upcoming season. The reality star chef is currently in the middle of a divorce that has resulted in her estranged husband, Chuvalo Mark Ferrell, spending time behind bars.
Bravo has announced that Food Network chef Kelly will join Season 16 of RHOA along with Angela Oakley, Shami Morton-Mwangi and Brittany Eddy. She opened Nana’s Chicken-N-Waffles in Georgia. It seems like Kelly has a lot going on right now, and viewers may catch snippets of her divorce drama in the upcoming season.
Chicken, Waffles, and Nursery
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Kelly listed her marriage date as August 20, 2011. Their separation was listed as January 2022 with “no hope of reconciliation.”
Chuvalo responded to the divorce in June 2022. He also admitted that there was no hope of resolving their issues. However, he disputed that their breakup happened in 2021 and not 2022.
As in any divorce proceeding, it gets messy here. Kelly listed marital assets worth $1.7 million, including the restaurant, home furnishings, cars and various luxury items that had accumulated during their marriage.
The former couple also share three children, while Kelly has an older daughter from a previous relationship. Currently, Kelis is requesting sole custody, child support and attorney fees. She also filed a restraining order to prevent her ex-husband from selling or transferring any of their collective property while the proceedings are underway.
For his part, Chuvalo is demanding joint physical and legal custody of their children. He also said that he and Kelly “support themselves” and neither should have spousal support.
Messier and Messier
However, like many divorces, things continued to get complicated. The former couple navigated court proceedings, properties, and businesses, and continued filing lawsuits back and forth to determine who was owed what and how much was owed.
Over the past two years, the two parties have accused the other of alleged crimes in the handling of their financial affairs and joint businesses. However, in June 2022, a judge ruled in Kelly’s favor, granting her ownership of Nana’s Chicken-N-Waffles restaurant. Her ex-husband was also ordered to repay her $420,000, which he allegedly withdrew.
Chuvalo acknowledged the court order but objected to the decision. He claimed the money was supposed to be used to build another restaurant location.
In 2023, the former duo reached a temporary custody agreement, with Kelly retaining physical custody while they shared joint legal custody. Chuvalo was also ordered to pay monthly child support.
But it didn’t end there. Kelly recently filed a plea to contempt of her ex-husband for allegedly not following a court order. The court found Chuvalo guilty of contempt, and he was detained in January and released in February. He allegedly still owes her $420,000 in unpaid child support.
For his part, Chuvalo did not reveal much but stated through his lawyer that he is focused on his family and disagreed with Kelly involving their children in “public appearances and on television” without his consent. I guess we’ll see what that means for the show.
According to the court docket, her next divorce hearing is scheduled for August.
TELL US – ARE YOU LOOKING OUT TO KELLY ON RHOA? Or is it just too fast drama?
