Joanna Krupa opened up about her divorce from Miami night club owner Romain Zago saying the heartbreaking experience has left her feeling ‘unbreakable’, DailyMail.com can reveal.
And the 39-year-old reality TV star – who finalized her divorce on August 17 – admits she’s ‘delighted’ that she froze her eggs three years ago, because she can still fulfill her dream of having children.
Krupa says she was caught off guard when husband of four years Zago called time on their marriage last December.
But despite spending ‘weeks’ crying alone into her pillow, she has come through the split feeling stronger than ever, plowing her time into work to fend off depression.
Joanna Krupa told DailyMail.com she cried for weeks when her ex husband Romain Zago asked for a divorce. But after recovering from heartbreak, the Real Housewives star said she feels stronger than ever
The Real Housewives of Miami alum told DailyMail.com: ‘You gotta keep going, you can’t hide under a blanket or underneath your bed and just be like, “I give up on everything”. You just gotta keep going.’
Krupa says she still believes in love, but credits not giving up her own career for being able to deal with the heartache.
‘I’m a hard worker, I’m very independent, so I think the fact that I have always had my own career, that really helped me as well,’ she said.
‘And thank goodness I never gave up my career for a man because you know what, maybe right now I would not be in the situation that I am.
‘I still believe in love and finding the man I will still have kids with. You never know what life can bring.’
‘It’s just that certain things in a relationship that don’t necessarily work out’: Krupa said she and Romain Zago (pictured leaving court in Miami after officially signing divorce papers) respect the ten years they shared as a couple
She added: ‘I would love to have a boy and a girl – that is my dream.’
Polish-born Krupa says she is solely ‘focused’ on work for the moment, adding that her inner-strength comes from her childhood when she and her family emigrated from Poland to move to the US.
‘I helped raised my sister so I think I just grew with thick skin and no matter what, I think I’ll be okay, she said, adding: ‘I think I’m tougher than anything right now and I’m unbreakable right now.’
Krupa has previously said she lost seven pounds after the split, enduring the ‘worst Christmas imaginable’.
But the star says working with animals on a TV show in her native Poland helped keep her mind off it.
Krupa said working with animals helped her get through her divorce. The model is an advocate for PETA and has posed nearly naked for several of its campaigns
She said: ‘There were weeks where I was really sad, I was crying, and then a month after he asked for the divorce, I got this TV show in Poland which was based mostly on animal rescue and I believe that show really helped me get through it, the tough times.
‘Because there would be days that I would wake up in the morning with really bad knots in my stomach and I didn’t want to go to work, but you know what, those animals kept me focused and they were therapy.’
Krupa also put on a brave face on social media after the split, regularly posting nude, or nearly nude photos, perhaps to show her ex what he’s missing.
‘You know what, I think maybe it is because I’m European and I love my body,’ she says with a beaming smile.
She explained that her and Zago’s marriage went off the rails because of their differing priorities, but she insists the former couple are still friends.
‘I think the biggest thing is that we still remain very close, we’re very close friends,’ she explains.
When asked about posing sexy for photos and going topless on the beach, Krupa told DailyMail.com with a smile: ‘You know what, I think maybe it is because I’m European and I love my body’
Krupa (right of Dancing with the Stars’ Karina Smirnoff, Gilles Marini and Edyta Sliwinska) spoke candidly at the launch party of friend Karina Smirnoff’s ‘Karina Collection’ with LA Splash Cosmetics at the Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills
The Real Housewives star said she is now looking for a man with a ‘sense of humor who doesn’t take life too seriously’
‘We’ve never stopped being close, we’ve never stopped being good friends.
‘It’s just that certain things in a relationship that don’t necessarily work out. But we do respect the ten years that we had and we talk more than ever now and I wish him the best and he wishes me the best.’
Divorce papers filed in July by Krupa claimed her marriage to Zago, 44, was ‘irretrievably broken’ and the separation was finalized amicably on August 17.
Neither of them asked for alimony. The two provided the judge with signed copies of a confidential post-nuptial agreement.
It’s understood the pair had previously divided up their assets privately with a Marital Settlement Agreement.
Krupa says that now the divorce has been finalized she feels ready to reclaim her happiness.
‘You know loving yourself, knowing that if somebody wants the divorce, that you deserve better,’ she said.
‘That you’re a good person, that you live and learn. Obviously I’ve learned from my mistakes with him and I’m sure he did too. But you’ve got to just move forward.’
The beauty is now on the hunt for a man with a ‘sense of humor who doesn’t take life too seriously’, adding that her next partner must be an ‘animal lover.’
Krupa spoke at the launch party of friend Karina Smirnoff’s ‘Karina Collection’ with LA Splash Cosmetics at the Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills.