The Real Reason Porsha Williams And Dennis McKinley Split

After a disastrous marriage to former football player Kordell Stewart that ended in 2014, fans of The Real Housewives of Atlanta were happy to see Porsha Williams in love again, this time with The Original Hot Dog Factory head honcho Dennis McKinley. Their relationship reportedly began in 2018 and moved forward at full-throttle. Williams went from being the Princess of THOTlandia to a mama-to-be in the blink of an eye. In September 2018, the same month Williams announced her baby news, she and McKinley got engaged. The couple began chronicling the birth of their daughter (and their relationship struggles) on the reality star's spin-off show, Porsha's Having a Baby.

Sadly, the Georgia native's dreams of showcasing a picture-perfect relationship and fairy-tale wedding were crushed when rumors emerged about her prince charming behaving badly. The star was spotted without her engagement ring and spent Father's Day 2019 hanging out poolside with her daughter (sans McKinley), but don't throw your save the dates in the trash just yet. It looks like the pair may be on the path to reconciliation. 

So, what exactly happened with Williams' whirlwind romance? Here's a run-down of the couple's issues (but hey, nobody's perfect!).

Viewers of The Real Housewives of Atlanta knew just how much Porsha Williams wanted to become a mother after suffering a terrible loss during her first marriage. "I've had a miscarriage before in my past, which I've also been open about because I suffer with fibroids and had to have a myomectomy," she told People magazine. She was even scouting another man to potentially father a child with her: ex-boyfriend Todd Stewart, whom she asked to sign a "baby-nup" during a 2017 episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta (via Us Weekly). "It's an agreement so we don't have to argue later. We can argue now!" she proclaimed.

When Williams met Dennis McKinley in 2018, it appeared she didn't want to waste time. Their relationship progressed quickly — getting pregnant and getting engaged within a matter of months, but not everyone was happy with the pace of their romance. "Those close to Porsha know how badly she wanted a baby and questioned how quickly she rushed into this," a supposed friend of the star told Hollywood Life. "But she did fall in love, they just wanted to see her take her time."

As soon as Porsha Williams unveiled her new beau to her The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast members, Dennis McKinley's supposed skeletons immediately began to tumble out of the closet. Co-star Kandi Burruss (pictured) was one of the first to provide some intel during a conversation with her friend, Carmon Cambrice, and Williams' former friend, Jami Ziegler. During the scandalous tea session (via Radar Online) — which happened behind Williams' back, of course — Ziegler reportedly revealed that McKinley was allegedly in a relationship with a friend of hers for "two-and-a-half, three years." While Ziegler and her gal pal were on a trip to Africa, her friend allegedly received a text message informing her that McKinley was "with Porsha now."

Burruss said she believed there were even more women in McKinley's life that may have overlapped. "I know a couple girls that he was dating during that time," she claimed. If those rumors are true, Williams' relationship may have been doomed from the start. 

Some fans may have been concerned that Porsha Williams was jumping into a relationship with Dennis McKinley too quickly, but come to find out, the pace might not have been entirely her fault. During an episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta (via Radar Online), co-stars Kandi Burruss, Carmon Cambrice, and Jami Ziegler were gossiping about McKinley and claimed to have uncovered his modus operandi. "He falls pretty quickly — and he tattoos people's names on him," Burruss said. She then proceeded to dish about a woman she knew, claiming McKinley tattooed "her face and her name" on his body. Burruss also alleged that McKinley splurged on a Rolex watch for the woman in question. Ziegler also claimed that McKinley had her friend's name inked on him, too.

The televised exchange was dramatic, particularly considering the scandalous conversation was cut with scenes of a none-the-wiser Williams gushing to her mom about McKinley buying her a Rolex watch and showing her mom a picture of her name tattooed on McKinley's thigh. "He's gonna put my face on his back! This is for real, like, he ain't going nowhere," Williams swooned. Ouch.

Rumors that Porsha Williams and Dennis McKinley were experiencing relationship troubles began in May 2019, when fans of The Real Housewives of Atlanta star noticed she had reportedly unfollowed her fiancé on Instagram. Now, this might not sound like too big of a deal, but in celeb circles, hitting the unfollow button is usually a sign of impending doom.

Days later, YouTuber Latasha Kebe of unWinewithTashaK posted a bombshell video with a woman making claims that McKinley was involved in a relationship with WAGS Atlanta star Sincerely Ward. McKinley denied the dirt in a statement and announced he was "taking legal action" against Kebe, per Us Weekly. Ward released a statement of her own, telling E! News: "It's bizarre, I've never met Dennis." She added, "In Atlanta, it's easy to have 6-degrees of separation [but] to my knowledge, I don't even know if we've even been in the same room together."

At some point, Williams re-followed McKinley on Instagram, only to unfollow him again in June 2019. Word is that Williams' mom and sister also unfollowed him when the infidelity rumors erupted. 

A source close to the Bravolebrity told Hollywood Life that those in Porsha Williams' inner circle weren't surprised by the June 2019 breakup announcement. "Her family and friends have been in her ear for weeks now telling her that she should leave him. This was all her own decision and they all knew that she would come to this on her own," the insider alleged.

The source claimed The Real Housewives of Atlanta co-star Kandi Burruss had been "urging Porsha for months now as she heard rumblings around town about Dennis being unfaithful." Former housewife Kenya Moore had also allegedly offered Williams support during the alleged demise of her relationship. By the looks of it, it appears that everyone but Williams suspected the relationship with Dennis McKinley was headed nowhere fast!

While going through the stages of being a new mom and battling through alleged baby daddy issues, Porsha Williams had no time to sit around and wallow in her headline-making relationship woes. Sans engagement ring, but while wearing a silver band on her ring finger, she attended the American Black Film Festival in June 2019. While there, she briefly chatted about the status of her engagement.

Although she didn't reveal whether the rumors about McKinley being unfaithful were true or not, Williams reportedly stated (via Hollywood Life): "I'm pretty much doing everything in my own time." She added, "Not that there's anything I'm trying to hide or run away from, but if you love someone and you make a mistake or he makes a mistake or whatever's going on, you gotta make sure y'all are good at the end of the day." Hmm...it sounds like whatever went down between McKinley and Williams is going to take some time to process. 

Less than a month after giving birth to her daughter, the Daily Mail reported that Porsha Williams had been hit with federal liens totaling more than $240,000 for multiple year's worth of unpaid taxes. The website wrote: "Now the government is threatening to take her property as payment unless Williams forks over the money." Oh no! According to an Us Weekly insider, the reality star was "unaware" that she owed any money but worked diligently to resolve the matter. "The bill has been settled — there are no outstanding debts," the source said. 

Unfortunately, rumor has it that Williams had other financial issues on her plate. According to Radar Online, she and Dennis McKinley had a "blowout fight over money problems" when she was made aware of the tax lien. A source claimed all of the couple's drama would "unfold on camera" during Season 12 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Brace yourselves.

If things had gone as planned, Porsha Williams and Dennis McKinley would have been married by now — at least, that's what the reality star wants us to believe. During a May 2019 episode of Porsha's Having a Baby (via People), she told McKinley's mother, Mama Gina, that they had already pushed back their nuptials once before. "I didn't postpone a wedding cause I'm unsure. I postponed a wedding because I'm pregnant," she said.

The updated tentative wedding date was set for New Year's Eve, but Williams also shared that the couple had hit another snafu. "I originally wanted to get married before I had baby PJ. But Dennis and I haven't really gotten into the nitty gritty of the prenup. Now I don't think it's the time. We should be concentrating on PJ," she told Mama Gina. William's mother-in-law-to-be disagreed, believing that pressing pause on the nuptials was "holding things from progressing forward." And she was right, but maybe Williams had an inkling that racing to the altar wasn't the best idea.

Speaking of Mama Gina (pictured, left), on episodes of Porsha's Having a Baby (via People), she appeared to be very involved in the couple's business. She seemed desperate to get Porsha Williams to reconsider putting her wedding to Dennis McKinley on ice. "Have a private ceremony and get married. Then you can have a formal to-do later," Gina said. Perhaps the eager MIL could feel the temperature from Williams' cold feet from a mile away because she also posed this question to her potential daughter-in-law: "What is it you're still unsure about? Do you want to be a baby mama or a wife?" 

Williams told her: "We ain't having a shotgun wedding!" She also politely (and somewhat awkwardly) asked Mama Gina to back off a bit. "I love you and I appreciate your concern. But I'm not going to try to penetrate your relationship. Don't penetrate ours," she said. 

Our hearts broke after the June 2019 announcement that Porsha Williams and Dennis McKinley had split. Fans weren't necessarily surprised considering the infidelity rumors, but it was gutting considering the fact that the Go Naked Hair founder wanted to be a mom and a wife so badly. According to an insider who spoke to Radar Online, Williams was allegedly the one who ditched the engagement ring and called it quits, but fans still had hope — and so did Williams' family.

A family member who spoke to Us Weekly claimed there was still a "tiny, tiny, tiny chance they would get back together, [but] likely no." Hey, a tiny chance is still a chance, and it looks like Williams and McKinley might have actually worked out their issues. An anonymous source who spoke to Us Weekly that August confirmed that the couple were back on, so don't throw away your save the dates just yet. Though fans haven't heard a peep from Williams about her supposed on-and-off relationship, the Bravo star has been spotted wearing her engagement ring and even took McKinley on a trip with her RHOA castmates. It looks like Williams and McKinley might just live happily ever after, after all.