Sarah Simmons of Life After Lockup opened up about how “devastating” it was for her when Michael Simmons was sent to prison for three years. While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant, Sarah talked about her introduction to being a single mom.
Fans have watched the messy end of Sarah and Michael’s marriage. The two got married during his incarceration after falling in love as teenagers. Prior to Michael’s sentence, she had already given birth to their eldest daughter Avianha and had high hopes for their future upon his release. Once he was released, the two moved quickly, conceiving their second daughter. However, Sarah was blindsided when she learned that Michael was involved in a romantic relationship with another woman who lived in Texas. After multiple attempts to make their Life After Lockup marriage work, Sarah decided to move on and focus solely on a co-parenting relationship with Michael. Now, she is in a new relationship with her boyfriend Malcolm, while working to arrange a custody agreement with Michael ahead of filing for divorce.
Screen Rant recently caught up with the WeTV star and got her to open up about how she dealt with Michael being sent to jail so soon after they welcomed their first daughter. “At the time, Michael and I were inseparable,” she shared. “I mean, we were literally best friends. And I was young, yes, but I was extremely in love with this guy. We built our relationship off of friendship, and I thought that was really special.” She went on to recall the happy place the couple was in prior to his jail sentence. “When we had a child, he had already proposed to me, we were engaged, and our relationship was serious,” the mother of two explained. Then, she shared how hard it was dealing with his incarceration. “We’d lived together for a few years now, so his going to prison obviously was devastating,” she said, before speaking about being a single mom at such a young age. “I’m having a child and have to raise her on my own, you’re in prison for all these years,” she added. Sarah went on to say that she intended to remain a devoted spouse to Michael during and after his sentence.
“But there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to hold him down. I was going to hold him down, and I was doing what I had to do to create a better life for him when he got out and really help him succeed the best way I could,” she confessed. As fans know, she was left heartbroken after learning of Michael’s infidelity during her second pregnancy. “Everything that happened was especially a shock, and dealing with it while pregnant with my second daughter was just a kicker,” the Life After Lockup star admitted. “It was just very emotional, because when you’re pregnant with someone’s child, there’s almost this draw, this craving, this connection to this person. Your hormones and emotions are on 10 at the same time, so you’re like, “Oh my, God.” What are you gonna do?”
Having already been a single mom during his imprisonment, Sarah explained how different it was after their breakup. “I’ve been a single mom to one kid. I waited three years to be relieved of that, and now I have to go and turn around and be a single mother to two? What am I going to do,” she shared. Fans are still wondering if Sarah will go through with the divorce by the end of Life After Lockup season four.
