Ruby Franke and Kevin Franke‘s divorce is still in the works but he is already looking forward to moving on with someone new.
“As of today, I’m still working through the divorce,” Kevin, 46, said in an interview with People, which was published on Wednesday, February 26. “We’re trying to reach a settlement. It’s been a long process, well over a year, but it’s ongoing.”
Kevin noted he was “close” to being officially divorced from Ruby, 43. He has also started thinking about getting back into the dating scene.
“Well, of course, it’s something I think about,” he admitted. “But I’m a man of my honor, and I’m still technically married. So I’m holding off until the divorce is finalized. When the time’s right, that’s something I think that I’ll look forward to pursuing.”
Ruby and Kevin were happily married when they rose to stardom in 2015 for documenting their day-to-day lives as parents of six kids. Their marriage hit a turning point four years later when they started going to therapy with Jodi Hildebrandt.
Kevin recently broke his silence about how Ruby’s friendship with Hildebrandt led to him leaving their family home in 2022. Nearly one year later, Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested and charged with six counts of felony child abuse. The arrest came after Ruby’s youngest son, who was 12 years old at the time, escaped out of a window in their home and ran to a neighbor’s house where he asked for food and water. Authorities noticed that the child was malnourished and had duct tape on his ankles and wrists.
Ruby pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse in December 2023 and admitted she tortured her children. As part of her plea deal, she agreed to serve a prison term and agreed that her sentences would run consecutively. She also agreed to testify against Hildebrandt, who pleaded guilty.
“You are the love of my life,” Ruby said in an apology to her kids and Kevin during a February 2024 court hearing. “The ending of our marriage is a tragedy.”
Kevin was asked about his relationship with Ruby in Hulu’s three-part docuseries Devil in the Family, which premiered on Thursday, February 27.
“Definitely. I always loved her,” he noted. When a producer asked if Kevin still felt the same way “even though she abused the kids,” Kevin stood by his initial statement, adding, “Oh, yeah. The actions that she did are atrocious. But I still feel a longing and I miss her.”
Kevin continued: “All of the delivery rooms and all of the moments holding our children. It is easy for the world to hate that woman and so many people want me to join in that chorus and I cannot turn off all of those other memories.”
Despite his complicated connection to Ruby, Kevin couldn’t excuse her actions. “I found it very difficult to look at Ruby [in the courtroom] so I chose not to,” he added. “To hear this woman — that I had worshiped — admit to destroying our family, that hurt.”
Kevin has also expressed regret about separating from Ruby in 2022 and allowing her to allegedly keep him from seeing the kids.
“Little by little, I was accepting the idea that Ruby and Jodi had done something awful,” he recalled. “I feel angry when I think about that. I absolutely feel guilty. I was the last line of defense for these children and I packed my bags and walked away.”
To report child abuse, consult the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Child Welfare Information Gateway for state-specific reporting phone numbers.
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