Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole is getting brutally honest about the dark patches in her marriage. The 38-year-old restaurateur and author recently opened up about going through tough times in her marriage, revealing that even power couples hit rock bottom behind closed doors. Her message? Social media lies. Love takes work.
Cole, who married actor and producer Derrick Hayes in 2021, shared her raw truth during an emotional podcast interview. She described moments when she questioned everything, including whether the relationship could survive at all. The confession shocked fans who have watched the couple’s picture-perfect family life unfold across Instagram, complete with matching outfits, luxury vacations, and their two young children.
The entrepreneur admitted that working through marital challenges requires something most people do not want to hear: discomfort. She explained that she and Hayes have had screaming matches, silent treatments, and nights spent sleeping in separate rooms. There were times she wanted to walk out the door and never come back.
But she stayed. Not because it was easy. Because she decided that quitting would hurt more than the hard conversations.
Cole compared marriage to building a business. Nobody opens a restaurant and expects smooth service every single night. There are burnt fries, angry customers, and refrigerators that break at the worst possible moment. Marriage works the same way. The success is not in avoiding the crash. It is in cleaning up the mess together.
The most painful part of the journey, Cole revealed, was looking in the mirror. She had to admit where she was wrong. Where she was selfish. Where she chose pride over partnership. That kind of honesty does not fit inside a cute Instagram caption.
She credited therapy with saving the marriage. Individual sessions helped her unpack childhood wounds that kept showing up in her arguments with Hayes. Couples counseling gave them a neutral space to yell without destroying each other. She said the woman who entered the marriage is not the same woman in it today. Growth demanded that version of her die.
Cole also opened up about leaning heavily on her faith during the lowest points. Prayer became her morning ritual before she even opened her eyes. She stopped asking God to change her husband and started asking to change her own heart.
Her mother played an unexpected role too. Cole admitted calling her mom in tears more than once, expecting sympathy. Instead, her mother reminded her that marriage is not a feeling. It is a decision you make every single day, even on the days you do not feel like making it.
Cole said she kept quiet for years because she was ashamed. She built an empire on boldness and confidence. Admitting that her marriage was falling apart felt like admitting she had failed at the one thing money could not fix.
But then she started hearing from friends, employees, and strangers who were silently suffering in their own relationships. They saw her perfect photos and felt worse about their own imperfect lives. That broke something in her. She realized her silence was not protecting her marriage. It was feeding a lie that hurts everyone.
The restaurateur ended her confession with a simple truth. Love is not the absence of problems. Love is two people refusing to let their problems win.
She and Hayes are still together. Still fighting. Still growing. Still choosing each other when walking away would be so much easier. And that, she said, is the part of marriage nobody puts on a vision board.
