Honesty hour. Jenna Dewan opened up about her painful divorce from Channing Tatum and how tough it was to begin the new chapter. The pair were married for nine years before announcing their split in April 2018 — the paperwork was officially filed that following October.
“I always say no one gets married to hopefully get divorced,” the 38-year-old told People in an interview published on October 9. The dancer added that their romance simply fizzled out. “People grow and they change and sometimes they don’t grow and change together. So it wasn’t a overnight thing that happened … There was no one event. I think it was just a slow realization that we wanted different things.”
Jenna and Channing, 39, met on the set of Step Up in 2006 and got hitched three years later. The actress gave birth to their daughter, Everly, in 2013. Obviously, the exes went through so much together, which made it even harder to say goodbye.
“I was just gutted. It was so difficult for me,” the brunette beauty recalled about their divorce. “It was the loss of an idealistic future for myself and my life. What does that now look like for me? Where do I begin? I met him when I was 24, I didn’t know life without Chan.”
Now, Jenna is in a happy relationship with Steve Kazee and the two are expecting their first child together. Although things changed, the World of Dance star gushed that she’s now in a “very joyful” place in life.
“You would never expect your life to take a turn the way it does, but embracing it and starting fresh and figuring out what you want in life and what means a lot to you and what’s meaningful, what is going to make you happy,” she explained. “I’m grateful that I now am at a place where I understand myself and what I want and I’m happy about this new chapter. I’m in a place of joy.”
She’s still adjusting to her “new normal,” but Jenna is taking everything in stride. “It wasn’t easy necessarily, to get here, which nothing is easy in life, right? I had to put in the work. This doesn’t just happen overnight,” she acknowledged. “But just to know that it’s possible, and your perspective on life can change. It can change for the better, and you’ll be fine.”
We can’t wait to see what else is in store for Jenna!