Jodie Turner-Smith Doesn’t See Her Divorce As a ‘Failure’

“The bravest thing in the world is to recognize when something’s not working.”

In October, Jodie Turner-Smith shocked fans when she filed for divorce from Joshua Jackson after four years of marriage, citing “irreconcilable differences.” Now Turner is sharing her side of the story, telling the Times of London in a new interview that there was “as much love and joy” as there always has been between herself and Jackson, but it was time to move on.

“Sometimes things we really want to work just don’t end up working,” Turner-Smith said. “And that’s OK. The most important thing is that you choose what’s healthiest for you and your family and definitely your children.” She added that she was thinking of the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Juno, when she decided on the divorce. “The bravest thing in the world is to recognize when something’s not working and to make a move, and I always want to set that kind of example for my daughter,” she said. “The big takeaway is that this is about just as much love and joy as it has always been. This is only about taking a step forward into a better life for everybody involved.”

Turner-Smith and Jackson’s fans were surprised to learn that the couple’s date of separation was listed in court documents as September 13, a day after they were photographed holding hands and smiling at a New York Fashion Week event. Soon after the filing, a source told People that Turner-Smith “decided she was done” with the relationship because it had “turned into an unhealthy marriage that made her unhappy.” Meanwhile, a source told Us that Jackson was “caught off guard” by her decision to file for divorce and he hadn’t realized that “Jodie was this unhappy.”

Although Turner-Smith didn’t directly address those comments, she told the Times that people should ask themselves if they are happy or not in whatever situation they are in. “If the answer is no, then you have to make a move because I believe that there are visible scars from staying in places that are not good for us,” she said. “And they don’t just affect us, they affect everybody around us.”

Turner-Smith and Jackson met in 2018 at Usher’s 40th birthday party. In August 2019, after what appeared to be a brief breakup, they were spotted picking up a marriage license at a Los Angeles courthouse. Four months later, a source told People that the couple was married. Jackson later shared that Turner-Smith proposed to him on a trip to Nicaragua.

The actress told the Times that she doesn’t feel like her marriage to Jackson was a “failure.” She added: “We obviously had such a beautiful moment together. And now it’s time for a new moment for both of us. And how exciting!”

• [The Times ]

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