Drew Barrymore Nearly Breaks Down Talking About Her Divorce: 'Something Closed, And It Stayed Closed'

Lately, we’ve been seeing a lot of Drew Barrymore’s goofy, exuberant side as a newly minted daytime talk show host. But she’s not afraid to be honest and vulnerable, either.

In an interview for Sunday Today with Willie Geist, the Scream star acknowledged that her new role requires her to be open with her audience — including about her divorce from ex Will Kopelman.

She shared:

“I don’t think I would have been able to talk about it as openly at first, because I couldn’t make sense of it. And if I even spoke about it, I would’ve just become a blubbering — I really did not take divorce well. I took it really hard. Even now, I’m just like, oh, it’s such a painful thing.”

It wasn’t just losing her husband that made the divorce difficult, though — it was also a sense of family she’d never had before. She explained:

“But the good news is, his family and I sort of made the most important choice, to be so together and united and connected. That’s, I guess, what they call family. I know from not growing up with any family whatsoever that that was the last thing I wanted to do for my daughters. I think that’s why I took it so hard. I was, like, oh, the ultimate promise I wanted to make with you and for you was to have this amazing family. And I found them. And there’s something not working, that isn’t livable. How tragic is that?”

The 45-year-old married Kopelman in 2012 and had two daughters, Olive (8) and Frankie (6). The couple was divorced in 2016. She reflected:

“It took me five years to be able to speak with strength, articulation, perspective, hindsight, and see everything we did right. Because when we were getting divorced, it felt like everything was just wrong.”

Through tears, the Never Been Kissed star continued:

“I think it applies to everyone who thinks that something will be forever and it’s not. It’s so hard. It’s like, I don’t think I’ve recovered from that. I don’t know how to open that up again. It’s like something closed, and it stayed closed. I think I’m equally as scared to find love again as I would be as if it never happened.”

She added:

“Love with a partner is just — it’s still really intimidating to me.”

Luckily, she’s now in a great place and enjoying the wild ride of daytime TV. Becoming emotional again, she concluded:

“It’s amazing that my kids and I are happy. Because there’s been a lot of times I really did question, like, ‘Will we be happy?’ And we are. So that, like, chokes me up.”

Wow! That’s some raw honesty right there. We’re so glad that Drew is happy and living her best life after everything she’s been through.