Jen Affleck has explained why she filed for divorce from Zac Affleck while pregnant, saying she feared waiting until after the birth would allow an existing cycle to continue.
The 27-year-old star of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives filed divorce papers in Utah earlier this week, bringing her seven-year marriage to an end.
Speaking during promotion for the forthcoming The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County spin-off, Jen said she had been considering the decision for a long time.
“I think I’ve known for a really long time. I think, it sounds crazy to say, but because I’m about to be postpartum, I knew that I needed to make the decision now, not being postpartum, because when you’re postpartum, it’s the most vulnerable stage of having children, and I was worried that if I waited until then, that I would continue the cycle,” she said.
Jen said rewatching the reality show had made her recognise that she had learned to suppress difficult experiences in order to cope.
“Rewatching the show, it made me realize: man, I have trained myself to forget,” she said. “I have trained myself to survive. And the show made me realize, no, I’m not forgetting this time. It’s for the best, genuinely, for the best for Zac, for my kids.”
Jen Affleck denies Zac was blindsided by divorce filing
She also rejected reports that Zac had been unaware that she intended to end the marriage.
“He’s not blindsided. I’ve been telling him for a really long time. And obviously being pregnant and being vulnerable, I mean, it’s been hard to finalize things, especially when you see your kids and you see how happy they are,” Jen said. “I mean, it’s not an easy decision, but no, I’ve told them for a really long time.”
In a video shared on TikTok, Zac said he learned about the filing from a reporter, and claimed Jen had spoken to him about wanting a divorce after appearing on Dancing with the Stars.
“I basically begged her stay, begged her that, you know, told her to work on things, fix things, become whoever she needed me to be,” he said. “And ultimately, just, we couldn’t make it work.”
Zac later shared a compilation of videos featuring the couple over the years and apologised to Jen.
