Topics: TV And Film, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships,
One Tree Hill's Sophia Bush has gone public with her new girlfriend, Ashlyn Harris, after revealing she can 'finally breathe again'.
The 41-year-old actor has opened up about her new relationship with the American soccer player, 38, in a personal essay she wrote for Glamour magazine.
Sophia publicly came out in the essay, telling fans: "I finally feel like I can breathe."
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"I don’t think I can explain how profound that is," she explained in the personal essay. "I feel like I was wearing a weighted vest for who knows how long. I hadn’t realised how heavy it was until I finally just put it down."
Sophia carried on: "This might sound crazy - but I think other people in trauma recovery will get it—I am taking deep breaths again.
"I can feel my legs and feet. I can feel my feet in my shoes right now. It makes me want to cry and laugh at the same time."
The actor explained that her revelation came about after she filed for divorce from entrepreneur Grant Hughes back in August 2023, after tying the knot the year before.
In the essay, Sophia made a point of highlighting that there was no infidelity involved in her new relationship with Ashlyn, who she met in 2019.
She continued: "The idea that I left my marriage based on some hysterical rendezvous—that, to be crystal-clear, never happened—rather than having taken over a year to do the most soul crushing work of my life? … It feels brutal."
Sophia recalled how, one day following the split, she asked Ashlyn out for a 'non-friend-group-hang', which she hails as 'one of the most surreal experiences' of her life.
"Maybe it was all fated. Maybe it really is a version of invisible string theory. I don’t really know," she continued.
"But I do know that for a sparkly moment I felt like maybe the universe had been conspiring for me. And that feeling that I have in my bones is one I’ll hold on to no matter where things go from here."
While admitting that her former partners have been aware about her interest in women romantically, it was only after learning self-love that she felt proud enough to publicly acknowledge it.
She shared: "It took me 41 years to get here.
"When I take stock of the last few years, I can tell you that I have never operated out of more integrity in my life. I hope that’s clear enough for everyone speculating out there, while being as gentle as I possibly can be."
