Sophia Bush is speaking her truth!
In a heartfelt self-written cover story for Glamour on Thursday, the One Tree Hill star finally debunked the rumors surrounding her divorce from ex-husband Grant Hughes — while confirming she’s dating Ashlyn Harris! Officially out as “queer,” the actress revealed she’s never been happier than she is right now in her new romance! She explained:
“As I came into myself, I already felt it was my home. I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum. Right now I think the word that best defines it is queer. I can’t say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great.”
Aw! So, so amazing!
Related: One Tree Hill Stars Feuding Over LGBT Rights??
Stressing just how monumental this self-discovery has been, the 41-year-old detailed:
“I finally feel like I can breathe. I don’t think I can explain how profound that is. I feel like I was wearing a weighted vest for who knows how long. I hadn’t realized how heavy it was until I finally just put it down.”
So happy for her!
The Chicago PD alum said she’s “experienced so much safety, respect, and love in the queer community” both as an ally and new member. That is why she felt it was important to formally come out in a time of so much strife for the community. She explained:
“I sort of hate the notion of having to come out in 2024. But I’m deeply aware that we are having this conversation in a year when we’re seeing the most aggressive attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community in modern history. There were more than 500 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills proposed in state legislatures in 2023, so for that reason I want to give the act of coming out the respect and honor it deserves.”
That said, this journey hasn’t been without its challenges. As Perezcious readers know, speculation about Sophia’s sexuality burst onto the scene amid her divorce last year — which coincided with the former soccer star’s split from her ex-wife, Ali Krieger, too. Sophia and Ashlyn started spending WAY more time together around then, leading many to assume they’d both cheated on their former spouses. However, that is something they have both adamantly denied.
Slamming all the trolls who commented about her now-confirmed romance before she was ready to let it all out there, Sophia noted that she wished she could have navigated the “public part” of this process on her own terms. But she knows that she is lucky to have been in a stable place with her sexuality when the madness began, too. She pointed out:
“I’m very aware, though, as we discuss bullying and harassment and being outed without consent — that I’m incredibly lucky this happened in my adulthood. I really love who I am, at this age and in this moment.”
Outing someone can be so damaging to their mental health, we’re glad she’s calling it out!
So, what happened anyway to get her to this place?! She spilled ALL the tea! Sophia insisted that her marriage wasn’t working — and she knew it from the very beginning. She almost called off the 2022 wedding! Ultimately, she went through with it only to realize months later that she “absolutely had made a mistake.” The realization was obvious when she was going through “the depths and heartbreak of the fertility process,” often dealing with difficult doctor’s appointments “alone.” She also blamed the relationship troubles on the fact that she and Grant didn’t “speak the same emotional language.”
She then signed on to do a play in London to get space from her husband. But after falling ill and having to return home, she knew her “marriage” was “over.” That’s when things with the athlete blossomed — just as besties at first! They were part of the same friend group bonding over divorces and relationship problems at the time. It took a while before she realized there could be something more with Harris. Bashing the “blatant lies,” “violent threats,” and “accusations of being a home-wrecker” that surfaced in the summer of 2023, the outspoken activist wrote:
“The ones who said I’d left my ex because I suddenly realized I wanted to be with women — my partners have known what I’m into for as long as I have. 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? Rather than realizing I had to be the most vulnerable I’ve ever been, on a public stage, despite being terrified to my core? It feels brutal.”
The journey was “long and thoughtful and exhaustive” and not something she wanted to do in real-time on social media. Understandable! Eventually, it was their friends who pointed out to her how she and Ashlyn would “finish each other’s sentences or be deeply affected by the same things.” She detailed:
“When you’re so in the trenches of hardship—plus you have the added weight of having to go through it on a public stage—it can be hard to see anything but what’s right in front of you. It took me confronting a lot of things, what felt like countless sessions of therapy, and some prodding from loved ones, but eventually I asked Ashlyn to have a non-friend-group hang to talk about it.
And that meal was four and a half hours long and truly one of the most surreal experiences of my life thus far. In hindsight, maybe it all had to happen slowly and then suddenly all at once. Maybe it was all fated. Maybe it really is a version of invisible string theory. I don’t really know. 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.”
Sophia’s family is now fully supportive of the new romance, too, after getting to spend “time with Ash over the holidays.” According to Bush, that had them remarking, “well, this finally looks right.” Sophia recalled elsewhere:
“After the news became public, my mom told me that one of her friends called her and said, ‘Well, this can’t be true. I mean, your daughter isn’t gay.’ My mom felt that it was obvious, from the way her friend emphasized the word, that she meant it judgmentally. And you know what my mom said? ‘Oh honey, I think she’s pretty gay. And she’s happy.’”
While the John Tucker Must Die alum refused to go into the details of her new girlfriend’s divorce, she did gush:
“Falling in love with her has sutured some of my own childhood wounds, and made me so much closer to my own mother. Seeing Ashlyn choose to not simply survive, but thrive, for her babies [Sloane, 3, and Ocean, 20 months] has been the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed a friend do. And now I get to love her. How lucky am I?”
Wow!
Such a beautiful reflection on this very significant time in her life! You can read it all HERE. And hear lots more about this coming out experience (below):
Nothing better than living life authentically! Reactions? Share them in the comments (below).
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