Sophia Bush speaks candidly about Ashlyn Harris relationship for first time
Sophia Bush has spoken publicly about her relationship with former American soccer player, Ashlyn Harris, while coming out as queer.
Within two months of one another, the former One Tree Hill actress and the soccer player announced their divorces from their respective spouses, Grant Hughes and Ali Krieger, and multiple outlets began to report that the two were seeing each other. Now, for Glamour’s April cover story, Bush is openly talking about how their relationship came to be.
In the essay, Bush explained that it wasn’t the case that she divorced Hughes after a 13-month marriage because of Harris, explaining that her marriage felt wrong from the beginning. “In April of 2022 I was close to calling off my wedding. Instead of running away, I doubled down on being a model wife,” her essay published by the outlet began.
She went on to file for divorce from Hughes on Friday 4 August 2023, while Harris, who was married to Krieger for four years and shares two adopted children with her, filed for divorce on 19 September 2023.
Following her divorce, Bush acknowledged how a group of women around her were all collectively opening up about their home lives and the issues that arose, one of them being Harris.
“I didn’t expect to find love in this support system. I don’t know how else to say it other than: I didn’t see it until I saw it,” she said. “And I think it’s very easy not to see something that’s been in front of your face for a long time when you’d never looked at it as an option and you had never been looked at as an option. What I saw was a friend with her big, happy life. And now I know she thought the same thing about me.”
The actress explained how much time and effort went into accepting her feelings and eventually starting a relationship with Harris, but it didn’t come without various rumours - such as reports the relationship started while the two of them were in their previous relationships.
“A lot of effort was made to be graceful with other people’s processing, their time and obligations, and their feelings. What felt like seconds after I started to see what was in front of me, the online rumour mill began to spit in the ugliest ways,” Bush clarified to Glamour.
“There were blatant lies. Violent threats. There were the accusations of being a home-wrecker. The ones who said I’d left my ex because I suddenly realised I wanted to be with women — my partners have known what I’m into for as long as I have (so that’s not it, y’all, sorry!).”
The John Tucker Must Die actress said that she now identifies as queer and plans on dedicating her time to what she loves instead of attempting to defend herself from every online rumour she comes across.
She also couldn’t help but gush about the qualities she loves about her partner. “I don’t believe it’s my place to discuss details of Ashlyn’s circumstances or her children, but I will say that I am absolutely in awe of her relentless integrity. The way she prioritises and centres her kids, not only in her life but in the core of her being, is breathtaking to behold,” Bush said about Harris.
“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 has been the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed a friend do. And now I get to love her. How lucky am I?”
