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Over four years after Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan went public about the end of their marriage, Tatum is ready to talk in full about what happened—and how the process led him to become “best friends” with their daughter Everly, now 9. He opened up to Vanity Fair about the split.
Turns out, Tatum and Dewan both didn’t wanted their relationship and marriage of nearly nine years to end. But it simply wasn’t working anymore, Tatum explained: “We fought for it for a really long time, even though we both sort of knew that we had sort of grown apart. I think we told ourselves a story when we were young [about our opposites-attract romance that started while filming Step Up], and we just kept telling ourselves that story, no matter how blatantly life was telling us that we were so different.”
“But when you’re actually parents, you really understand differences between the two of you,” he said. Tatum and Dewan welcomed their daughter Everly in 2013. “Because it is screaming at you all day long. How you parent differently, how you look at the world, how you go through the world.”
The split wasn’t easy at first, Tatum added: “In the beginning, it was super scary and terrifying. Your life just turns on its axis. This whole plan that you had literally just turns into sand and goes through your fingers and you’re just like, ‘Oh, shit. What now?’”
But that change sparked great improvement in him. “It was probably exactly what I needed,” he said. “I don’t think I would’ve ever done the work, I think, on myself in the way that I had to do the work on myself to really try to figure out what’s next. And really, it just started with my daughter. I just dropped everything and just focused on her. And it was truly the best possible thing that I ever could have done. Because in the alone time that I have with just me and her, we’ve become best friends.”
When Tatum and Dewan announced their breakup publicly, they spoke about the transition ahead. Dewan is now engaged to Steve Kazee, with whom she has a son, Callum, in addition to Everly. Tatum is dating Zoë Kravitz.
Tarum and Dewan wrote at the time of their separation in April 2018:
“We have lovingly chosen to separate as a couple. We fell deeply in love so many years ago and have had a magical journey together. Absolutely nothing has changed about how much we love each other, but love is a beautiful adventure that is taking us on different paths for now. There are no secrets nor salacious events at the root of our decision—just two best friends realizing it’s time to take some space and help each other live the most joyous, fulfilled lives as possible. We are still a family and will always be loving, dedicated parents to Everly. We won’t be commenting beyond this, and we thank you in advance for respecting our family’s privacy.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.