Real-Life Love
Drew Barrymore Explains Why She Doesn’t Date After Her Divorce
Drew Barrymore is living her best single life right now. The iconic actor has been gracing the screen ever since she was a little kid. From E.T. to Charlie’s Angels to her own talk show, Barrymore is always booked and busy.
Her hectic schedule has put romance on the back burner. Rekindling her love life is not her priority right now. The 49-year-old divorced her ex-husband, Will Kopelman, in 2016 after four years of marriage. Sharing two daughters, Olive, 12, and Frankie, 10, the Scream alum felt like she needed time to heal.
Barrymore revealed to AARP The Magazine that their separation was rough on her. “My dream family was falling apart, and I didn’t know how to put one foot in front of the other,” she shared. “And I had grown up so fast, but now I didn’t know what age to feel—I just knew that my life was heavy, and painful and sad—and I sat in that for a while.”
The 50 First Dates star added, “Eventually, thank goodness, I lifted myself out of it. I had two kids, and I had to figure it out.”
Besides working on the Emmy-winning The Drew Barrymore Show, she doesn’t have space for much else. Her priorities are clear: Olive and Frankie. That’s why her decision to swear off men, alcohol, and acting wasn’t a difficult one.
However, her kids aren’t necessarily opposed to the idea of her dating again. Barrymore opened up, “My girls say I should go on dates, but I also know how I felt when men were around when I was little—it didn’t feel safe to me, so I’m probably overcautious from those experiences.”
She did emphasize that she does “date occasionally.” She added, “But no way am I ready to open that door.”
