Putting it all out there. Drew Barrymore has not held back about the struggles of returning to the dating scene following her split from ex-husband Will Kopelman.
Barrymore and Kopelman tied the knot in 2012 and later welcomed daughters Olive and Frankie. After four years of marriage, the pair announced their split in April 2016.
“Sadly our family is separating legally, although we do not feel this takes away from us being a family,” they said in a joint statement. “Our children are our universe, and we look forward to living the rest of our lives with them as the first priority.”
The Scream actress, who was previously married to Jeremy Thomas and Tom Green, admitted that she “did not take” the divorce well.
“I couldn’t make sense of it,” Barrymore said during an interview with Willie Geist in October 2020, noting that she took it “really hard” at the time. “I think it applies to everyone who thinks that something will be forever and it’s not. It’s so hard. It’s like, I don’t think I’ve recovered from that.”
The Wildflower author revealed that it took her “five years” to look back at the relationship with “strength, articulation, perspective and hindsight,” adding, “I don’t know how to open that up again. Something closed and it stayed closed. I think I’m equally as scared to find love again as I would be as if it never happened.”
Kopelman, for his part, went on to marry Alexandra Michler after his divorce was finalized. Barrymore has previously gushed about adding Michler to their blended family.
“My kids have the most extraordinary stepmom. Our processes have been different. Their side of the street is so functional and whole and happening, and I think I’ve been on the sidelines in a beautiful, honoring purgatory,” the Golden Globe winner said on The Drew Barrymore Show in January 2022. “I’ve been saying that it’s me, it’s my choice. I don’t think I’ve said out loud that it’s really because I have two daughters.”
The Never Been Kissed star revealed that she wasn’t sure how to start dating again now that she is a mother.
“I’m not there yet. I have two young girls, and I don’t want to bring people home. I think that it would take me a very long time to meet someone and get to know them before I could ever even introduce them to my daughters,” she shared.
Scroll down for all of Barrymore’s most candid thoughts about dating:
First Steps
During an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, the California native discussed whether she has seen fellow celebs on dating apps.
“Oh yes, I did. I mean, it’s not really fun to not say who they were but a lot of them. It was like looking through an Us Weekly,” Barrymore shared during the September 2020 appearance, adding that she approached online dating “terribly” then. “I got stood up, and I didn’t match with anyone. And my friends gave me this sort of bloated sense of false confidence. They were like, ‘You should try it. You will do great.’ It was a car wreck.”
She continued: “But, you know, I love being able to be in the conversation, I have to say. Like, I definitely had fun with it. And I’ve always wanted to go on a blind date, but my life got in the way of that, so I thought, like, online dating might satiate that desire. And no, it was a real wake-up call. But it was fun, and yes, there were lots of exciting people.”
Finding Humor in the Situation
In February 2021, the Charlie’s Angels star opened up about how Netflix’s Bridgerton changed her view on meeting new people romantically.
“It was this weird relenting to the fact that I’m probably not going to meet someone in some old-fashioned way,” she said on The Late Late Show With James Corden. “I’m not really aggressively looking, but watching this old-fashioned show was weirdly this keyhole entry point for me to accept the modern world because I am so old-fashioned.”
Barrymore revealed that being “funny” was an important trait in a potential suitor, saying, “I just want to laugh. That’s always been my big criteria — funny, funny, funny. I love humor, it’s my survival guide. And I can’t get rid of my sense of humor. I laugh at everything, I love laughing. So, funny is my favorite quality in any person.”
Still Figuring It Out
“I don’t know how to date with kids,” the Emmy nominee told Bobby Berk during an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show in January 2022. “I’m not there yet. I have two young girls, and I don’t want to bring people home. I think that it would take me a very long time to meet someone and get to know them before I could ever even introduce them to my daughters.”
Dealbreaker
During an interview with Gayle King in January 2022, Barrymore explained how her expectations had changed over the years, saying, “I would maybe live with someone again. Maybe. But there’s no way I will ever, ever, ever be married again. Nope. There’s no reason to be.”
