Jennifer Aniston reveals how her parents' brutal divorce when she was 11 affected her adult relationships
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In a candid revelation, Jennifer Aniston shared insights into how her parents' relationship has significantly influenced her own approach to personal relationships.
"It was always a little bit difficult for me in relationships, I think, because I really was kind of alone," she told the Wall Street Journal. "My parents, watching my family’s relationship, didn’t make me kind of go, 'Oh, I can’t wait to do that,'" Aniston admitted.
When did Jennifer Aniston's parents get divorced?
Jennifer Aniston's late parents, Nancy Dow and John Aniston, got divorced in 1980, when she was 11 years old.
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Following her parents' separation, the former 'Friends' star confessed that she often found it simpler to navigate life independently rather than seeking a partner. She explained that her parents' relationship didn't provide her with a clear example of how to compromise or be in a partnership, leaving her uncertain about those aspects.
"I didn’t like the idea of sacrificing who you were or what you needed, so I didn’t really know how to do that. So it was almost easier to just be kind of solo. So I didn’t have any real training in that give-and-take," she explained.
The 'We're The Millers' star also revealed that she is currently prioritizing her own needs and desires. She emphasized that she is not willing to sacrifice those aspects in order to please someone else.
"It’s just about not being afraid to say what you need and what you want. And it’s still a challenge for me in a relationship," she admitted. "I'm really good at every other job I have, and that’s sort of the one area that’s a little...."
Jennifer Aniston grew up in a 'destabilized' home
Jennifer Aniston described her childhood home as "destabilized" in a previous conversation with Sandra Bullock for Interview Magazine in 2020.
She revealed that "growing up in a household that was destabilized and felt unsafe" helped her learn to stay afloat when things in her life didn't go as planned.
"I think that it comes from growing up in a household that was destabilized and felt unsafe, watching adults being unkind to each other, and witnessing certain things about human behavior that made me think 'I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be that. I don’t want to experience this feeling I’m having in my body right now. I don’t want anyone else that I ever come in contact with ever to feel that.'"
"So I guess I have my parents to thank. You can either be angry or be a martyr, or you can say, “You’ve got lemons? Let’s make lemonade," she said.
Jennifer Aniston's love life
Aniston has been in several relationships over the years. She was last linked to actor Justin Theroux. The former couple announced their split in February 2018 after two and a half years of marriage.
Before Theroux, Aniston was married to Brad Pitt from 2000 to 2005, after they started dating in 1998. She also dated Vince Vaughn and John Mayer after divorcing Pitt.
Aniston is looking for a quieter kind of love next. "What I'm sort of hoping for is not necessarily somebody in the industry itself. That'd be nice," she told People in 2021.