Selling Sunset fans only got a glimpse of Justin Hartley and Chrishell Stause’s marriage before the pair’s divorce—but now, the This Is Us actor is giving us clues as to why he and the Netflix star really split.

In an interview with Haute Living published on December 28, 2021, Hartley seemingly hinted at “forcing things” in his marriage to the Selling Sunset agent when compared to his new marriage to Sofia Pernas. “It’s incredible when you’re not forcing things. It doesn’t have to be that hard,” he told the publication while referring to Pernas. “You just meet the right person and you just go, ‘Oh, this is amazing. It’s just so wonderful!’ You’re so attracted and so attached to this person. You just love this person so much.”

He added, “Even though we’ve only been married a few months, it’s hard to remember what it was like without her. When I re-met her, I just knew. It’s so interesting about the human heart and human mind. It’s not a codependency; I’m just at peace with myself. I feel loved and I feel appreciated. I know she feels the same way. We just have a really great relationship and a really terrific family. It’s healthy and it’s wonderful.”

Hartley, 44, married Stause, 40, in 2017 and filed for divorce in November 2019 while the Netflix star was filming Selling Sunset season three. The former couple finalized their divorce in February 2021. Hartley, for his part, began dating Pernas in 2020 prior to settling his divorce from Stause, but the pair didn’t debut their relationship until late in the year. By March 2021, Hartley and Pernas had secretly gotten married. News of their marriage became public in July 2021.

According to Hartley, “everything is easier with [Sofia Pernas] in my life” now that he’s remarried. “I learn from her. She speaks five languages,” he added. “She’s brilliant, she’s incredible, she’s fun to look at. Everything about her is amazing — she’s just hilarious. She inspires me to want to be a better man. I want to rise to the occasion because she’s so great. She does make me want to be a better person, and [this kind of love] certainly does complete me.”

Stause, for her part, revealed on Selling Sunset season 4 that she no longer harbors any “anger” for her ex-husband and his new wife. “Honestly, I’ve never been in a better place in my career. I really feel empowered of being a different, a better version of myself than I ever have been,” Stause shared on Episode 2 of the series’ fourth season. “I feel like I’ve found my voice. There’s no anger left there because now I’ve realized that’s not something I wanted for myself.”

The Dancing With the Stars alum—who recently split from her Selling Sunset co-star and boss, Jason Oppenheim—went on to joke that if Justin “wants to have 50 wives, go live your best life, because I really feel like I am.” She continued, “I think that’s, like, the key. Once you know something wasn’t right, whether it was your decision or not, now, you are where you’re meant to be. Out with the old, in with the new.”

The actress also revealed that she actually knew Hartley’s wife prior to their divorce. “My ex-husband Justin is remarried to someone I know back in the day pretty well,” she said during a confessional on Selling Sunset. “A lot of things made sense after finding that out. I wish them the best. If anything, it felt good to know that. It felt like a little bit of closure.”

Under Construction by Chrishell Stause

Image: Courtesy of Gallery Books.

For more about Chrishell Stause, read her memoir, Under Construction: Best Living My Best Life Took a Little Work. The book, which will be released on February 8, 2022, follows Chrishell’s life from her unconventional childhood in a small town in Kentucky to her current career as a soap actress, a luxury real estate agent in Los Angeles and a cast member one of Netflix’s buzziest reality TV shows, Selling Sunset. The memoir also dives into Chrishell’s struggle with homelessness earlier in her life and her family’s addiction, as well as her dreams of acting one day while working at a local Dairy Queen. Under Construction includes “never-before-before told” stories from her personal life—including her much-publicized divorce from This Is Us star Justin Hartley—and the lessons Chrishell has learned along the way to come out stronger than ever.

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