Drew Barrymore Gets Honest About Her Intimate Life After Will Kopelman Divorce
After four years of marriage, Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman filed for divorce in 2016. The couple had two daughters while they were together, and appeared to stay on relatively good terms after their split. Leading up to the divorce, the "50 First Dates" star hinted that their marriage was not driven by passion. "It was never really love at first sight," Barrymore told InStyle in 2015 (via Entertainment Tonight). "Will struck a lot of my pragmatic sides," she added. In a separate interview that same year, Barrymore spoke about how parenthood had become their main focus. "I know everyone says you're supposed to put your coupledom first. But I really love it being all about the kids," she told People.
Although Barrymore did not experience "love at first sight" with her ex-husband, she did admit that the phenomenon was possible. "I don't know what it is, but I do believe that we are drawn to certain people," the daytime talk show host revealed in 2021 during an audience Q&A segment called "Dear Drew" for Entertainment Tonight.
Nearly five years after their divorce, Kopelman was ready to move on, as he got engaged. Barrymore was very supportive of their union, and discussed why she had taken her time reentering the dating pool. "When people say, 'you should date,' my response was, 'it's not within me,'" Barrymore said on "The Howard Stern Show" in 2021 (via Us Weekly). Later, Barrymore was candid about why her own intimate life had been put on pause.
Why Drew Barrymore chose to be abstinent
Drew Barrymore took to her blog on October 16 to clear the air about comments she made on her talk show about abstaining from sex. The "Charlie's Angels" actor had mentioned on-air that six months sex-free was not a big deal. In the blog post, Barrymore discussed how post-divorce motherhood had impacted her romantically. "And since entering life as a single mom, I have not been able to have an intimate relationship," she wrote. Despite her remarks about abstinence, "The Drew Barrymore Show" host maintained that she was still sex-positive, but intimate encounters were no longer a primary focus. "I am just in a completely different place in my life and maybe in the near future I will get into a relationship... but it simply hasn't been my priority," she blogged.
Following her divorce from Will Kopelman, Barrymore said she made a concerted effort to stay single and focus on raising her two children. "I needed to stay very celibate and honoring and in some sort of state of [mourning] of the loss of a nuclear family that I swore I would have for my daughters," the "Fever Pitch" star wrote.
Earlier in the year, Barrymore shared similar sentiments when discussing her frustration with dating apps, such as Raya. "Dating isn't my highest priority, so I'm a little lazy about it," she told E!'s "Daily Pop" in April, while adding that she frequently deletes the apps.