Vanessa Morgan is detailing what it was like going through her “painful” split from Michael Kopech while pregnant with their first child together.
The “Riverdale” actress reflected on having to “mourn” the fantasy life she created for herself after the couple called it quits in 2020.
“I went through two years of pain,” she told Rachel Bilson on Monday’s episode of her “Broad Ideas” podcast.
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“It’s almost like we idolize what our dream reality [was] from when we were a kid … [then] you mourn the future that never happened. You mourn the fantasy that you created, and that wasn’t the reality that was the best alignment for me,” she added.
Morgan said she felt a lot of “embarrassment” around “not wanting to face that you have a broken family.”
“You get married, and you want to kind of have that fantasy,” she explained. “I think it’s almost like you feel disappointed to tell people that it didn’t work out.”
Morgan, 31, and Kopech, 27, tied the knot in January 2020, but their marriage lasted just a few months.
In July of that year, the “Wild Cards” actress announced she was expecting a baby boy, but didn’t include her husband’s name.
A few days later, it came to light that the White Sox pitcher had already filed for divorce from Morgan. The actress then gave birth to their son, River, in January 2021.
“I’m going to be a single mom. I think that’s the beauty of life is that it doesn’t always go as planned and it’s the journey,” Morgan said this week, noting she doesn’t allow herself to have a “victim mentality.”
“I don’t want to be a victim,” she continued. “Otherwise, I’m just going to feel bad for myself all the time and I didn’t want to feel bad for myself. I have a beautiful son, that was my blessing.”
The “Finding Carter” alum also addressed her decision “to stay silent” amid her split from the baseball player.
“I believe when you feed into the gossip, it just makes things worse,” she said. “I chose to stay silent. I chose for my son’s peace to stay silent, and I thought that was the best choice for me and my family. I don’t want my son to grow up seeing the truth.”
Her ex has since welcomed a child with new girlfriend Morgan Eudy, while Morgan has been dating basketball player James Karnik since 2022.
“His father is in his life,” she said of Kopech’s current relationship with their son. “He doesn’t get to see him very often but at least he’ll always know that my partner now [Karnik] has been there from, what he will remember, is the beginning.”
