Kaley Cuoco Has Sworn off Marriage for Good - Why That’s a Great Thing

You live and you learn. 

Kaley Cuoco never thought she’d be a twice-divorced woman at 36, but that’s exactly what life served up to her on a plate. One of television’s most recognizable and successful actresses, she has attracted widespread coverage of not only her compelling roles but her personal ups and downs off the screen. Many perceive her to be the archetype of the ‘dumb blonde’ or even the dreamy, wide-eyed eccentric who can’t help but keep falling in love. 

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However, Cuoco is setting the record straight. In a daring interview with Glamour, the actress lays bare the deep wounds of her second divorce, where she stands on a third possible marriage, and the learnings she’s gathered over the past year - especially as she prepares to welcome her first child with actor Tom Pelphrey. She knows her choices haven’t been the most measured, but, at the same time, she’s embracing those mistakes and taking them in stride. 

Her metaphoric rise from the ashes is something we can all emulate as we deal with similar circumstances. 

Kaley Cuoco On Getting Married Again: "Absolutely Not."

Speaking with Glamour as the April 2022 cover star, Cuoco doesn’t hesitate to shed light on the hurt she’s experienced in the wake of her divorce from equestrian Karl Cook. The news broke in September 2021, as Cuoco and Karl released a joint statement announcing their split. “Despite a deep love and respect for one another, we have realized that our current paths have taken us in opposite directions,” they said. However, they added that there is no anger or animosity among them; in fact, it’s “quite the contrary.” Cuoco had previously been married to Ryan Sweeting from 2013 to 2015. 

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The separation had left her in shambles, precipitating an internal “trauma” that left her senses completely shaken. She still made an effort to go to work as if nothing had changed, and carry out her scenes with the utmost balance and professionalism, but then she would come back home and fall apart. “I developed a rash that went from my lower stomach down my leg. It lasted for seven months,” she said, adding the rash was a result of her frantic “emotional” state. 

Cuoco said the divorce and its subsequent fallout prompted her to go to a therapist for the first time in her life. “My therapist and I are working on forgiveness and forgiving myself for making mistakes,” she said. 

Though the Flight Attendant actress has made excellent progress in her emotional processing and in realizing her own self-worth, she’s also remarkably sure about whether she wants to walk down the aisle for the third time. “I will never get married again,” she declares. “Absolutely not. You can literally put that on the cover.” 

Kaley Comes Clean About Whether Or Not She Believes In Love Anymore

Yet, her resolute declaration doesn’t come from a place of bitterness or self-pity; instead, she still believes in the notion of love and everything it has to offer. In fact, she’s completely open to the idea of nurturing a long-term partnership with someone in the future, just as long as it doesn’t translate into exchanging vows or anything of the sort.

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“I would love to have a long-lasting relationship or a partnership,” she said. In her view, just because both her marriages fell apart doesn’t mean the love she shared with her ex-partners was any less meaningful. They were head over heels in love, and the memories they made were priceless, and she wouldn’t give them back for anything. “There are great people that come into your life, and they leave your life. And there are reasons for all of it,” she stated candidly. 

Kaley Cuoco Announces Her Pregnancy

The The Big Bang Theory star admits to being optimistic that there is someone out there for her, and she is eager to meet them and build something beautiful and enduring with them, while applying all the instructions she’s gathered as of late. Perhaps that person is actor Tom Pelphrey, who Cuoco has been dating since May 2022. On October 11, the pair announced that they're pregnant and are overjoyed to welcome their first child, a daughter, in early 2023.

Though the relationship and the pregnancy announcement surfaced after the article’s publication, Cuoco elaborates in the piece itself on what she wants to do differently in her next relationship. “I just need to figure out my priorities a little bit and make sure now I know that I need to water that relationship. It’s like a plant,” she said. 

Cuoco’s perspective is a breath of fresh air. Too often, we’re caught up by binaries in society, even when it comes to something as personal as marriage. You’re either pro-marriage and agree to give up everything for a husband, two-point-three children, and a house with a white picket fence, or you’re a bitter cat lady who has given up on love and is content to spend her days in isolation. In reality, our choices are far more complicated and, therefore, more representative of who we are. 

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The significance of marriage is drilled into us from a young age: how no one’s life is complete until they’re married, how each and every relationship’s ultimate outcome is wedding bliss, how it’s the only acceptable umbrella under which you can procreate and raise children. However, the fact of the matter is that it’s not for everyone, nor should it be. We don’t need to conflate marriage and love, we don’t need to think of marriage and parenthood as two complementary ideas— these are distinct, extraordinary experiences that deserve to stand independently. Cuoco has learned that tying the knot isn’t the best way to consolidate your connection with someone. 

How Kaley Cuoco Challenges Our Outlook On Romance

Today, she’s more confident than ever before, and she knows what she has to give in a relationship to make it work. Perhaps knowing that she has grown leaps and bounds in the past year makes the prospect of her new relationship all the more exciting. “This last year’s the most growth I’ve had in my entire life in my 36 years on this planet. It’s been life-changing. My life will never be the same. 

Kaley Cuoco hasn’t lost hope; in fact, her refreshingly positive standpoint on love and its infinite possibilities is a testament to her survivor mindset. This is a woman who’s been doing the hard work of getting to the bottom of her mistakes and excavating hard truths, truths that will only propel her toward happiness and peace.

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We don’t need to give up on love; of course, we can reevaluate whether it fits into our lives at the given moment, but, at the end of the day, the door never closes. As long as we’re growing and learning and understanding the consequences of love, it will always find a way. 

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