Drew Barrymore Recalls Going Through A ‘Cripplingly Difficult’ Time Following Will Kopelman Split: ‘It Just Took Me Down’

Drew Barrymore is an open book when it comes to discussing her divorce from Will Kopelman and her dating life.

The host of Global’s “The Drew Barrymore Show” tells People that she went through some “cripplingly difficult” times after splitting from Kopelman in 2016. They’d tied the knot in 2012.

The pair share daughters Olive, 10, and Frankie, 8, together.

Barrymore insists of the breakup, “There was no scandal. Nothing went wrong, which is cleaner, but makes it harder and more confusing because there isn’t The Thing to point to.

“We tried so hard to make it work. [A friend] said to me, ‘Divorce is the death of a dream.’ That’s exactly what it feels like, something so final you can’t get it back.

Barrymore says that because she didn’t grow up with a family, it was important to her that her kids would.

“I know what that feels like,” she tells the mag. “If I haven’t learned from that, then what was it all for?”

She recalls saying, “‘This is a family, so nobody’s going anywhere,’” adding: “I was determined to make it work because we all loved each other so much.”

Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman arrive at the Los Angeles premiere of “Blended” at TCL Chinese Theatre on May 21, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage/Getty)

Barrymore, who had left California for New York to be closer to Kopelman’s family, describes the years following her divorce as “cripplingly difficult.”

She shares of the first winter post-split, “It just took me down. There are times where you can look at someone you think is a strong person and see them so broken and go, ‘How the f**k did they get there?’ And I was that person. I broke.”

Barrymore, who has been open about her struggles with drugs and alcohol over the years, which started at a very young age, explains how she coped by drinking her way through her problems.

“It was just trying to numb the pain and feel good—and alcohol totally did that for me,” she recalls.

However, she began to notice the warning signs, telling the publication: “The drinking thing for me was a constant, like, ‘You cannot change. You are weak and incapable of doing what’s best for you. You keep thinking you will master this thing, and it’s getting the better of you.’”

Barrymore remembers, “After the life I planned for my kids didn’t work out — I almost think that was harder than the stuff [I went through] as a kid. It felt a lot more real because it wasn’t just me.

“It was about these kids that I cared so much about. And then I probably cared so much that I was only giving to them and not taking care of myself. It was a messy, painful, excruciating walk through the fire and come back to life kind of trajectory.”

Barrymore turned to therapy and quit drinking: “It was my kids that made me feel like it’s game time,” insisting that working on her show “gave me something to focus on and pour myself into. It gave us something to believe in.”

Barrymore regularly hits headlines due to her talking openly about her dating and sex life.

After previously saying she hadn’t had an “intimate relationship” since her split from Kopelman, she admits she’s now dating a little.

“I’m such a mom and I’m so under the workload, and I love being with my friends and I love being alone, where does dating fit in?” she shares. “Every once in a while, I’ll go on a date because it’s a very human, natural thing to do.

“I’ve gone on dates where I’m like, ‘Oh my God, why did I say yes to dinner? Because we haven’t ordered yet, and I don’t want to be here.’”

Barrymore insists that she loves Kopelman’s wife, Alexandra Michler, whom he married in August 2021.

She says, “Will has his side of the street so beautifully buttoned up with our gorgeous stepmother.

“We’ve got an awesome family dynamic that proves that life goes on. Allie is my favourite person. I love her. I love us all being together. These kids have an example of one of the parents moving on and rebuilding another life for themselves. I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t have to do that now? Perfect.’”