Jennie Garth had an ’emotional’ reunion with her ex-husband #2 Peter Facinelli about the fall-out of their 11-year marriage in 2013 and subsequent struggles co-parenting their three children.
‘We haven’t really spoken a lot about life about stuff in years, so I honestly don’t know you … and I don’t think you know me,’ the 50-year-old Twilight alum said on Tuesday’s episode of her iHeartRadio podcast I Choose Me.
‘And yet, it’s like when you go home and you’re with your mom or your dad or, you know, your sisters and they just treat you like you’re 16, 17, 18, like, you know the time they saw you last when you were younger, and so there’s this feeling of like, “Oh, I know her because we were together for so long, but you’ve grown into this mature, wonderful adult woman and I’ve grown.” When we look at each other, we still look at each other like the 21- [and] 22-year-old version of each other.’
The 52-year-old Beverly Hills, 90210 alum was still married to her first husband Daniel Clark when she first met Peter in 1995 on the set of their ABC movie An Unfinished Affair, but she divorced Daniel by November the next year.
Jennie famously converted to Catholicism to marry Facinelli, who confessed he didn’t even know who he was enough to be a husband.
Jennie Garth had an ’emotional’ reunion with her ex-husband #2 Peter Facinelli about the fall-out of their 11-year marriage in 2013 and subsequent struggles co-parenting their three children
‘I felt a lot of it was I was in this marriage and it felt to me a little bit like an arranged marriage,’ the On Fire director-star described during their 44-minute conversation.
‘Like, I loved you, and we had this beautiful family, from the outside but I just hadn’t developed who I was. I don’t even know how you could love me because I didn’t know me.’
The former couple went on to welcome three daughters – Luca Bella Facinelli, turning 27 on June 29; Lola Ray Facinelli, 21; and Fiona Eve Facinelli, 17.
‘I was a baby having a baby,’ Peter marveled.
‘Like, no, how did [I do] that? I pray every day, I’m like, “Please, [I hope our daughters] don’t have a baby because you need had a little bit of wisdom and a little bit of knowledge at that age.” At 21, [Jennie], you were a year older [and] you’ve been working in the business since you were 15. I literally just landed in LA… and six months later, I was having a baby. So you know, that wasn’t planned, obviously.’
Facinelli continued: ‘Sometimes we would drive up to your mom’s house, and I was the guy who drove, I planned the vacations, I was the dad. I was the soccer coach and then I go play parts [on acting jobs] and I was this other person playing parts, and so I was just like, “Well, I never got [to] fully develop me.” I didn’t know who I was, and so I needed to figure that out. I didn’t feel like I had the space to do that within the marriage.’
The Queens native confessed he wouldn’t have stayed in the marriage that long had they not had kids, and Jennie admitted she was ‘pissed’ about the divorce.
‘It was making me feel a little emotional while you were talking about that because I know I could have been better about that,’ replied Garth, nearly tearing up.
The 50-year-old Twilight alum said on Tuesday’s episode of her podcast I Choose Me:‘We haven’t really spoken a lot about life about stuff in years, so I honestly don’t know you … and I don’t think you know me. And yet…when we look at each other, we still look at each other like the 21- [and] 22-year-old version of each other’
The 52-year-old Beverly Hills, 90210 alum (R, pictured in 1996) was still married to her first husband Daniel Clark when she first met Peter (L) in 1995 on the set of their ABC movie An Unfinished Affair, but she divorced Daniel by November the next year
Jennie famously converted to Catholicism to marry Facinelli, who confessed he didn’t even know who he was enough to be a husband (pictured in 1998)
The On Fire director-star described: ‘I felt a lot of it was I was in this marriage and it felt to me a little bit like an arranged marriage. Like, I loved you, and we had this beautiful family, from the outside but I just hadn’t developed who I was. I don’t even know how you could love me because I didn’t know me’ (pictured in 2011)
The former couple went on to welcome three daughters – Luca Bella Facinelli, turning 27 on June 29; Lola Ray Facinelli, 21; and Fiona Eve Facinelli, 17 (pictured April 4)
Peter recalled:‘Sometimes we would drive up to your mom’s house, and I was the guy who drove, I planned the vacations, I was the dad. I was the soccer coach and then I go play parts [on acting jobs] and I was this other person playing parts, and so I was just like, “Well, I never got [to] fully develop me.” I didn’t know who I was, and so I needed to figure that out. I didn’t feel like I had the space to do that within the marriage’
The Queens native confessed he wouldn’t have stayed in the marriage that long had they not had kids, and Jennie admitted she was ‘pissed’ about the divorce (pictured in 2018)
Nearly tearing up, Garth replied: ‘It was making me feel a little emotional while you were talking about that because I know I could have been better about that. I could have been better about that, and that’s hard for me because I did my best’
The Illinois-born blonde continued: ‘But sometimes my best wasn’t the best, you know, and I acknowledge that and it pains me now to see that I created something there for us to deal with, for them to deal with because of my just my pain or whatever it was’
On Wednesday, Jennie celebrated the 43rd birthday of her third husband David Abrams, who’s the co-owner of Echo Park bar The Douglas
Garthand the retired actor – who legally separated between 2017-2019 – will sort of celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary on July 11
Peter is now father to 21-month-old son Jack Cooper Facinelli (M, pictured May 12) from his four-year romance with current fiancée Lily Anne Harrison (L)
‘I could have been better about that, and that’s hard for me because I did my best, but sometimes my best wasn’t the best, you know, and I acknowledge that and it pains me now to see that I created something there for us to deal with, for them to deal with because of my just my pain or whatever it was.’
The Illinois-born blonde said they ‘have come a long way’ since all of that went down: ‘I am really proud of the progress that we’ve made over the years.’
Jennie also admitted ‘there were times when I really emotionally regretted that decision or not fighting harder for more’ than 50 percent custody of their kids.
‘But at the same time, I knew that having them [spend] 50 percent of their time with you, their father, was absolutely the best thing for them,’ Garth said.
‘Whatever I was dealing with, you know, that part of me that wanted to have them more was just me being selfish and thinking about myself because it hurt so bad when they would leave.’
On Wednesday, the I Can See Your Voice panelist celebrated the 43rd birthday of her third husband David Abrams, who’s the co-owner of Echo Park bar The Douglas.
Jennie and the retired actor – who legally separated between 2017-2019 – will sort of celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary on July 11.
Meanwhile, Peter is now father to 21-month-old son Jack Cooper Facinelli from his four-year romance with current fiancée Lily Anne Harrison.
