One Tree Hill star Sophia Bush has come out as queer while also confirming a relationship with a retired soccer player.
Bush filed for divorce from husband Grant Hughes last year after 13 months of marriage.
News of Bush and Hughes' separation first made the headlines in August last year and came as a bit of a surprise considering the pair had celebrated their first wedding anniversary seven weeks earlier, with Bush sharing a post to Instagram calling her decision to marry Hughes the 'best decision of [her] life'.
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A source told People: "Sophia and Grant were friends for 10 years and bonded during Covid through their love of community service. They continue to run their nonprofit together and remain good friends.”
Shortly after the divorce, speculation commenced stating that Bush was dating retired US Women's National Team star Ashlyn Harris.
Harris similarly filed for divorce from her wife, Ali Krieger, in September last year.
Harris and Krieger got married in 2019 and have two adopted children, but Harris filed paperwork stating their marriage was 'irretrievably broken'.
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Last October, a source close to Bush and Harris confirmed they went on a date.
The source said: "After being friends for years, and running in the same social circles, Sophia and Ashlyn went out on their first dinner date a couple of weeks ago.
"This is so recent, and they are both beginning new chapters."
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And now, Bush has officially confirmed she's in a relationship with Harris while also coming out as queer.
“I sort of hate the notion of having to come out in 2024,” Bush wrote in a cover story for Glamour magazine.
"But I’m deeply aware that we are having this conversation in a year when we’re seeing the most aggressive attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community in modern history.
"I’ve experienced so much safety, respect, and love in the queer community, as an ally all of my life, that, as I came into myself, I already felt it was my home.
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"I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum. Right now I think the word that best defines it is queer. I can’t say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great."
"I finally feel like I can breathe," Bush went on. "I turned 41 last summer, amid all of this, and I heard the words I was saying to my best friend as they came out of my mouth.
"‘I feel like this is my first birthday,’ I told her. This year was my very first birthday."
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Bush also addressed online rumors that her relationship with Harris began before the latter filed a divorce from Krieger.
"Everyone that matters to me knows what’s true and what isn’t," she added. "But even still there’s a part of me that’s a ferocious defender, who wants to correct the record piece by piece.
"But my better self, with her earned patience, has to sit back and ask, What’s the f**king point? For who? For internet trolls? No, thank you. I’ll spend my precious time doing things I love instead."
Topics: Celebrity, LGBTQ, Sex and Relationships
Callum Jones