*Lena Waithe reflected on her marriage to Alana Mayo during a June 1 appearance on Dax Shephard’s Armchair Expert. She used the interview to revisit the end of the relationship and the personal lessons that followed.
Waithe and Mayo began dating in 2014 and became engaged in 2017. The couple married privately in November 2019. They announced their separation in January 2020. Mayo filed for divorce later that year and it was finalized in May 2021.
Waithe said she entered the marriage without full clarity about her own needs. She explained that she often prioritized obligation over personal happiness. “I just didn’t have the language or understanding of that,” she said during the interview, PEOPLE reports.
(April 17, 2019 – Source: MIKE COPPOLA/Getty Images North America)
She also reflected on how long she avoided key questions in the relationship. Children became a central issue between them. Waithe said she delayed addressing it directly. “That’s a pretty big life change. And so, at that time … I just kept putting it off,” she explained.
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Waithe compared the chaotic breakup to a “car crash.”
“I just sort of like, was driving the car too fast, not knowing the gear, and just sort of going,” Waithe said. “I wish I could have landed the plane better.”
She now views the experience with more perspective and carries more self-reflection than anger. “I don’t have any ill will toward anyone,” she said during the discussion.
Waithe said she ultimately came to value Mayo’s happiness even after the split.
“And that to me is how you know you really love somebody, is that when you want them to be happy and happier without you,” she added.
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