Sophie Turner Has Entered The Chat
If you cast your mind back to mid-2023, you might remember that Hollywood was experiencing The Summer of Breakups™️. From Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez, to Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello and the short-lived marriage of Britney Spears and Sam Asghari, we collectively felt the heartbreak and questioned whether love was, in fact, a lie.
But when beloved duo Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas announced their split in September 2023, it all felt a bit… rogue.
While a joint statement was released by the pair via Instagram warning fans of “speculative narratives”, their united front quickly dissipated with reports the marriage had been “irretrievably broken”. Things got messier with custody arrangements due to conflicting schedules and locations, and multiple lawsuits were filed pertaining to their children’s whereabouts.
Now, after staying silent for the past eight months, Sophie Turner had a sit down with British Vogue for her first interview. Here’s what was discussed.
Sophie Turner on mum-guilt and misogyny:
“Turner is no stranger to her own brand of casual misogyny”, writes journalist Chioma Nnadi, before detailing the blatant mum-shaming the star has been subjected to since news of the split. If you recall, there was a narrative perpetrated by Joe that he was the responsible parent and Sophie was the party girl, backed up loosely by out-of-context images smeared across outlets like TMZ.
“I mean, those were the worst few days of my life,” Sophie tells Nnadi, recalling how she was contractually obligated to be on set in the UK filming her latest project Joan while her daughters were in the States. “It hurt because I really do completely torture myself over every move I make as a mother – mum guilt is so real! I just kept having to say to myself, ‘None of this is true. You are a good mum and you’ve never been a partier’.”
Sophie continues by reflecting on the relentless tabloid narratives based on recontextualised imagery (including pictures of her on set in Spain). “It felt like I was watching a movie of my life that I hadn’t written, hadn’t produced, or starred in. It was shocking. I’m still in shock.”
Image credit: Getty
On a brighter note, Sophie shares her gratitude for the current culture and those who came to her defence. “If something like this had happened to me 10 years ago I don’t think I would have had the same support. I just feel very lucky to be alive in a time when people are open-minded.”
Sophie Turner on her divorce lawsuits:
Sophie details the stress of the legalities involved with co-parenting, particularly having an ex refusing to comply with returning their children’s passports. “There were some days that I didn’t know if I was going to make it. I would call my lawyer saying, ‘I can’t do this. I just can’t.’ I was just never strong enough to stand up for myself. And then, finally, after two weeks of me being in a rut, she reminded me that it was my children I was fighting for.”
Sophie Turner on her daughters and her body image:
Sophie tells Nnadi that she found out she was pregnant with her first daughter Willa when she was at a retreat in Bali, and sat with it for a week before returning home and telling Joe. “When you’re in your early 20s, life is so frivolous. At that point, I really didn’t know if I wanted to be a mother, but something changed in me that day. I just knew I had to have her.”
After welcoming Willa in 2020 during lockdown, she went on to give birth to Delphine two years later, wanting to give Willa a sibling due to her and Joe’s busy lifestyles. “They’re so much fun, total girlie girls and absolute rays of sunshine in my life.”
Sophie explores the connection between motherhood and her struggles with body image. “To be honest, having kids was the best thing for my relationship to my body. I remember after I had my baby, my therapist asked me how I felt in my body. And of course, I was like, ‘Well, there’s milk leaking from my breasts and I’ve been bleeding for a month’.’ Then she reminded me how amazing it is that our bodies can do this and how important it is to put all the nutrients in your body so that it can do that.”
Sophie Turner on living in the US and feeling like a plus-one:
Sophie details the isolation she felt in LA, explaining that you had to be intentional when seeing someone due to its sprawling nature, unlike running into someone at the pub like back home. Beyond the geographical limitations, she felt alienated by her constant positioning as Joe’s significant other.
“There was a lot of attention on the three brothers and the wives. Well, we were always called the wives, and I hated that,” she tells Nnadi. “It was kind of this plus-one feeling. And that’s nothing to do with him – in no way did he make me feel that – it was just that the perception of us was as the groupies in the band.”
It was her move to Miami in 2021 that left her feeling “like a little bird trapped in a gilded cage.” This was exacerbated by her fears of America’s gun violence and political climate. “I couldn’t fathom being a mother of one of those children knowing that this was something your country could fix, that they’d rather have rights to guns than give kids a right to life,” she explains. “Meanwhile, women in the US are being stripped of their rights, left, right and centre. It all contributed to this feeling of ‘I have to get out, I have to get out’.”
Sophie Turner on her friendship with Taylor Swift:
Sophie tells Nnadi that she was the one who reached out to Taylor when she found herself without a place to stay in New York last September. Hoping Taylor might have known of someone renting a space, Sophie was overwhelmed when Taylor offered her own place to stay, free of charge. “I’ve never been more grateful to anyone than I am for her because she took my children and me, and provided us with a home and a safe space.”
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Sophie Turner on the present and her future:
“I am having fun dating. It’s very fun,” Sophie spills to Nnadi. “I mean, it’s strange when you get married so young. It’s like you never really learn how to date. So it’s all very new to me.”
She also shares how she and her friends have established something called “Safe Space Saturdays”, as she has learned that communication is what she values most in relationships, romantic or platonic. “We can tell each other anything that’s on our minds and sort it out with really healthy communication because I never want to be left in the dark in a relationship.”
Finally, Sophie shares that she’s hopeful when it comes to creating a functional, healthy co-parenting relationship with her ex. “I’m unhappy with the way everything played out, especially when it comes to my children. They’re the victims in all of this. But I think we’re doing the best we can,” she admits. “I’m confident that we can figure it out. Joe is a great father to our children and that’s all that I can ask for.”
Image credit: @sophiet Instagram (sharing British Vogue cover shoot)