Ashlyn Harris ponders her ongoing divorce from ex Ali Krieger amid her new romance with Sophia Bush.
The former U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) player, 38, opened up about “one of the hardest seasons” of her life in a new interview with Women’s health published on Wednesday 17 July.
“I went through a divorce that has been very difficult,” Harris told the outlet. “I just surf the waves and realize that I can only control what is in my controlables. I have no control over the reaction of others. I have no control over other people’s opinions of me. I have to own myself and my body, be present and be human.”
Noting that she’s trying to maintain a sense of normalcy for her and Krieger’s two children — daughter Sloane, 3, and son Ocean, 2 — Harris told the outlet that her “storm doesn’t have to be theirs.”
Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris’ friendship turned romantic after their respective divorces from Grant Hughes and Ali Krieger, and they have quietly built their relationship. A source exclusively told Us Weekly that Bush and Harris “bonded after their breakup and had to start over” in October 2023, a month after they started dating. […]
She continued, “It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through, dealing with a divorce with two very young children and not letting them see or feel my storm and rain. It really is a big test.”
The duo first met in 2010 while competing in the USWNT, got engaged in 2019 and married that same year. Harris filed for divorce from the two-time World Cup champion in September 2023, and Krieger filed her own in December of that year.
In November 2023, Harris felt compelled to speak out about the online hate she received following her and Krieger’s divorce. At the time, rumors swirled about a romance with Bush, 42, but both parties have insisted they were no longer in a relationship before getting together romantically. (Bush split from ex Grant Hughes after just over a year of marriage. The former spouses married in June 2022 and separated in August 2023.)
“The online hate that has occurred since then has been one of the most personally devastating experiences of my life,” Harris wrote in part via Instagram. “Words are important. The shouting about abuse, the people shouting to encourage me to commit suicide, and the cruel words spoken about my children and who I am as a mother? Those words are important.”
Bush confirmed her relationship with Harris in April after she came out as queer in an essay Glamour.
“When I came to myself, I already felt that it was my home. I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum,” she wrote in the magazine’s cover story. “Right now, I think the word that best describes it is ‘queer.’ I can’t actually say it without smiling. And that feels pretty good.”