Sophia Bush says friend told her 'I don't actually think you like men' after her divorce

Sophia Bush has continued to gradually open up more and more about her journey with her sexuality ever since news of her relationship with soccer star Ashlyn Harris became public last year. Most recently, she opened up about a friend helping her figure things out — and admitted Harris wasn't the first time she had fallen for someone of the same gender.

Speaking on a recent episode of her Work in Progress podcast, the One Tree Hill actress recalled a conversation she had with an unnamed friend following her divorce from Grant Hughes after barely a year of marriage.

"One of my best friends looked at me and was like, 'I gotta say, that was just painful to watch, and I'm so glad you're getting out of it,'" she said, referring to the relationship. "'I don't just think he was not the right person for you, but also, I don't actually think you like men.'"

Bush has previously said that the word that best describes her sexuality at the moment is "queer," and that she feels it exists on a spectrum. Prior to dating Harris, she had exclusively dated (and married) men — something that held her back in identifying as bisexual.

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"I would never want to hurt the people I care the most about who’ve been in this fight for liberation for so long," she said, suggesting she felt the need to "get out of the way." "And then, it was like, 'Well, maybe I don’t have to get out of the way. Maybe I just get to like who I like.' What a revolutionary f—king idea."

Despite her dating history, Bush also acknowledged that she underwent some turmoil as a teenager when she fell in love with a French exchange student. At the time, she worried her family pushed back against it because her feelings were for another girl, but said she's since come to realize her parents were likely more concerned about the actress setting herself up for heartbreak by falling for someone who would ultimately return to France.

Looking back over past conversations and experiences with new understand after coming out as LGBTQ+ is a quintessential part of the experience, and Bush sharing her perspective as someone who didn't come out until age 41 — and who lived many of those years in the public eye — will hopefully help others still on that journey.

"I think so many women are like, 'Well, I'm settling a little bit,'" she said. "Everyone says everything's hard, all my friends hate their husbands. And you sort of go, like, 'Oh, then maybe that's not it.'"