Jennie Garth ‘struggled’ seeing daughter’s bond with ex-husband’s new girlfriend

Jennie Garth has spoken of her struggle to accept her children’s bond with her ex-husband’s new girlfriend following their split in 2012.

Garth, 52, and actor Peter Facinelli, 50, have spoken for the first time about the aftermath of their 2013 divorce in the latest episode of Garth’s podcast I Choose Me.

“Neither of us got married right away, but we both had a few relationships left and right and the girls would get close,” Garth said.

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“I know, from my perspective, your relationship after we were divorced, the girls got close with your then-girlfriend and that was very, very, very, very difficult for me,” she continued.

Facinelli began dating actress Jaimie Alexander in 2012. The couple were engaged in 2015 before announcing their split a year later.

The actor said he “never felt jealous” of his daughters spending time with Garth’s new partners.

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“I always felt the more love the girls had the better,” he said, with Garth admitting she remembered him saying that to her at the time.

The actress has since remarried. In 2015, she tied the knot with Dave Abrams. 

Facinelli is currently engaged to actress Lily Anne Harrison with whom he shares son Jack, two.

In the podcast, Garth admitted she struggled watching her children pack their bags ahead of leaving for their dad’s house.

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“I felt like its my fault. It’s our fault they have to do this,” she said.

Garth said their children never saw them fight so they “probably never understood why they broke up.”

She would remind them they “came from a place of love” and they were “born from a place of love.”

In part two of their conversation, released this week, Facinelli said he felt they were “very co-dependent on each other” during their 12-year marriage.

“Cause we were so young,” he told Garth, who asked what he meant by co-dependent.

Facinelli explained he felt he was living Garth’s life instead of his own because Garth’s was more “established”.

Garth was certainly the bigger star in their relationship at first thanks to her decade-long stint on hit TV series Beverly Hills 90210 from 1990 until 2000.

Facinelli later surpassed his wife’s fame with his role as Dr Carlisle Cullen in the Twilight movie series from 2008.

“You had a life that was established already and I kind of came into it and moved in,” he explained, with Garth agreeing with his assessment.

He said it wasn’t until he left the marriage that he began thinking about his wants and needs.

Garths admits she struggled with co-parenting their three children following their split, particularly when Facinelli’s new partner developed close relationships with their daughters Luca, 26, Lola, 21, and Fiona, 17.

Later on in the podcast Garth discussed the conversation with her ex-husband with therapist and friend Adele House, admitting she found parts of the discussion difficult, particularly when spoke of wishing she’d “been better” shortly after their split.

“I don’t want to give anybody the misconception that it was easy or it was quick or without a lot of pain,” she said.

“It was a really hard time and it wasn’t just hard for me, it was hard for the girls and it was hard for Peter.”

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