Drew Barrymore Reveals Why She Hasn’t Had Sex Since 2016

Drew Barrymore is opening up about her sex life as she reveals she hasn’t had “an intimate relationship” since her split from ex-husband Will Kopelman in 2016. In a new blog post, the Scream actress, 47, revealed that she’s found she doesn’t “need” sex after learning that physical intimacy doesn’t necessarily equate to love.

“I have had the honor and a pleasure to actually work on myself and learn what parenting is, again something I was not exactly clear on growing up and I’ve had many learning curves thrown my way,” she wrote of the years since her split from Kopelman, 44, with whom she shares daughters Olive, 10, and Frankie, 8. “I’ve been intimidated. I’ve been triumphant. I’ve been asked to be educated in every way I can be.”

The Drew Barrymore Show host revealed that her divorce has made her more “cautious” in her personal life as she tries to raise her daughters to be “empowered and to love themselves.” The former child star added, “I am just in a completely different place in my life and maybe in the near future I will get into a relationship… but it simply hasn’t been my priority. So I’m not a person who needs sex and has to go out there and engage with people on that level.”

Barrymore said she’s all for people who can get into relationships after a divorce, but she needed to “stay very much celibate” to honor and grieve the “loss of a nuclear family that I swore I would have for my daughters and to find grace and acceptance and what our new normal of a blended family would be.” Barrymore concluded her post by writing that she doesn’t “hate sex” but has “finally come to the epiphany that love and sex are simply not the same thing.”

The E.T. actress’ intimate life came under scrutiny in August after she revealed on her show that she can go “years” without having sex during a discussion about Andrew Garfield’s revelation that he was celibate for six months. “What’s wrong with me that six months doesn’t seem like a very long time?” Barrymore asked the audience. “I was like, ‘Yeah, so?’” Barrymore said of the Silence actor’s admission.