Jenna Dewan Admits There Was ‘No One Event’ That Led to Divorce From Channing Tatum

Jenna Dewan is opening up about her divorce with Channing Tatum! In a new interview, the actress and dancer spoke openly about the big changes that have gone down in her life recently, including the end of her marriage to the Magic Mike star and starting over with boyfriend Steve Kazee.

Dewan and Kazee delighted fans after announcing they were expecting their first child together. She is also enjoying a busy year, working on a starring role in upcoming Netflix series Soundtrack and set to host Fox’s new dance-themed dating show, Flirty Dancing.

“It was a hard journey of growth and change,” Dewan told PEOPLE. “Ultimately now I can honestly say that I’m living in a very joyful new place in my life, and I’m happy about it.”

During the conversation, Dewan opened up about ending her nine-year marriage to Tatum, whom she shares 6-year-old daughter Everly.

“I always say no one gets married to hopefully get divorced,” she said. “People grow and they change and sometimes they don’t grow and change together. So it wasn’t [an] overnight thing that happened.”

“There was no one event. I think it was just a slow realization that we wanted different things,” she added.

Dewan revealed the separation was a difficult time for everyone involved.

“I was just gutted. It was so difficult for me,” she told the publication. “It was the loss of an idealistic future for myself and my life. What does that now look like for me? Where do I begin? I met him when I was 24, I didn’t know life without Chan.”

She added her friends were there to support her during the difficult period in her life, but there was a lot of work she had to do on her own.

“You would never expect your life to take a turn the way it does,” The former World of Dance host added. “But embracing it and starting fresh and figuring out what you want in life and what means a lot to you and what’s meaningful, what is going to make you happy… I’m grateful that I now am at a place where I understand myself and what I want and I’m happy about this new chapter. I’m in a place of joy.”

As Dewan and Kazee start the new chapter in their relationship, Tatum is also in a relationship with singer Jessie J. Through it all, Dewan said their daughter Everly is the number one priority.

“We’re all aware that it’s a new normal, we’re all getting used to it,” Dewan said. “You can still have a relationship and just because the forms change as to who you are to each other, it doesn’t take away from the love that we had or that we shared all those years.”