Dexter star Julie Benz is opening up about her divorce.
Benz, who played Dexter Morgan’s girlfriend and eventual wife Rita on the Showtime series, recently appeared on Jennie Garth’s I Choose Me podcast to talk about the “difficult decision” to end her marriage.
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“The first time I really chose myself was deciding to get divorced,” Benz told the Beverly Hills, 90210 star. Benz was previously married to actor and comedian John Kassir; the couple split in 2007.
She told Garth that it was “very difficult” because she “grew up in a very devout Catholic family [where] divorce was very much looked down upon.” But she knew something had to change.
“I honestly felt like I was suffocating… I felt like I was just… I couldn’t breathe,” she said, and noted her pattern of unhealthy behavior related to her struggles. “I was going location and I would smoke cigarettes and drink and like all this bad behavior… I was like, ‘It’s because I’m not able to just be me!’”
She also spoke on how the split was especially heartbreaking in a different way, as she had to leave her two dogs with her ex-husband, which left her “distraught and sad.”
Eventually, though, she got a new dog and a new man. She married Rich Orosco in 2012, who is the Chief Brand Officer for the MLS team Los Angeles FC. Earlier this year, they celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary.
“13yrs later and I’m still the best decision you ever made 💘 Happy Anniversary @lafcrich ❤️still, always and forever 💖,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
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