Drew Barrymore has candidly spoken about her decision to practice abstinence as a single mother, implying she hasn't had sex for six years since her split from ex-husband Will Kopelman.
The actor-turned-talk-show-host, 47, revealed she has not been in an "intimate relationship" since her divorce from the art consultant in 2016, noting that her outlook on sex has "truly changed".
On Sunday morning (local time), the 50 First Dates star shared a photo to her 16.4 million followers on Instagram of her smiling and holding a laptop, with a caption encouraging fans to read a "very personal story" she had written about her decision to abstain from sex as a single mum-of-two.
"At nearly 48 I have very different feelings about intimacy than I did growing up. I did not have role model parents and I engaged with people in grown up ways since a tender age," the Golden Globe winner wrote in an open-and-honest confessional on the blog for her syndicated talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show.
In the past, Barrymore admitted she had been looking for "companionship, validation, excitement, pleasure, hedonism, fun and adventure" by engaging in sex.
The 47-year-old, who is mum to daughters Olive, 10, and Frankie, eight, acknowledged that while she wishes she could change the past, she is now choosing to look at her life - which was once tabloid fodder due to her partying and substance abuse - "through a positive lens".
"After two kids and a separation from their father that has made me cautious, I have had the pleasure of shifting my focus when it comes to love for myself and my two daughters," Barrymore continued. "I know that does not include a man nor has it for a while."
In her essay, the Charlie's Angels star also credited her therapist for teaching her that sex can serve as an "expression of love", but is not love itself.
"I have searched my whole life to have words like that to help me understand the difference and now, thanks to him, I do," she added. "And since entering life as a single mom, I have not been able to have an intimate relationship."
Barrymore noted that while she isn't ruling out another relationship in the future, it hasn't been her priority over recent years, claiming she's no longer a person "who needs sex and has to... engage with people on that level".
"I am someone who is deeply committed to fostering how young girls, my daughters, and myself as a woman, are supposed to function in this world.
"Some people can get out of a marriage or relationship and in the near future find themselves in another relationship. There is nothing wrong with that! Not one bit. I do not judge! I celebrate their journey."
Further on in her essay, Barrymore said she is continuing to mourn the loss of a "nuclear family" following her divorce from Kopelman, and that remaining "very celibate" - by not relying on sex or intimacy as a crutch - had helped throughout the grieving process.
She concluded that she wished she had her newfound "chastity and thoughtfulness" when she was a young woman and had been taught about "age-appropriate business" during her turbulent upbringing, which unfolded in front of the cameras as a former child star.
Last month on an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the Never Been Kissed actor revealed she could go "years" without sex after learning that Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield had abstained for six months for his role as a priest in the Martin Scorsese film, Silence.
"What's wrong with me that six months doesn't seem like a very long time?" Barrymore commented to her co-host Ross Mathews.
Earlier this year, Barrymore also broke down while discussing her dating life with Queer Eye star Bobby Berk on CBS Mornings.
"I don't know how to date with kids," the mom-of-two admitted candidly, visibly on the brink of tears.
"I'm not there yet. I have two young girls and I'm like... I don't want to bring people home. I think it would take me a very long time to meet someone and get to know them before I could even ever introduce them to my daughters."
Elsewhere, Barrymore has referred to her ex-husband's second wife as a "wonderful woman" and "extraordinary stepmom" to Olive and Frankie.
"Our processes have been different, and their side of the street is so functional, and whole, and happening. And I think I've been on the sidelines in a beautiful... purgatory," she said.
Barrymore has been married three times, firstly to Jeremy Thomas between 1994 and 1995; secondly to comedian and actor Tom Green from 2001 to 2002; and thirdly to Kopelman, whom she married in 2012. She was engaged twice in the early nineties prior to her marriage to Thomas and has dated the likes of actor Justin Long, Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson and The Strokes' drummer Fabrizio Moretti.
