Mandy Moore Confesses Getting Married at 24 Took Her Down “Hollow, Empty” Path

Mandy Moore is speaking out about a difficult time in her life. 

The This Is Us star alum reflected on her decision to marry ex Ryan Adams at 24, which she considered "very young," and how damaging it was.

"I think it was like, a direct response to my own parents splitting up," Mandy admitted on the Feb. 6 episode of the Dinner's on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson podcast. "They had been together obviously since they were like 16 or something and I was so heartbroken and I believed that I found myself in a relationship with somebody that I was like, ‘Oh, I can make a family with this person for this person.'" 

The 39-year-old added, "It was obviously not the right situation by any means."

Mandy and Ryan, 49, who first met in 2007, were married for six years before divorcing in 2016. And ultimately, it was a relationship that took over the A Walk to Remember star's life for a time. In fact, she noted that, around their 2009 engagement, she contemplated stepping away from her career in Hollywood altogether.

"This seemed like a perfectly appropriate time to get married and focus on this very personal, quiet chapter in my life," Mandy explained. "Ultimately, it just left me in a really hollow, empty, isolated place."

The Dr. Death actress shared how her self-esteem and past played a role in some of the dynamics during the marriage.

"The feeling of belittling yourself or making yourself as small as possible to make others around you feel as comfortable as possible," she said, "was something that started obviously at a young age for me and continued through that very unhealthy relationship that I was in."

E! News has reached out to Ryan's reps and has not heard back.

Mandy has previously opened up about her relationship with the rocker. In a 2019 New York Times exposé, the "Candy" singer was one of seven women—including Phoebe Bridgers and Courtney Jaye, who shared their experiences with what they described as manipulative and psychologically abusive behavior. Mandy explained that "music was a point of control for him," and that his actions largely prevented her from making music for a decade.

While Ryan and his attorney denied the claims made in the article when it was first published, he subsequently issued a public apology in 2020, expressing regret over his past behavior.

And looking back at her life then, Mandy—who married husband Taylor Goldsmith in 2018 and welcomed sons August, 2, and Oscar, 15 months—recognizes how much she's grown.

"That is just an entirely different person I don't recognize," she explained on the podcast. "I don't relate to it all. I can't even put myself into those shoes again."

But she does acknowledge the strength the experience gave her.

"I'm grateful for all it taught me and where it brought me and ultimately, it led me to finding this incredible partner," she explained. "I'm glad I found the strength to move on because I don't know where I would be if I had stayed in that relationship."

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