Sophia Bush is giving insight into how her relationship with Ashlyn Harris started.
On the latest episode of her Work in Progress podcast, Bush, 42, who started dating the former USWNT player in October 2023, discussed what it was like asking the athlete, 38, out for the first time.
“Our friends were, like, trying to set her up with someone, and I was, like, ‘If she’s ready to date, she’s going on a date with me.’ Like, sorry. Uh-uh,” said Bush while reflecting on the moment during her conversation with guest Nico Tortorella.
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“Yeah. Like, no fu—-g way. And people were, like, ‘Wait, what?’ And she even said to me, ‘Hold the phone. I always thought you were straight?!’ And I was like, ‘I always thought you were happy. But, like, we’re both single. What are we doing?’ ” recalled Bush.
The actress filed for divorce from entrepreneur Grant Hughes after 13 months of marriage in August 2023, while Harris filed for divorce from ex-wife and fellow soccer pro Ali Krieger in September 2023. Months later, the One Tree Hill alum came out as queer in an essay penned for Glamour in April.
Bush recalled the two “cackling” during the first date moment because neither had considered themselves “as an option.”
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“Even a lot of the queer women in my life were, like, ‘Oh, we knew you were, like, an ally and we maybe wondered when we saw this TV show or this movie you’ve done or whatever: ‘that doesn’t really look like acting.’ But, like, we didn’t really know,’ ” said Bush. “And I was like, ‘Wow, we all do it. Like, even in our friend groups, we make assumptions.’ ”
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Elsewhere in the podcast, Bush reflected on her coming out experience by explaining why she wanted to clear up speculation.
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“People will really take your self-discovery from you. What made me make the decision was knowing that we’ve gotten into a post-fact vacuum,” said Bush. “So I was like, ‘What I’m gonna do is just sit and wait, but eventually what I’m gonna do is clarify very firmly but gently what’s real, cause it matters to me.’ “
