Jennifer Aniston says her parents' divorce during childhood makes it 'a challenge' to be in a relationship now

• Jennifer Aniston told The Wall Street Journal how her parents' divorce has affected her relationships.
• "I didn't like the idea of sacrificing who you were or what you needed, so I didn't really know how to do that," she said.
• Aniston was 9 when her parents divorced. She's been married to Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux.

Jennifer Aniston has opened up about how her parents' divorce has affected her romantic relationships throughout her life.

"It was always a little bit difficult for me in relationships, I think, because I really was kind of alone," Aniston told The Wall Street Journal Magazine.

"My parents, watching my family's relationship, didn't make me kind of go, 'Oh, I can't wait to do that,'" she continued. "I didn't like the idea of sacrificing who you were or what you needed, so I didn't really know how to do that. So it was almost easier to just be kind of solo. So I didn't have any real training in that give-and-take."

Aniston's parents, actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow, got divorced when Aniston was 9.

"It's just about not being afraid to say what you need and what you want," "The Morning Show" star added. "And it's still a challenge for me in a relationship. I'm really good at every other job I have, and that's sort of the one area that's a little…." Aniston then trailed off.

The "Friends" star married Brad Pitt in 2000 and divorced in 2005. She was married to Justin Theroux in 2015 and the two separated in 2017. Since then, she's been linked to Vince Vaughn and John Mayer.

Aniston's mother died in 2016. Her father died in 2022 while she was filming the current season of "The Morning Show." He got COVID and never recovered, according to the Wall Street Journal profile.

Aniston told Sandra Bullock in 2020 for Interview Magazine that her household growing up was "destabilized and felt unsafe."

"Watching adults being unkind to each other, and witnessing certain things about human behavior that made me think: 'I don't want to do that. I don't want to be that. I don't want to experience this feeling I'm having in my body right now. I don't want anyone else that I ever come in contact with ever to feel that.'"

However, the star said that she feels different about her father now since his passing.

"I feel closer to him now than I did almost when he was alive," she told the Wall Street Journal. "I feel like he's everywhere. I really do."