Chris Appleton is opening up about his brief marriage to actor Lukas Gage a little more than a year after their divorce was finalized.
“It was definitely the first time that I’d experienced that magnitude of people being so invested in my private life,” Appleton said. “I think people have this perception, from social media probably, [that] I have it together. I work with these amazing people. Life looks glamorous. So from the outside, it probably looks like I’ve got it all together. But the truth is, especially during that time, I was going through a lot of private pain.”
He went on to note: “You can love someone and then not be a forever happy ending. I think you learn so much from it.”
Less than a week after the episode premiered, however, Appleton split from Gage, citing “irreconcilable differences.” Their divorce was finalized in June 2024.
Previously, Gage hinted that he couldn’t discuss many specifics of the divorce due to a non-disclosure agreement. Still, he’s described his decision to marry after such a brief romance as “one of the most unhinged things I’ve ever done in my life.”
“I had a manic episode for six months,” he said while appearing on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” last year. “What happened to me? I don’t know, literally, what went through my head. But we live and we learn.”
In his chat with Shetty, Appleton shrugged off the implication he’d agreed to tie the knot with Gage too quickly.
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“Look, moving fast doesn’t always mean you’re reckless,” he said. “I think sometimes it means you’re hopeful. And I think any relationship I’ve ever been into, I’ve gone into with an open heart and I have no regrets about that.”
“I think we shame people too much for leading with an open heart,” he continued. “And I think the sad part about that ― especially when it doesn’t work out ― is you can learn to retract and protect yourself. But I would rather love and fall than to never feel anything at all.”
Listen to Appleton’s “On Purpose with Jay Shetty” interview here. His comments on his split from Gage begin around the 54:53 mark.