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\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Rachael Leigh Cook<\/strong><\/a> is opening up about her split from ex-husband Daniel Gillies<\/strong><\/a> and what she has learned after getting divorced. <\/p>\n The former couple got married in 2004 and they separated in 2019. They share two children: a daughter born in 2013 and a son born in 2015. Rachael<\/strong> is best known for starring in 1999\u2019s She\u2019s All That<\/em> and 2001\u2019s Josie and the Pussycats<\/em>. She also has starred in many Hallmark Channel films in recent years. Daniel<\/strong> is best known for his work on the shows The Vampire Diaries<\/em> and The Originals<\/em>.<\/p>\n Rachael<\/strong> is now dating a fellow Hallmark Channel actor<\/a> who was also a major star in the early 2000s!<\/p>\n So, what happened between Rachael<\/strong> and Daniel<\/strong>?<\/p>\n Rachael <\/strong>appeared on the I Love You So Much Podcast ILYSM<\/a> talked about the \u201cbiggest thing [she] can take accountability for in our split.\u201d<\/p>\n I think I\u2019ve always just been like a little bit hyper independent, just having to look after myself for so long, just you know, being a kid in the industry and being on my own and being financially independent and all this stuff. Like it would be really easy, I think if you were Daniel, to feel like I didn\u2019t really need him that much. I think that I built and lived out my life very much that way. I had a strong network of friends. I have my family here. And Daniel really likes to be able to be there, step up, do the thing. You know, he\u2019s really good at that.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Rachael<\/strong> says that she never gave Daniel<\/strong> the opportunity to be the one caring for her.<\/p>\n In that sense, aside from being good at having a common enemy with me when it was time, which he kills at, and then in the raising of our children, of course, he\u2019s also awesome, but I don\u2019t think that I, sort of, gave him an ability to be able to execute on something that\u2019s a major skill that he has. How much can you love on someone who\u2019s, like, \u2018We\u2019re here for the good times, I don\u2019t feel like fighting with you.\u2019 I\u2019m also, like, light touch avoidant, probably.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Rachael<\/strong> added that \u201cwe had our own stuff about, just how it was not so much a fit.\u201d Whereas she\u2019s a people pleaser, he doesn\u2019t care what others think.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought that that was cool, and my life has been a lot of pendulum swings between, like, being involved with people who embodied different traits in that way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a good little bit of lessons with regret. I was feeling really down on dating before I met my now-boyfriend,\u201d Rachael <\/strong>said, referring to current boyfriend Brandon Routh<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cInstead of feeling mad at all the sort of, rough dates, or brief dating experiences that I had had, I wrote out a list of everything I learned from every single person I went on a date with or was in a short relationship with,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018I learned so much stuff!\u2019 I learned so many things about what I do and don\u2019t want, but also just like accidental bits of knowledge that they taught me. I\u2019m like, \u2018I wouldn\u2019t have learned any of these things.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.justjared.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rachael-leigh-cook-talks-divorce-19-788x1068.jpg\")
<\/a>Rachael explained what led to her breakup with Daniel<\/h3>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.justjared.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rachael-leigh-cook-talks-divorce-13-788x743.jpg\")
<\/a>Rachael explains what she\u2019s learned since divorce<\/h3>\n