Jenna Dewan has been on a "journey" of "transformation" following her divorce from Channing Tatum.
Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan
The Hollywood couple - who have five-year-old daughter Everly together - split up in April after nine years of marriage, and the 37-year-old actress has opened about how her life has become focused on what is best for her child and herself since.
Speaking in an interview with Women's Health magazine, in which she was photographed naked for the cover, she admitted: "It's been a journey, and it's been a transformation of myself - my needs and wants as a woman.
"I think everyone wants to hold on to what's in front of them, but when you open your mind, saying, 'I want what's best for myself and my daughter', you have to be okay with however that looks."
The former dancer says her relationship with the 'Magic Mike XXL' star - who she met on the set of the movie 'Step Up' in 2005 - isn't the same, but she is getting used to their "new normal".
She added: "I feel I've been on a wave of growth. It does look different; it's a new normal, and I really think we'll get used to that."
The 'American Virgin' actress also defended her decision to pose without her clothes for the cover, saying just because she is mother that doesn't mean she can't embrace her sexuality.
She said: "Apparently, when you become a mother, you're supposed to leave your sexuality at the door, and I never understood that.
"I think there's nothing sexier than becoming a mother. You give life. It's everything. And you don't change who you are inside just because you have a kid."
Jenna and Channing, 38, announced their split in a joint statement earlier this year but the brunette beauty recently insisted that, regardless of what happens in the future, they will always remain "great friends".
She said: "We started out as friends, and I would say it was an instant recognition.
"When we met it felt like we had known each other for many years. Ultimately, no matter what Chan and I are doing, we're really great friends. I think that will never change, no matter what ... My parents split up when I was a year old, and due to life circumstances, [my mother] had to pick herself up, get a job and become a single working mom.
"[Moving so frequently] completely informed my life [and] personality in very positive ways. I learned social skills I don't think I would have [with] a different upbringing. In a lot of ways I am really grateful for it.
"I'm also very conscious and aware of it, so it's something that [explains] how I am, who I am, and probably greatly prepared me for life in Hollywood."
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