Sophia Bush made a decision not to "flaunt" her private life after growing frustrated with fame.
Sophia Bush
The 38-year-old actress achieved huge fame due to her role as Brooke Davis in 'One Tree Hill' - which ran from 2003 to 2012 for nine seasons - and she was constantly making headlines due to her love life.
Sophia says it was tiring to feel as though her life was public property.
In an interview with 'Entertainment Tonight', she said: "It’s hard to have nothing that’s yours. And when you are a person who lives in the public eye, everybody wants to pick over everything and that can be really tricky.
“And, I also grew up in the early Naughts when girls were raked over the coals for any choices that they made. And I just was like, ‘I don’t think I like this.
"I didn’t like having my private life lied about. There were times where someone would send through an article and be like, ‘Well, supposedly you’re dating this guy.’ And I was like, ‘I mean, I would. Who is he?’ Like, what is going on here?'"
Sophia created headlines due to her romances; she was married to her 'One Tree Hill' co-star Chad Michael Murray for less than a year before she separated from him in September 2005, eventually divorcing in December 2006. She then dated fellow 'One Tree Hill' cast member James Lafferty from 2008 to 2009 and Austin Nichols - who also went on to star in the teen drama.
Sophia - who is now in a relationship with businessman Grant Hughes - insists she made a conscious effort to change the narrative around her and shift focus onto her career and the causes she is passionate about.
The 'False Positive' star said: "I don’t know, just eventually it bothered me, that rather than doing what we’ve done, talking about work, substance, education, interview shows, what we believe in, what’s going on with women’s rights. It would be, ‘What are you wearing? And how’s your boyfriend?,’ and it’s like, ‘What does that have to do with anything about my work, my life?’
“I really think the kind of gamification of people’s private intimacy is just creepy to me. So I don’t really hide what’s going on in my life, but I don’t flaunt it.”
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