Sophia Bush Says She's 'a Very Different Person' Years After Chad Michael Murray Divorce

Sophia Bush revisited her marriage to Chad Michael Murray in her memoir, And I Will Tell You Mine, sharing new details about their relationship and divorce.

"It's the thing I never want to speak about because do you want to talk about the dumb thing you did when you were a senior in college, which is how old I was?" the actress said about her marriage to Murray.

Bush and Murray, 45, began dating in 2003, married in April 2005, and separated just five months later. Their divorce was finalized in December 2006.

In her memoir, Bush shared how she moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, in July 2003 to film One Tree Hill, and how she bonded with Murray.

Bush claims Murray confided in her about his childhood and personal difficulties, prompting her instinct to care for him.

However, their costar Hilarie Burton, who had worked with Murray before Bush joined the production, advised her against pursuing a relationship with him.

Although Bush trusted Burton, she felt her own experience with Murray was different. When confronted about his past actions, Murray said he was "embarrassed" and that Bush made him want to improve.

As the relationship progressed, Bush and Burton grew apart.

Bush claims their relationship became difficult for Murray's "insecurity, possessiveness, and controlling demands." This resulted in more frequent disagreements.

She also recalls defending him against cheating rumors, which he denied at the time. After a rough summer, Murray proposed in Australia, but an allegation from the One Tree Hill set led Bush to return her ring before they fixed things in therapy.

Ignoring a friend's warning, Bush married to escape her childhood memories.

"I couldn't do another fight or another humiliating show of him marking his territory with my coworkers," she said.

Bush later confronted a friend of Murray's over his absence from their wedding.

The actress claims their talk revealed Murray cheated on her with multiple women, and that another girlfriend was living in his house when they met.

She says she was left dealing with the cheating scandal while he got engaged to a high schooler.

Nearly two decades after their divorce was finalized, Bush says she no longer identifies with the person she was during her first marriage. She said, "I'm a very different person, and so is [Chad], who probably doesn't want to talk about it either."

Bush, who recently shared that she secretly married Ashlyn Harris in 2025, also talked about how hard it was to keep playing Murray’s love interest on One Tree Hill after they broke up in real life.

"That was my job," she says. "At the end of the day, you have a job, and you're employed. I was never going to let a personal circumstance change the way I showed up at my job. I just wasn't going to do that."

Murray previously addressed accusations from his former girlfriend Erin Foster, who claimed he had cheated on her with Bush.

"It's not one of those things that I want to go down the road of because there's just never a winner," Murray said. "I feel blessed to be where I am right now."

Murray hasn't publicly responded to the allegations in Bush's memoir.