NEED TO KNOW
Sam Asghari reflects on his six-year relationship with Britney Spears
He recalled working toward an acting career with casting agents referring to him as “cheesy” and “associated with a pop star”
The former couple began dating in 2017, and were married from 2022 to 2024
Sam Asghari says there were pros and cons to marrying Britney Spears.
The 31-year-old Iranian-American model and actor recently looked back at the former high-profile relationship, in an interview with Page Six Radio co-hosts Danny Murphy and Ian Mohr.
“I can’t sit here and lie and say, ‘It wasn’t good for me,’ ” he said in the episode that aired Monday, June 9, adding, “When you’re in such a public relationship … it sort of gave me that platform for who I am.”
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Britney Spears and Sam Asghari
The pair met when Asghari was cast as Spears’ love interest in her 2016 music video for “Slumber Party” and got married in 2022. In August 2023, the former couple separated after 14 months of marriage. Less than a year later, their divorce was finalized after they reached a settlement in May 2024.
“I mean, we met on the acting set,” Asghari recalled in Monday’s podcast. “We met as co-workers.”
According to the Can You Keep a Secret? actor, their relationship came early in his career, allowing for more opportunities. “I just started acting at that moment, so I was already doing stuff anyway,” he said.
However, with more eyes on him than ever, Asghari said he “absolutely” had “to work harder to prove myself.”
Outside of acting, he made money by working as a waiter and as the owner of Asghari Fitness. He said casting agents sometimes looked down on him, referring to him as “a cheesy trainer,” making his public love life a double-edged sword.
“‘Oh, and he’s associated with a pop star, which is also cheesy as well.’ Or ‘can we see him as a character?’ There was that line as well,” Asghari said of how others perceived him.
One day after filing for divorce from the “Circus” singer, Asghari broke his silence in a statement on Instagram.
J. Merritt/Getty Images for GLAAD
Britney Spears and Sam Asghari, 2018 GLAAD Media Awards
“AFTER 6 YEARS OF LOVE AND COMMITMENT TO EACH OTHER MY WIFE AND I HAVE DECIDED TO END OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER,” he wrote. “WE WILL HOLD ONTO THE LOVE AND RESPECT WE HAVE FOR EACH OTHER AND I WISH HER THE BEST ALWAYS.”
The actor continued: “S— HAPPENS. ASKING FOR PRIVACY SEEMS [RIDICULOUS] SO I WILL JUST ASK FOR EVERYONE … TO BE KIND AND THOUGHTFUL.”
He later spoke to PEOPLE about his relationship with Spears, still echoing his previous sentiment for wishing her well.
“It was a blessing to be able to share life with someone for a long time. And people grow apart and people move on,” he told PEOPLE exclusively in March 2024.
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“I’ve always hated people leaving a certain relationship — and at some point they told each other they love each other and they sat at the same table and ate food [together] — so I never understood when people part ways [and] they talk badly about each other,” Asghari added.
“That’s something I’m never going to do because I had nothing but an amazing experience and a great life, and that’s always going to be part of my life, a chapter of my life.”
Read the original article on People
