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After almost ten years of marriage, actress Essence Atkins is divorcing her husband Jaime Mendez. The pair met through Match.com on Valentine’s Day 2008 and tied the knot in September 2009.

In an interview with Hollywood Today Live, the former Smart Guy star said she still has a lot of love for her ex and both are determined to remain civil for the sake of their 4-year-old son, Varro. Atkins added that her newest role as Marlon Wayans’ wife on the upcoming sitcom Marlon helped her come to terms with the split.

“It’s weird because literally, three weeks after filing, I got this job where I’m playing a newly divorced woman who’s co-parenting with her ex that she still loves, but they’ve somehow realized that they’re not meant to partner together anymore. It was kind of this weird, amazing moment the universe was like, here’s art imitating life and we’re going to talk about this and you’re going to explore it in a really humorous way,” she revealed.

The Deliver Us From Eva actress may be handling the split with grace, but she admitted she’s worried about her ability to ease back into the dating game. “I am going to be entering the dating world after nearly a decade,” Atkins told Garcelle Beauvais, Ross Mathews, and Tanner Thomason on Hollywood Today.

“I’ve turned 40 since I’ve dated. I don’t know, people don’t talk anymore, they text. They only call if it’s a dire emergency. I have no idea how to go about it.”

We think she’ll be just fine.

SOURCE: Essence | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Twitter

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