Why Channing Tatum's 'Scary and Terrifying' Split from Jenna Dewan Was 'Exactly What I Needed'

The "Magic Mike" star and his "Step Up" costar Dewan were married from 2009 until they announced their separation in 2018, five years after the birth of their daughter. Their divorce was finalized the following year.

"We fought for it for a really long time, even though we both sort of knew that we had sort of grown apart," he shared in a new Vanity Fair cover story.

"I think we told ourselves a story when we were young, and we just kept telling ourselves that story, no matter how blatantly life was telling us that we were so different," he continued. "But when you're actually parents you really understand differences between the two of you. Because it is screaming at you all day long. How you parent differently, how you look at the world, how you go through the world."

When the two decided to split, Tatum said, "In the beginning, it was super scary and terrifying," recalling how it felt like "your life just turns on its axis." He added, "This whole plan that you had literally just turns into sand and goes through your fingers and you're just like, 'Oh, s---. What now?'"

But he eventually came to realize "it was probably exactly what I needed."

"I don't think I would've ever done the work, I think, on myself in the way that I had to do the work on myself to really try to figure out what next. And really, it just started with my daughter," said Tatum. "I just dropped everything and just focused on her. And it was truly the best possible thing that I ever could have done. Because in the alone time that I have with just me and her, we've become best friends."

Though he told the outlet "I don't know if I'm ever going to get married again," the 42-year-old actor is currently dating Zoe Kravitz, who he met while working together on her directorial debut "Pussy Island." When the pair started being spotted together in NYC, some eagle-eyed fans noticed how Tatum was following Instagram accounts devoted to Kravitz -- with Channing admitting, "I have no chill."

"I was just seeing what she was up to! Also, I didn't know anyone would know,'" he told VF, before opening up about some of his hangups when it comes to dating.

"Relationships are hard for me. Even though I am a bit of a monogamist," he explained. "In business, I have no real fear of anything being destroyed. But heart things, when it comes to people I love, I have a really hard time. I end up trying too hard, you know?"

So far, however, he and Kravitz are still going strong.

Read the full cover story here. His issue of Vanity Fair hits newsstands January 24.