Shailene Woodley doesn’t spill the tea often, but when she does, it’s steeped in tears and existential musings. Case in point: her latest revelation about her relationship with NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
For those living under a pop culture rock, Shailene and Aaron were engaged, but their love story ran out of bounds in 2022.
“I don’t talk about Aaron much because, honestly, it turns me into a human sprinkler system,” Shailene told Outside magazine, clearly channeling the Notebook energy we didn’t know we needed. “It was not right. But it was beautiful.” Cue the rom-com music and a single tear sliding down a metaphorical cheek.
Their split in February 2022 sent shockwaves through fans and, according to anonymous sources (aka the unpaid drama interns of Hollywood), the breakup was due to “differences.” Because obviously, nothing screams compatibility like a free-spirited actress and a football star who probably refers to plays as “manifesting touchdowns.”
Oh, but that’s not all. Shailene dropped hints of the darkest timeline without naming names. “In early 2022, something truly awful happened. Traumatic. Soul-crushing. Like, ‘stare at a tree and feel nothing’ level awful,” she said, making us all rethink our relationship with houseplants.
She admitted to hitting rock bottom, where even majestic oaks couldn’t spark joy. “I knew it was bad when I looked at a tree and felt… meh.” Girl, same.
But here’s where things take a delightful left turn. Enter Kris Zero, stylist by trade, therapist by default, and unofficial queen of Get Your Life Together Boot Camp. “Sometimes I wanted to throw Kris into the Pacific, but then she’d be like, ‘Let’s surf!’ And for 10 minutes, life was okay again. Then depression was like, ‘Not so fast, sweetheart.’”
Kris apparently had a strategy: throw Shailene at nature until it fought back. “We’d find random horse ranches and clean up horse poop. Yes, poop. And for 20 minutes, life didn’t suck. Then, bam! Depression again. Next day, Kris would wake me up, and we’d go hike and clean up trash because nothing says therapy like picking up someone else’s abandoned soda can.”
Six months of this unconventional rehab, and Shailene’s soul started to emerge from its hiding place. If there’s a lesson here, it’s this: when life hands you lemons, maybe pick up horse poop. It’s weirdly healing.
So while the relationship may not have been “right,” at least Shailene got a Netflix-worthy personal growth montage out of it. Aaron may be throwing footballs, but Shailene? She’s out here cleaning hooves and slaying metaphors. Touchdown for her. 🏈💔
