Jessica Alba Says 'Hard Times' in Marriage Aren't 'Permanent': 'You Can Find Your Way Back to Each Other'
"When it comes down to it, I wouldn't wanna be with anybody else," the actress said
Jessica Alba is keeping it real about the ups and downs of marriage.
During an interview on SiriusXM's The Morning Mash Up Wednesday, June 5, the actress and Honest Company founder explained, "In love, you go through that [first] two and a half years, which is not real. And then after that, the reality of what your relationship is comes together."
"And you are either gonna choose to be family or not," added Alba, 43, who has been married to husband Cash Warren for 16 years. "And I think, with chosen family, you ebb and flow."
"The more you ebb and flow, the more you realize that the hard times aren't gonna be ... it's not gonna be permanent. Like, you can find your way back to each other," she said.
Alba and Warren recently celebrated 20 years together and 16 years of marriage. They share three children: daughters Honor, 16, and Haven, 12, plus son Hayes, 6.
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Related: Jessica Alba and Cash Warren's Relationship Timeline
But, Alba recalled on The Morning Mash Up, "[During] those early days, it feels like, 'We're never gonna find our way back to each other.' But we keep choosing to figure it out."
"It's messy and it's hard and it's humbling and all of that. But if you can figure out how to just find your way back to each other, it ends up being worth it," she said.
She also praised her longtime love, 45, "There's something about that ride-or-die that's seen you through so many phases of yourself, and your evolution. There's something so cool about that history."
"He's really great and I think for me, I always was like, 'I like myself better when he's in my life,' " said the Trigger Warning actress. "When it comes down to it, I wouldn't wanna be with anybody else."
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Both Alba and Warren have been open about the ebbs and flows, including last August, when Warren appeared on the Whine Down with Jana Kramer podcast and recalled that he and Alba briefly "broke up four years into our relationship" over issues of jealousy.
The film producer and Pair of Thieves co-founder went on to say that during the period of time he and Alba were separated, he promised himself to find "a more productive way" to channel that energy if they resumed their relationship.
As Warren defined what has kept his romance with Alba alive for two decades, he noted that he has learned to have patience for the fact that "your energy starts to get back aligned" after rocky moments in long-term relationships.
"Going through a few of those cycles, I no longer get as nervous and kind of start looking at the door. I no longer get as nervous when you’re drifting apart, so to speak, or your energy is off," he explained.
"I think she’s felt very much aligned there," Warren added. "When we’re going through those times, we either give each other our space that we need, we talk it out, we maybe go on a date night. You try to do things to get it back, and fortunately I’ve got a partner who is right there lock and step.”
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