Courteney Cox reveals Johnny McDaid broke up with her one minute into therapy

‘We were engaged and I was so shocked,’ Cox says

CourteneyCox has been looking back on her time with Johnny McDaid.

The Friends alum recently appeared on Minnie Driver’s podcast Questions. During the episode, she brought up the time she and McDaid broke up shortly after deciding they would participate in couple’s therapy.

“We went to this therapist to talk about our boundaries, what we could and couldn’t accept about each other,” Cox explained. “Instead, he just broke up - within the first minute. And I was like: ‘What?’ We were engaged and I was so shocked. I was in so much pain. I also don’t like surprises.”

Viewing the situation five years later, she said she doesn’t view the breakup as a surprise. “He wasn’t trying to surprise me. He was in that much pain in the relationship,” she shared. “There was that much that needed to be dealt with that he had to protect himself around his heart.”

“It takes a lot of bravery to end something that has so much passion or end anything. Any kind of relationship. It’s so much easier just to stay and ride things out and make excuses and, you know, fear of pain is just too much to handle. But once you are bold enough to make decisions and go through the pain, you can’t go around it.”

The two ended up being split up for a period of time, which Cox said she used to “work on herself”. “I learned how to reclaim my voice, my boundaries,” she said.

Looking back on their time apart, Cox said it actually made their relationship stronger when they eventually got back together.

“I’m so thankful for that breakup because when we got back together it was a different relationship, but also because it really taught me how I operated in the world - what were the things from my childhood that I needed,” the actress told Driver.

“Whether it was to be adored by men. Things that I didn’t know how to let go to be in a relationship. To not take things personally. My boundaries, I just went into myself and I had a great therapist.”

Despite getting back together, she and McDaid, who have been together since 2013, decided to call off their engagement and instead just continue to date.

Back in September, Cox took to Instagram to post a video montage of the two of them as they celebrated their 10-year anniversary. She made sure to include the song “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran in the background, as he was the person who introduced the two of them to each other.

“10 years ago this guy [Sheeran] introduced me to this guy [McDaid],” Cox wrote across the screen at the beginning of the montage.

The end of it featured Sheeran himself, who sang a modified version of the song as a tribute to their relationship. “Johnny’s in love with your body” was one of the lines along with “Johnny’s beard is the shape of you.”

Cox sweetly captioned the post: “10 years!!!” with a heart emoji.

Prior to their relationship, the actress was married to David Arquette from 1999 to 2013 and the two welcomed their daughter Coco in 2004.