Mandy Moore: 'Marriage split left me curled up in a ball on the floor'

Actress/singer Mandy Moore realised she wasn't honouring her dreams by staying married to rocker Ryan Adams.

The A Walk to Remember star married the musician in 2009 but they split in January, 2015 after almost six years of marriage. Mandy now admits she never envisioned getting a divorce but she realised she wasn't helping herself by staying in a situation that wasn't making her happy.

"My story deviated in a different direction than I expected," Moore told People magazine. "But ultimately, life is about being happy and fulfilled and sometimes that means making hard choices.

"I wasn't a participant in my own life for awhile... I poured so much of myself into my personal life and when that wasn't as fruitful as I hoped it would be and I extricated myself from that situation, I was able to realise I wasn't honouring myself and my dreams and what I wanted in life."

Mandy insists there was a time in her marriage when it was beautiful and calls Ryan a "fascinating person" who helped her have a different perspective on the world, and when it ended she went through the stages of grief, anger and a sense of loss.

"There are moments of being curled up in a ball on the floor," Mandy recalled. "It's really hard. But I've moved on... I do believe things happen for a reason. And I think I had that mantra moving through the trying times."

She still wouldn't change a thing about her past because the challenges have brought to her current state of mind. She has moved on with musician Taylor Goldsmith, who she began dating last year (15), and now feels "so much lighter" and like she's "growing into the best version of myself."