Jodie Turner-Smith shared a quote about how having a father in the household doesn’t ensure that a child will thrive.
Turner-Smith, 37, who shares a 3-year-old daughter with Joshua Jackson, took to Instagram on Sunday, March 3, with a clip from the Black Podcast Gems account. The upload featured a conversation where the host asked what the “No. 1 indicator” is for how a kid will thrive.
One of the cohosts responded that they thought it had to do with having a dad “in the house” with their child.
“Absolutely not. Believe it or not, it is the quality of their mother’s happiness,” the host replied. “The quality of their mother’s happiness is the No. 1 indicator as to whether or not a child will grow up to thrive. Because if you have a depressed mother, if you have an anxious mother, if you have a mother with post-traumatic stress disorder who is having to disconnect from her own body, then she can’t nurture or support you.”
The video continued with the host explaining why a mother’s mental health affects her child.
“She cannot fully step into the space,” she continued. “And what she will teach you about being in relationships with other people, whether you can trust them, whether you can trust yourself [and] whether you can actually be committed and connected to somebody. And know that they will reciprocate that to you in a healthy way.”
Turner-Smith’s social media post comes after she recently broke her silence on her split from Jackson, 45.
“Sometimes things we really want to work just don’t end up working,” she told the U.K.’s The Times in an interview published on February 25. “And that’s OK. The most important thing is that you choose what’s healthiest for you and your family and definitely your children.”
Turner-Smith explained why she didn’t see her marriage as “a failure,” adding, “There are so many different moments in our life where we look at ourselves and say, ‘Who am I and am I being true to that?’ If the answer is no, then you have to make a move because I believe that there are visible scars from staying in places that are not good for us. And they don’t just affect us, they affect everybody around us.”
Us Weekly confirmed in October 2023 that Turner-Smith filed for divorce after four years of marriage. In her petition, Turner-Smith cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split and listed September 13, 2023, as the pair’s date of separation.
A source told Us at the time that Jackson was “caught off guard” by Turner-Smith’s filing.
“They had their issues, as many couples do — especially two busy actors who are also juggling a child,” the insider shared about Turner-Smith’s “decision” to call it quits. “Joshua obviously didn’t realize it was this bad, that Jodie was this unhappy.”
According to a second source, however, Turner-Smith’s choice didn’t come out of nowhere. “She refused to settle for something that didn’t feel right,” the insider noted. “[It] wasn’t working for her, so she ripped off the Band-Aid.”
Jackson and Turner-Smith initially sparked romance rumors in 2018. Us broke the news in December 2019 that they quietly tied the knot, and their daughter was born less than one year later in April 2020.
After calling it quits, Turner-Smith has been focusing on raising her daughter. On her first Valentine’s Day after the breakup, Turner-Smith showed off her celebration with her mother and daughter.
“The best Valentine’s yet!!! Thank you so much, you know who you are !!! About last night,” she wrote via Instagram alongside photos of the decorations in her home. “To the women in my life who love me deeply and profoundly, I’m so grateful for you!!!!!!”
Jackson, meanwhile, has not spoken out about the divorce. He has been linked to Lupita Nyong’o since late last year when they were spotted spending time together after her split from boyfriend Selema Masekela.
“Joshua and Lupita have been dating for a very short while now. They’re focusing on keeping their relationship under the radar as much as possible,” a source told Us in December 2023. “Things are very new but going really well so far.”
