Ali Krieger was on the soccer field when she learned Ashlyn Harris filed for divorce — and despite being “devastated,” she was happy to have her Gotham FC teammates by her side.
“My entire team came over for a dance party the night the news broke. And I will never forget that moment,” Krieger, 39, told Self for a cover story published on Tuesday, January 23. “I found out at training. I was on the field. And I came off the field, in the locker room, and I was obviously devastated.”
Krieger and Harris met while playing soccer for the USWNT in 2010 and tied the knot in December 2019. They adopted daughter Sloane in 2021 and son Ocean the following year. They had not publicly announced their split prior to Harris filing for divorce, but Krieger indicated in her interview that they broke up over the summer. (The interview was conducted in late November, and Krieger referred to the “past five months” as being difficult multiple times.)
She canceled a press conference set for that afternoon and headed home. “Then my teammates just started walking through the door,” Krieger revealed. “All of them. At different times. Until 2 in the morning, we were there, just hanging out, dancing, putting music on YouTube. We were sitting in the playroom, in my kitchen; we were dancing and hanging out, and they were all bringing wine and flowers, and just … themselves.”
Krieger said she was moved by her teammates’ actions. “They didn’t even think twice. They didn’t have to ask; they just showed up. They just kept coming in—from right after training, after their meetings, through 2 a.m.,” she recalled. “My kids were there, we all were there. And that’s something that I will never forget, and they will never understand how grateful and how … I’m so appreciative.”
Following the divorce news, Harris, 38, came forward with a statement to explain that they hadn’t announced their breakup because “agents, representation and friends” allegedly advised them to keep quiet ahead of Krieger’s November retirement from soccer.
“Several weeks ago, a process that had been ongoing privately for some time became public. Ending a relationship after almost 13 years of friendship, teammate-ship, marriage and coparenting (many of them good years) is a decision that was not made lightly,” Harris wrote in a lengthy Instagram post one month after the divorce made headlines. “We agreed to center our children, continue therapy, separate and to move forward with our lives.”
Harris later denied cheating rumors after it was revealed that she started dating Sophia Bush. “Not all marriages last forever. Ours did not. For many reasons,” Harris wrote. “Let me be clear: I did not step out on my marriage. I was always faithful in my marriage, if not always totally happy.”
An insider exclusively told Us Weekly in October that Bush, 41, and Harris did not get together before their respective splits. (The One Tree Hill alum filed for divorce from husband Grant Hughes in July after 13 months of marriage.) “Sophia and Ashlyn insist they were just friends, but by all accounts, it was instant chemistry,” the source said, noting that the twosome later “bonded over their breakups and having to start over.”
While Harris and Bush have been seeing each other for several months, Krieger said she isn’t quite ready to start dating yet. However, she is working on her mental health to benefit her next romance.
“When I’m ready and open for the next relationship, or the next person to come into my life, I want to feel like I’m giving my full self,” Krieger told Self. “I know that I’m not there yet. And so I think 2024 is going to be just me continuing to put myself first, and work on myself so that I am a complete Ali—so that I don’t carry all of this past trauma into that next relationship.”
