16 March 2023 , 08:31
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When Jennifer Aniston quit Friends in 2004, she made her desire to start a family with husband Brad Pitt clear.
But instead of embracing motherhood, Jennifer, 54, found herself drowning in grief over the collapse of her marriage.
As she wrapped her emotional final scenes on the iconic show, husband Brad was off shooting Mr and Mrs Smith with Angelina Jolie.
The pair later admitted they fell in love on set, and by January 2005, Brad and Jen had announced their separation.
And in an unearthed Vanity Fair interview from September that year, Jennifer, then 36, wore her heartbreak on her sleeve when the interviewer broached rumours that Angelina was already pregnant, two months before Jen and Brad's divorce was even finalised.
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Jennifer Aniston was devastated when her marriage to Brad Pitt ended
Brad fell in love with Angelina Jolie while filming Mr and Mrs Smith (Twentieth Century Fox)Describing how the actress looked like she had been "stabbed in the heart," the reporter said Jen cried silently for several minutes, unable to stop the tears rolling down her cheeks before shaking her head, too hurt to give an answer.
As for whether she believed the gossip that Brad and Ange had had a full-blown affair, Jennifer said she had made a conscious choice to believe Brad, but added: "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised by anything, but I would much rather choose to believe him."
The line from friends was that Brad wanted to work out what he wanted in life - as a single man - and had assured Jen, "This is not about another woman."
However, the strength of her belief was shaken when pictured surfaced of Brad playing the doting dad to Angelina's adopted son Maddox on the beach in Africa on April 29 that year.
Angelina fell pregnant with Brad's baby, leaving Jennifer devastated (Getty Images)"I would be a robot if I said I didn't feel moments of anger, of hurt, of embarrassment," she said. "I just don't know what happened. There's a lot I don't understand, a lot I don't know, and probably never will know, really.
"I have to think there's some reason I have called this into my life," she added. "I have to believe that - otherwise it's just cruel."
Both Brad and Angelina have always denied any romantic involvement while he was still with Jennifer.
But despite her devastation, Jennifer insisted she "felt lucky to have experienced" her marriage to 'fantastic' Brad and stated that she would 'love him for the rest of my life'.
Brad went on to marry Angelina, but they divorced in a blaze of acrimony in 2016 and are still fighting a bitter custody battle.
Brad and Angelina had six kids together before divorcing in 2006He also remains good friends with Jennifer, and is even said to have apologised in 2017 for the hurt he inflicted.
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"It was the most intimate conversation Brad and Jen have ever had," a source said at the time.
Brad, who previously admitted to Parade magazine that he spent the nineties "sitting on a couch, holding a joint, hiding out," is also said to have admitted that perhaps he wasn't always the best partner.
"He apologised to Jen for being an absentee husband, for being stoned and bored much of the time. He also made amends for leaving her Angelina," the source added.