Lena Waithe Finally Shares What Really Happened in Marriage to Alana Mayo

We rarely hear “The Chi” creator and Emmy-winning actress Lena Waithe open up about her personal life. But all that changed recently, thanks to a new interview, in which she divulged little-known details about her previous marriage to ex-wife Alana Mayo.

Waithe has been romantically linked to Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo since 2020, after they were spotted out together on numerous occasions. While they’ve gone on to further publicize their relationship, you may have forgotten that Waithe was previously in a long-term relationship and eventual marriage to Hollywood exec, Mayo.

The “Master of None” star and Mayo had been together for nearly five years before they decided to quietly tie the knot near the end of 2019. However, they called it quits and went their separate ways just two months later, though their divorce wouldn’t be finalized until 2021.

Now, looking back on the relationship in a new interview with Dax Shepard for his “Armchair Expert” podcast, Waithe explained what led up to her and Mayo’s split.

“It was me also feeling like ‘even though I’m not as happy as I should be, I feel like this is what I’m supposed to be doing,’” Waithe said. “I just didn’t have the language or understanding of that. And my happiness didn’t feel like, important. I think what was important was that I honor this relationship.”

She went on to share that she and Mayo ultimately wanted different things, with children being one of the main things that they didn’t agree on. While Mayo wanted kids, Waithe came to realize that she didn’t, but kept putting the idea on the back burner.

“A marriage and a relationship is the blending of two lives. So you have to really ask yourself: ‘What life do I truly want?’ And I don’t think I was very clear about that. All I knew is, I want to be with this person. I want to have this house. I want to have this dog. But I never asked myself, like, ‘Where do you want to be in five years? Like, really?’”

Later, Waithe surprisingly admitted that she didn’t say goodbye to Mayo in a way that was “honest, noble, or kind,” saying that it ended like a “car crash” and that she could’ve handled it better.

“It was done in a way that felt like a car crash, and that’s because I just was sort of not driving the car too fast, not knowing the gears. I was just sort of going,” Waithe said. “But that doesn’t remove accountability for my behavior. I wish I could’ve landed the plane better.”