Courteney Cox is opening up about a difficult time in her relationship with Johnny McDade. The actor and Snow Patrol guitarist have been dating since 2013, but while speaking recently on the Minnie Questions podcast, Cox revealed that the couple once went through a "very acrimonious" breakup while in therapy.
"I had no idea it was coming," she recalled while hosting Minnie Driver. "We went to this therapist to discuss our boundaries, what we could and couldn't accept from each other. Instead, he broke up within the first minute."
Cox said she was surprised by the breakup, given that they were newly engaged at the time. "I was in shock. I was in so much pain," she said. "I don't like surprises either, he's an incredible guy, so he didn't want to surprise me."
The actor went on to reveal that instead of going into "angry mode" after their breakup in 2015, she decided to "work on herself" and ask herself, "What role did I play in this?" After some ongoing therapy, this The couple eventually got back together in 2016 and celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary.
Cox said on the podcast that she is now "extremely grateful" for the breakup. "When we got back together, it was a different relationship, but also because it really taught me how to function in the world," she explains. "I'm so grateful that Johnny was so bold and brave because it changed my life and I have so much faith in him."
Cox and McDaid's relationship timeline
The couple first met at Jennifer Aniston's holiday party in late 2013 after being introduced by McDade's former roommate Ed Sheeran. In January 2014, Cox and McDaid announced their engagement. Cox was surprised by his "beautiful" proposal. "No one knew this was going to happen," she told Jimmy Kimmel at the time.
The couple called off their engagement in 2015, but rekindled their romance the following year and confirmed their reunion on the 2016 BMI Pop Awards red carpet.
The Friends star opened up about the relationship in a 2023 interview with People magazine , revealing that she wasn't sure if wedding bells were in their future. "I don't know," Cox said when asked if she would marry again after her 2012 divorce from David Arquette. "I have absolutely nothing against it. I just don't think about it."
