Jennie Garth says the years after her divorce from Peter Facinelli nearly unraveled her. In a memoir scheduled for release on April 14, the 54-year-old actress writes about self-medicating with drinking and pills until one night she needed to have her stomach pumped, then later spending time at Canyon Ranch rehab center.
Garth told People she could see her light really dimming during that period. She said, 'I wasn’t putting off good vibes.' She added, 'I could see it in the mirror,' and said she could look at the negative impact that kind of grief and anger was having on her. The memoir, I Choose Me: Chasing Joy, Finding Purpose, and Embracing Reinvention, revisits the fallout from the end of her 12-year marriage to Facinelli, with whom she shares three daughters.
The weight of that split is what gives her account its force. Garth said there was 'a weird switch' when she finally decided she did not want to carry it anymore. 'It’s impacting my relationships and how I feel about myself. I’ve got to let it go. I’ve got to forgive him,' she said, describing the turning point that sent her toward recovery and a different way of thinking about her life. By her telling, the change was not immediate, but it was decisive.
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That memoir arrives more than 10 years after the divorce, which means Garth is speaking now with distance she did not have then. She also said the phrase 'I choose me' resonated with her when she turned 50, echoing the line her Kelly Taylor character made on 90210 in 1995. The book ties that old line to a new stage of life, one shaped by reflection rather than crisis.
Garth’s marriage to Dave Abrams, which began in 2015, adds another layer to the story she is telling. The couple split for about a year only a few years into the marriage during the pressure of an IVF journey before later finding their stride again. Garth said, 'I really wanted to give Dave a baby because he was young and all of his friends were having kids,' and added, 'And I just thought that’s what he needed.' She later said, 'It all comes down to people-pleasing.' For Garth, the lesson is plain: 'Once you really get to the core of what you want for your life? That’s when everything seems to get easier.'
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The closest thing to a conclusion in her own words is also the answer to the headline’s question. Garth is not defined by the husband she divorced, but by how she says she stopped living for other people and started choosing herself.
