As a child, Garcelle Beauvais was one of my first crushes. I remember her primarily from the Jamie Foxx Show portraying Fancy, Foxx’s love interest. How could he not fall for Fancy? You’ve seen that smooth caramel skin with that slim face and pronounced cheek bones. I’m getting chills just thinking about her! But misfortunes happen to everyone, including the famous and beautiful. But it’s not about what happens to you ; it’s about how you handle it. That is what makes you, you. In an episode of "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" Beauvais shared how she dealt with divorce by putting her children first.
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In the middle of the fifth season of the Jamie Foxx Show, Beauvais divorced her first husband Daniel Saunders. With their child in mind, Beauvais vowed to be selective with whom she dated in the future. “I really wanted to be careful and choose wisely on the man that I would bring home to my son," she said.
When she met talent agent Mike Nilon, she thought she found that guy. Consequently, they married in 2001. Next, they had a set of twins together, born in 2007. She remembered thinking, “I thought I had won the lotto in husbands. Caring? Check. Attentive? Check. Loyal? Well, un-check.” Nine years later, the couple was surely comfortable with each other. Sadly, on the ninth year, Beauvais found out something devastating:......her husband had been cheating on her for an unknown amount of time. How did she find out?
“I forgot my phone at home. I said, ‘Hey, can I use your phone to call your mom?' So, I went to go make the call and I saw, 'I love you' [on the phone]," Beauvais says. "I looked again, and I said, 'What's this?' That's pretty much how everything changed.”
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She continued, “The shock was like a freight train hitting me. The pain was unimaginable. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to exit my body like a character in a cartoon. I had so many questions. What happens next? Do I stay for the sake of the kids? Do I stay because, well, that’s what some women do? And oh my God, what do I do with all of this anger?” Her husband’s infidelities in deed ended the marriage.
Some people are so bitter after a divorce that they may involve the kids by disclosing damaging information about their partner.
Not Garcelle Beauvais.
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She recalled, “I did all the things that they say you should do, because I didn't want my adult drama to affect my kids," she says tearfully. "I couldn't have moved on and been a good parent and co-parent with him if I didn't do those things. We're doing the best we can for those boys. They deserve it.”
So after the divorce, the couple remained in each other’s lives, and they didn’t bad mouth each other around their kids. Beauvais realized,”…part of my self-esteem was tied to being a wife. But ultimately, I made the decision to leave my marriage. It was especially tough because I adored the idea of a whole family — but I love my children way more than I hate his betrayal.”
In an effort to heal, Beauvais began going to therapy and seeing a life coach. Sometimes, the best way to handle pain is just to talk about it.
