Josh Duhamel has reflected on the impact of marrying his ex-wife, Fergie, at the height of her fame.
“It was a huge shift [in my life] because she was a massive star at the time and so it was a big adjustment for me, if I’m being honest,” Duhamel, 53, revealed on the Monday, March 25, episode of The Megyn Kelly Show. “But, you know, Fergie is a very normal person, at the end of the day. A good mom. We have a great relationship. She and my wife [Audra Mari] actually get along great.”
Duhamel and Fergie (real name Stacy Ann Ferguson) tied the knot in 2009 — the same year that the Black Eyed Peas star, 50, had two Billboard No.1 hits with “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling.” They welcomed their son, Axl Jack, in 2013 before calling it quits in 2019. (Duhamel married his current wife, former Miss World America winner Mari, in September 2022. They share son Shepherd Lawrence Duhamel, 2, and have a second baby on the way.)
Host Megyn Kelly took a deep dive into Duhamel and Fergie’s marriage during the interview, including asking whether either one had trouble over “whose star [was] bigger” at the time.
“Yeah, probably,” Duhamel confessed. “It’s probably my own ego more than anything. I don’t think it bugged her as much as it probably did me. But she was a massive star at the time!”
Duhamel admitted that it felt like he was “in [Fergie’s] shadow a lot of the time.” He added that he and Fergie “have a great relationship” as they coparent Axl these days.
“We parent our son, Axl. She’s a great mom,” Duhamel said. “I’m extremely happily married now to my wife, Audra. We have a beautiful son and a little girl on the way. [Audra and Fergie] have a great relationship, which is what I really care about.”
He continued, “I want to make sure everybody is just copacetic. I just want peace and I don’t want any in-fighting between anybody. They’ve been very civil, thankfully, in the way they approach this thing. … It could be ugly but, thankfully, it’s not.”
Fergie publicly congratulated her ex and Mari, 32, earlier this month when they announced that they are expecting their second child.
“Adding a little girl to our story. We can’t wait to meet you,” Mari shared via Instagram on March 5, with Fergie replying, “Welcome the cuteness! 💖💖.”
While Duhamel has rarely discussed his split from Fergie, he did briefly address the differences in his previous and current marriages during a March appearance on “The Skinny Confidential” podcast.
“Fergie is also very wholesome, believe it or not. Especially since she sort of stepped away from it all,” Duhamel said. “She’s a great mom. Very kind, very nonconfrontational, thank God. We have a good relationship. She and Audra have a great relationship.”
The actor continued, “We’re just very different. Fergie and I, we just have different views of the world. And that’s OK, you know. But I have no regrets about that. We have a beautiful son. But [Fergie and Audra] are just very different in a lot of ways. But also, both really great women. They really are.”
