While making the rounds talking about his new movie, “The Way Back”, Ben Affleck sat down with Diane Sawyer on ABC to talk about his struggle with sobriety and his biggest regret…his divorce from Jennifer Garner.

“I never thought that I was gonna get divorced. I didn’t want to get divorced. I didn’t want to be a divorced person. I really didn’t want to be a split family with my children,”“And it upset me because it meant I wasn’t who I thought I was. And that was so painful and so disappointing in myself.”

Diane read a message from Ben to Jennifer at the end of the Good Morning America segment that said, “What I want to say publicly and privately, is thank you. Thank you for being thoughtful, considerate, responsible and a great mom and person.”

Affleck and Garner, 47, called it quits in June 2015 after 10 years of marriage. Two years later, they filed for divorce. The paperwork was finalized in October 2018. Earlier this month, he called his divorce the “biggest regret of [his] life” in a New York Times interview.  Affleck has briefly dated a few woman since his divorce, but is focused on maintaining his sobriety. Jennifer Garner has been dating businessman John Miller since 2018.

“The Way Back” is in theaters March 6.

More about: