Shaunie Henderson’s new memoir came with a lot of honesty including how she realized that she may have never fully been in love with her ex-husband, Shaquille O’Neal.
She recently appeared on The Tamron Hall Show, where an excerpt from the book was read. “Looking back, I don’t know that I was ever really in love with the man, but I was in love with the idea of being married to the man I had a family with. I was in love with the idea of building a life together,” wrote the mother of five.
Shaq has since seemingly responded to Shaunie’s sentiment, sharing on Instagram, “I understand… I wouldn’t have been in love with me either. Wishing you all the best. All love, Shaq.” The former baller captioned the post, “Trust me, I get it.”
The infamous pair began dating in the late ’90s and wed in 2002. She filed for separation in 2009 as they struggled with his recurring infidelity.
They share four children: sons Shareef and Shaqir and daughters Amirah and Me’arah. They also both have children from previous relationships.
The reality star confessed that she “truly did enjoy spending time with” O’Neal, but because he was busy “trying to be a world-famous, thirty-something multimillionaire with thousands of women throwing themselves at him,” while simultaneously “being a husband and a father,” their relationship weakened and ultimately ended. Over the years, Shaq has expressed his regrets when it came to his marriage.
Back in 2022, he told The Pivot Podcast, “I had the perfect situation. My wife was finer than a mug, kept giving me babies, still finer than a mug.” He deduced his desire to cheat as him “just being greedy.”
However, when speaking with Tamron Hall, Shaunie did confirm that she and Shaq are currently on good terms and she has no regrets on how things transpired. “I would not change any part of my story. Not one part of my story, no matter how depressed, how sad, how much of at the bottom I felt. I would not change one part of it because I feel like my reward is now,” said the Basketball Wives creator.
She is now married to Pastor Keion Henderson.
Her book, Undefeated: Changing The Rules And Winning On My Own Terms is available for purchase.
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