Sophie Turner says ‘it’s absolute agony’ being away from her two daughters since divorce

Sophie Turner is opening up about the struggles of co-parenting following the finalization of her divorce.

The 28-year-old “Game of Thrones” actress, who shares daughters Willa, 4, and Delphine, 2, with singer Joe Jonas, opened up about the emptiness she feels when her children are with their father.

“It’s absolute agony,” she said in a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar, published Oct. 30.

Turner and Jonas met through their Instagram direct messages in 2016. They got engaged a year later and tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2019. Their daughters were born in 2020 and 2022.

The former couple were married for four years before Jonas filed for divorce in September 2023. Documents obtained by People confirmed the reason for their divorce was because their marriage was “irretrievably broken.”

A divorce settlement was reached between Jonas and Turner a year later, and their divorce was finalized Sept. 6, 2024.

Since the breakup, Turner has spent a majority of her time in London, while Jonas is primarily based in the United States.

In a May interview with British Vogue, Turner confirmed they were doing “the best we can” for their children and called Jonas a “great father” to their daughters.

“That’s all that I can ask for,” she said.

While speaking with Harper’s Bazaar, Turner detailed how motherhood has changed her “so much in every way.”

Prior to having kids, she was “depressed and anxious” and would “isolate” herself a lot. But now that she has Willa and Delphine in her life, she looks at life a lot differently.

“Now, I think I live my life for them,” she said. “I want them to see me having a social life and enjoying work and thriving in my career and relationships. I want them to see a hard-working mum.”

While she hates having to leave her children, it’s necessary sometimes due to her busy schedule. But she makes sure her daughters understand why.

“I’ll come back and say, ‘This is why Mummy was away,’” she said. “It’s because she’s doing this for you, so Father Christmas can come with a big bundle of presents.’”

At the same time, she doesn’t want her daughters to know too much about why she has to leave.

When asked if her daughters have seen any of her movies of TV shows, Turner exclaimed, “God, no!”

“It’s good, because I don’t want them to be like, ‘Wow, Mum’s on TV!’” she continued. “I just tell them I play dress-up for a living.”

While being away from her kids is rough, Turner feels a lot more at-home now that she’s back in London.

She admitted it felt like her life was “on pause” and she didn’t feel like herself until she returned to England, where she was born and raised.

It wasn’t until she realized all the memories she was missing with friends and family that she began yearning to return home, she told Harper’s Bazaar.

“I was away for so long – six years – and it was when my friends were getting engaged, and when I got pregnant,” she said, recalling a time when one of her friends said she never touched her pregnant belly.

“We didn’t have those key experiences with each other,” she added.

As for her divorce, Turner wishes it had played out differently.

“I’m going through a legal process right now where I can’t really say much, but it was incredibly sad,” she admitted. “We had a beautiful relationship, and it was hard.”