Kerry Washington expresses regret on past public relationship

Kerry Washington reflects on her past public relationship and shares why she and her husband value privacy.

Kerry Washington has expressed regret over making her previous relationship with former fiancé David Moscow so public. The Scandal star, who is now married to former NFL player Nnamdi Asomugha, revealed that her decision to keep her current relationship out of the public eye stemmed from her earlier experiences. Washington's engagement to Moscow ended in 2007, and the actress shared that the intense public scrutiny she faced at the time led her to reassess how she approached future relationships.

In an interview with Bustle, Washington explained, "BN — Before Nnamdi — I was in a very public relationship and engagement, like I was on the cover of a bridal magazine. When that relationship ended, I thought, "Going forward, I need to have a different kind of boundary, so that my relationships can belong to me." She emphasized the importance of privacy, especially during her dating years following the breakup, describing them as her "wild years."

Washington and Asomugha, who started dating just before Scandal aired, found common ground in their desire to protect their relationship from public scrutiny. Reflecting on their early years together, Washington recalled, "By the time people started talking trash, we were happily married and pregnant. He was massaging my feet while we were laughing about some story on the internet about him partying at the Super Bowl without me. We’d built so much trust that those attacks didn’t put a dent in what we’d created together."

The couple is also mindful of how they raise their children — Isabelle, 10, Caleb, 7, and Asomugha's teenage daughter from a previous relationship. Washington emphasized that she and Asomugha want their children to have the autonomy to decide whether they want a public life when they are older. "I want them to make decisions about [that] when their brains are fully developed," Washington said. "They didn’t choose to be born into the public eye."

Previously, Washington told PEOPLE magazine that she and Asomugha have always been protective of their relationship and wish to provide their children with the same opportunity to create their own lives out of the public eye.