Rachel Zoe Shares Her Thoughts on Dating After 26-Year Marriage Separation
Rachel Zoe.
Credit:
Katie Flores/Variety via Getty
Key Highlights
- Rachel Zoe describes her new dating life as “incredibly fun.”
- She reflects on the challenges of re-entering the dating scene after her 26-year marriage.
- Zoe shares her aspirations for a new partner.
Rachel Zoe is now “absolutely dating,” embracing a new chapter in her life following her split from Rodger Berman, her husband of 26 years, in September 2024.
The celebrated stylist and entrepreneur, 54, spoke candidly about her experience re-entering the dating scene, declaring it has been a joyful venture. “It’s incredibly fun,” Zoe shared. “To be honest, that wasn’t hard for me to get into. It really wasn’t.”
For Zoe, this new phase represents a sense of freedom. She emphasized that anyone who enters her life must contribute positively, saying, “Anyone who comes into my life or our lives is only going to be someone that adds value in terms of making me laugh, making me smile and really just making sense. It’ll have to feel organic and natural to who I am now.”
Reflecting on her separation from Berman, Zoe acknowledged that they had evolved into different individuals. “I was done. I was really done,” Zoe, who filed for divorce in July 2024, explained. “I don’t suffer from guilt of not having given it everything I could have. I don’t suffer from feeling like it was a failed marriage. Having been married for 26 years, I would say that three-quarters of that was amazing.”
Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman.
Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Zoe and Berman, 57, first crossed paths in 1991 while attending George Washington University, eventually marrying in 1998. They are parents to two sons: Skyler, 14, and Kaius, 12.
Zoe realized her relationship with Berman had fractured when she began questioning important decisions, recognizing a disconnect in their shared values. “For me for the last 14 years, literally every breath I take is for my kids,” she revealed. “So every decision I make is through a lens of my children. I have never felt that people should live together and stay together unhappy.”
In hindsight, Zoe acknowledges she “100%” should have left the marriage sooner. “I think if you ask any woman who has left a situation, they would probably say that they probably should have done it sooner,” she said. “But it is what it is. At the end of the day, I ultimately did what’s best for the kids. I think that having two parents that love them is more important than having two parents together that maybe shouldn’t be together anymore.”
Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman with their sons Kaius and Skyler.
Gregg DeGuire/WWD/Getty
Zoe will further discuss her divorce in the upcoming season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, expressing a desire to help women facing similar challenges. “Probably at least 30% of the women in my life are going through a separation or a divorce,” she noted. “The question I kept getting asked is: ‘Why am I so okay coming out of a relationship that really transcended my entire adult life?’ It’s because I’m independent — financially, professionally, and socially. I think there isn’t enough emphasis on that.”
“You have to have your own things to wake up for every day,” she added. “When I made the decision to leave my marriage, it was like, okay, next. No matter what life throws at you, you have to be able to stand up on your own. You just have to.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo, with episodes available to stream the following day.
