When Charlotte Flair decided to file for divorce from her husband, fellow WWE star Andrade, the daughter of wrestling legend Ric Flair grappled with the thought of failure all over again.
Speaking Thursday during an emotional appearance on “Sherri,” the 38-year-old wrestler offered raw comments about the demise of her third marriage and the public’s perception in the fallout.
“When I made the decision to file for divorce, the only thing that I kept thinking is that I just didn’t want anyone to know, like, oh my gosh I have failed again,” said Flair, who originally filed for divorce in June 2024 after tying the knot two years earlier.
Flair, who had worked her way back from a knee injury sustained in December 2023 that kept her sidelined for over a year, expressed feelings of “shame” and worried about drawing comparisons to her father as he has been married four times and split from longtime partner Wendy Barlow last fall.
“I felt like I was failing at my job, I felt like I was failing in my personal life, and the embarrassment of being divorced again,” Flair told show host Sherri Shepherd.
Looking back at what’s transpired personally and professionally — Flair won the women’s Royal Rumble match in her February return, the same month news of her divorce was revealed — the athlete has “found her worth” as she embraces the next chapter.
“It’s okay not to be okay, that’s what I learned. It’s okay to take a moment, take a breather to start over, and I was able to keep the divorce a secret until I came back, won the Royal Rumble and then I was on ‘Monday Night Raw,’ hearing from Charlotte Flair after her Rumble win, her epic return and then boom, everything hits,” said Flair, whose real name is Ashley Elizabeth Fliehr.
“Everything that I had been scared of hit that day, and I was like, the fight’s over, I have nothing to fight, this is me, this is who I am, I’m standing in my worth. People can have their opinions, and I think to the audience who watches wrestling, they don’t know what Charlotte has been through to get to where she is, but I know, so for Ashley, this is my biggest comeback yet.”
Flair began dating Andrade, whose real name is Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza, in 2019 before getting engaged the following year.
TMZ, which first reported the split, indicated it was “not yet clear” if the catalyst for the breakup was in the court docs. The divorce was finalized in October.
Flair first married Riki Johnson in 2010 before parting ways in 2013. She wed fellow wrestler Thom Latimer that same year before calling it quits in 2015.