Kaley Cuoco Opens Up About Depression During Divorce from Karl Cook
Kaley Cuoco recently shared her emotional journey during her difficult divorce from Karl Cook, shedding light on the deep depression she faced during that time. In a heartfelt appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Cuoco, now 40, revealed just how profoundly the end of her marriage affected her mental health, even leading her to believe she was on the brink of death. This candid discussion provides a poignant insight into her struggles and the transformative moments that followed.
Kaley Cuoco is reflecting on her painful divorce from her second husband, Karl Cook.
During an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Cuoco opened up about how she battled depression when the former couple was going through their divorce proceedings in 2022. “It was the premiere of the second season of ‘Flight Attendant,’ and I woke up that morning, I was so depressed and so sad, I couldn’t even breathe and I was just laying on the floor,” Cuoco explained.
Drew Barrymore interviewing Kaley Cuoco. Jocelyn Prescod/CBS
Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook at the 23rd Annual Critics’ Choice Awards in January 2018. WireImage
“I literally thought I was gonna die,” she admitted. “I really did. I said, ‘What am I doing?’”
Cuoco recalled that her team had to help her get ready for the event, which took place in April 2022. “They literally got me ready on the floor. I couldn’t get up,” she shared. “I’m like, ‘I can’t go. I can’t go anywhere.’ I just blew up my life. My life’s over. I truly thought that.”
Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook at the Longines Masters Los Angeles – Gala in Sept. 2016. WireImage
Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook seen in New York City in May 2017. GC Images
“I knew, when I was laying on that floor in my house, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is what they talk about. This is the lowest point I could get,’” Cuoco added. The “Big Bang Theory” alum called the moment “the worst morning of my life” and noted that the irony was she thought the Season 2 premiere of her HBO Max show “was supposed to be the best night of my life.”
“It’s so crazy those things sometimes happen at the same time,” she told Barrymore.
Kaley Cuoco in “The Flight Attendant.” HBO
Cuoco filed for divorce from Cook in September 2021 after four years of marriage. The pair, who wed in June 2018, stated in a joint announcement, “Despite a deep love and respect for one another, we have realized that our current paths have taken us in opposite directions.” They emphasized that “there is no anger or animosity, quite the contrary.” The exes finalized their divorce in June 2022.
Kaley Cuoco with Karl Cook at Seth Rogen’s Hilarity For Charity at Hollywood Palladium on March 24, 2018. Rachel Murray
Tom Pelphrey, Kaley Cuoco during the 82nd Annual Golden Globes held at The Beverly Hilton on January 05, 2025. Penske Media via Getty Images
On “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Cuoco reflected on how, just three weeks after that deeply challenging moment, she met her current fiancé, “Ozark” star Tom Pelphrey, with whom she shares a daughter, Matilda, aged two. “I had prayed, and I feel like my soul died,” Cuoco shared. “And I had also said — I think I did a magazine. It was like, ‘I’m never getting married again.’ I said it, I believed that in the moment, [and then] met Tom.”
“Sometimes you just change your mind and that’s okay,” continued Cuoco, who got engaged to Pelphrey in 2024. “You probably didn’t know I was laying on the floor before my premiere ready to die, that’s true. It still chokes me up because I can remember it so clearly, but it made me a whole new person.”
Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey at the “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” party in Los Angeles in Dec. 2023. Getty Images for Paramount+
Tom Pelphrey and Kaley Cuoco at the “Task” premiere in New York in Sept. 2025. Variety via Getty Images
“But it takes a long time,” Cuoco added. “It takes a long time to figure that out and a lot of forgiveness.”
Before Cook, Cuoco was married to former professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting from 2013 to 2016.