Courteney Cox recalls boyfriend Johnny McDaid breaking up with her in therapy

Courteney Cox is opening up about being blindsided by boyfriend Johnny McDaid while they were engaged.

The "Friends" alum, 59, appeared on an episode of the "Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver" podcast on Wednesday where she revealed she and the Snow Patrol singer, 47, went to therapy about three years into their relationship to discuss "boundaries."

"We broke up in therapy. I didn't know it was coming," Cox recalled. "He just broke up within the first minute. And I was like, what? We were engaged and I was so shocked. I was in so much pain."

The actress said McDaid was "an incredible human being" but had been in a lot of "pain" in their relationship. "There was that much that needed to be dealt with that he had to protect himself around his heart."

Cox said instead of projecting anger toward the musician, it led her to doing "the most work on myself by far" through therapy with the same therapist from "breakup day."

"I learned how to reclaim my voice, boundaries. What were my motives in life? Like, what was my part in this?" she remembered. "I'm so thankful for that breakup."

Cox and McDaid began dating in 2013 months after the actress' divorce from David Arquette, with whom she shares 19-year-old daughter Coco. The "Cougar Town" actress and singer got engaged the following year, but split in 2015. The pair has since reconciled, although they have not gotten engaged again.

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The "Scream" star said when they got back together "it was a different relationship, but also because it really taught me how I operated in the world."

Cox praised her longtime partner, telling podcast host Minnie Driver, "It takes a lot of bravery to end something that has so much passion … It's so much easier just to stay and ride things out and make excuses and fear of pain is just too much to handle. But once you are bold enough to make decisions and go through the pain, you can't go around it.”

The pair met through singer Ed Sheeran and celebrated their 10th anniversary in September 2023. Cox posted a montage of moments in their relationship on Instagram to mark the occasion.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Courteney Cox talks 2015 breakup with then-fiancé Johnny McDaid