Elizabeth Chambers Breaks Her Silence (Exclusive)

When Elizabeth Chambers arrived to her sit-down with E! News, she had a small thing other tucked wrong her intentionally achromatic top.

"I wholly person a bluish crystal successful my bra close now," she confessed to Francesca Amiker about the healing stone—meant to heighten clarity—as they met up successful the mediate of a brutal Los Angeles vigor wave. "I privation to telephone successful each the goods! Bring maine each the bully vibes, each the bully vigor and each the love."

Who could blasted her? After the end of her 10-year marriage to Armie Hammer, she preferred to support everything to herself, safely ensconced with girl Harper, 7, and son, Ford, 5, successful the Cayman Islands, an idyllic bubble wherever paparazzi aren't an contented and her section market store doesn't adjacent transportation tabloids.

But what she called her indispensable "incubation period" is present drafting to a close, with the BIRD Bakery founder emerging healed, hopeful and acceptable to talk.

That surely didn't halt people's avid curiosity about her and Hammer's breakup, which they announced successful July 2020. Chambers initiated the split, but, arsenic she told E!, "A divorcement is simply a death...It was the past happening I ever wanted."

Multiple women later came guardant with allegations of affectional abuse, manipulation, and intersexual unit against Hammer. (Calling the descriptions of his alleged behavior "vicious and spurious," he denied engaging successful immoderate nonconsensual activity. In 2021, his lawyer also denied an "outrageous" rape accusation connected his behalf. Authorities confirmed Sept. 1 that the probe is ongoing, but Hammer has not been charged.) 

House of Hammer, a docuseries delving into the actor's alleged behavior—and the past of his scandal-plagued family—premiered earlier this month.

In her archetypal interrogation successful much than 2 years, the culinary entrepreneur and TV big opened up exclusively to E! News about processing pain, wherever she stands with her ex, finding emotion again and truthful overmuch more.

E! News: How would you specify this caller section successful your life?  

Elizabeth Chambers: Big beingness changes really unit you to shift. And to me, thing would beryllium much boring if you cognize precisely wherever you're going to beryllium successful 5 years oregon 10 years. I genuinely judge that everything happens for a reason. You can't conscionable accidental that erstwhile things are good, you person to judge that erstwhile things are challenging. My religion has wholly gotten maine done everything successful my life, but it does consciousness similar a caller chapter. A beloved person told maine precocious that this is my renaissance—and I emotion a renaissance!

E!: Describe the pistillate you are contiguous compared to before.

EC: I picture myself arsenic precise focused and precise clear—and healed, honestly. I consciousness similar I'm successful a truly bully abstraction and the champion ma I could be. The champion I could beryllium successful work, the champion person I tin be. That hasn't ever been the lawsuit implicit the past year. It's a bully moment.

 E!: How are your divorcement proceedings going?

EC: Our divorce is not finalized. But we are successful a truly large place. We speech each the time. We're committed afloat and wholly to our children, and to being unneurotic arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable successful a non-romantic mode for our kids. Kids request their mom; kids request their dad. So there's thing we won't do.

E!: Have determination been immoderate co-parenting challenges on the way?

EC: Definitely. Armie has been focused connected his healing. There's the oxygen disguise theory: You can't truly instrumentality attraction of idiosyncratic until you are taken attraction of. There's a crushed connected the level they say, "Secure your ain disguise earlier helping others." He has been precise engaged securing his ain mask. My disguise has been secured, [the kids'] masks are on, truthful close present it's truly been a batch astir focusing connected them, protecting them. 

E!: How are you helping him enactment that disguise on?

EC: I'm present to enactment that process. It's going to marque him the champion father, the champion person he tin be. At the extremity of the day, that's the goal. We're successful changeless communication and each that matters is that helium is the champion dada for our children. Obviously helium processes everything other that he's dealing with personally—and that's his ain travel now.

E!: Did you ever deliberation this would beryllium his journey?

EC: No, but I don't deliberation immoderate of america really ever know. I spell backmost to puerility and wherefore it's truthful important to beryllium a bully parent, due to the fact that you don't privation things coming up aboriginal that affected a quality erstwhile they were small and they didn't cognize however to process it. So, each we tin bash is look guardant and support the future.

E!: In the past 2 years, bash you consciousness similar you person sat down and processed everything that has occurred?

EC: Definitely. I don't deliberation it was arsenic intelligibly defined arsenic sitting down. It was dependable healing. A breakthrough with penning intentions. Burning things, putting them successful the ocean, having supplication by myself, having formation walks with my kids, having excessively overmuch vino with my friends—all of that. It's whatever you request astatine that time and realizing you're going to grant that. And it was mounting boundaries with radical who I thought I could trust. It's not ever beauteous and it's not ever peaceful, and it takes connected galore forms.

E!: How does it consciousness to beryllium connected the different broadside of that processing?

EC: I'll beryllium moving astatine the bakery and a lawsuit is like, "How are you, really?" And I'm like, "I'm truly good close now, convey you." If you asked maine that a twelvemonth and a fractional ago, you would person a antithetic answer—or I'd beryllium lying to you. [Laughs] 

Time does heal, but clip unsocial doesn't heal. You request to enactment done it. People are flawed. People make horrible mistakes. People change, by the way. For maine the full clip it has been about, "These are my boundaries. If you tin conscionable them, past we tin instrumentality the adjacent step." That's with everyone successful my life, but besides with myself. 

E!: Looking back, however bash you presumption the 10 years you spent married?

EC: Again, if you'd asked maine this a twelvemonth and a fractional ago, it would beryllium different. I look backmost and genuinely I person the astir beautiful, fantastic children successful the world. I emotion my jobs, I emotion my restaurants, I emotion my enactment successful television—at the extremity of the time I emotion my life. It hasn't been perfect. I deliberation determination was a clip erstwhile I was truthful focused connected the perfect Christmas card—and, honestly, cleanable is truthful overrated. It's not absorbing and I deliberation it has taken my processing play to fto go.

E!: Do you place with the operation "starting over"?

EC: I deliberation starting implicit is simply a just happening to accidental if you've had a drastic beingness change. I deliberation sometimes radical get joined and it's not truly superior for them, but, successful my peculiar situation, we were unneurotic since we were 19. We grew up unneurotic and we person truthful galore memories. We traveled the satellite and that is truthful beautiful. I bash consciousness similar I look backmost astatine it arsenic a antithetic signifier successful my life, but I don't needfully deliberation we're starting over. I deliberation we're conscionable continuing connected our path, with a shifted perspective.

E!: What are you teaching your girl astir what it means to beryllium a beardown woman?

EC: That is astatine the halfway of each determination I make. That's the halfway of staying successful a concern oregon narration that you wouldn't fto your girl enactment in. So, for me, it's being truthful to an grade that's due for her age. Our parents and our grandparents, if thing was happening successful our family, it was brushed nether the rug. But sunshine is the champion disinfectant. It's astir acknowledging things, owning things. I'm processing successful a antithetic way, but mounting her and my lad up successful a mode that...they're going to beryllium empowered. They're going to cognize feelings are good. And accountability is immense successful our family. 

E!: Did you ticker the docuseries House of Hammer?

EC: I did not program connected seeing it, but I did driblet the kids disconnected astatine schoolhouse 1 time and came location and watched it with my enactment strategy astir me. It was evidently heartbreaking connected truthful galore levels and precise painful. But astatine the aforesaid time, it exists. The past is the past and each we tin bash is instrumentality this arsenic a infinitesimal to larn and listen, and hopefully process and heal successful each capacity.

E!: Were you amazed by thing you saw?

EC: I decidedly was surprised, but I deliberation that's to beryllium expected.

E!: And successful the past mates of years, were you amazed by thing you heard?

EC: There were decidedly immoderate surprises, and it didn't consciousness great, particularly erstwhile you consciousness similar you person done that work, but the motivation of the communicative is that enactment is ne'er done.

E!: Do you deliberation you'll fto Ford and Harper ticker the docuseries?

EC: It's not due for them astatine this time.

E!: Were you asked to participate in the docuseries?

EC: They reached out, but, successful this process, each that's mattered and does substance is the kids and our family, and that was not thing that was going to beryllium successful enactment with my goals for them.

E!: What would beryllium your proposal to women who are going through a debased constituent successful their lives? 

EC: I would love to person a dating proposal column. So galore women person reached retired to maine who had the decease of 9 cardinal expectations, asking maine however to grip it. They thought they knew idiosyncratic oregon they thought that they had their beingness figured out, lone to find that it was precise different.

For me, the reply to that is you. I americium truthful grateful that I started my institution and I don't request anyone. You cannot fto idiosyncratic else's choices impact you successful presumption of your self-worth. And we person 1 accidental to bash this close with our kids. We whitethorn beryllium experiencing trauma, but that is not a crushed for your children to acquisition trauma. Process what you person to, outcry successful the shower, but you cannot resistance that heartache, that symptom and enactment it connected kids.

E!: Could you spot yourself falling successful emotion again?

EC: You spell from feeling your bosom is shattered successful 9 cardinal pieces, and it's wrapped successful each benignant of formed and gauze, and thing tin interaction it, to being like, "OK, I deliberation I tin emotion and beryllium loved again." So [laughs], I americium precise happy.

E!: Now that you're dating again, would you call it casual oregon serious?

EC: I consciousness similar casual dating is simply a precise important process to that journey. I americium in a committed relationship now.

E!: Would you beryllium unfastened to getting joined again? Do you spot yourself having more children?

EC: I deliberation if determination is 1 happening the past fewer years has taught us, it's that you person beryllium unfastened to everything. I americium specified a accepted person. I emotion family. I would person 7 babies if I could. But I'm conscionable surviving successful the infinitesimal and happy. My friends and I ever joke, "The juicy-juicy is the best." I'm not successful immoderate unreserved to get done the juicy-juicy. We don't request to overthink anything. Whatever happens is beautiful.

E!: How has living in the Cayman Islands benefited your family?

EC: It has been heaven. I emotion L.A., it volition ever beryllium my home—but I deliberation for the past fewer years, the Caymans has been truthful healing.

Katie Couric and my mom, some women I admire, ever accidental you're lone arsenic blessed arsenic your slightest blessed child. And my children are happy, they're protected. It's a small spot of a beautiful, serendipitous infinitesimal successful clip that volition astir apt ne'er beryllium the aforesaid again, truthful I truly effort to admit that.

E!: What's adjacent for you?

EC: We're acceptable to travel backmost to L.A. We're acceptable to get backmost to our grind—but not the hamster wheel, a much thoughtful mentation of immoderate existed before. There are truthful galore breathtaking projects coming, a mates shows that are successful development. And I conscionable emotion being astatine my restaurants—if I could clone myself and beryllium astatine each determination [in San Antonio, Dallas and Denver] each day, I would.

E!: How bash you program to support moving forward?

EC: All we tin bash is beryllium liable for ourselves, and each we tin bash is respond with compassion, with love, with understanding, with listening to everything astir america and past beryllium the champion we tin be.

(This interview has been edited for magnitude and clarity.)