Exclusive: Yaya DaCosta Says She Was "Never Married" To Filmmaker Ex

Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com

Back in 2014, we told you that former America’s Next Top Model star and actress Yaya DaCosta, 33, decided to split from her husband of two years, Joshua Bee Alafia. But after speaking with DaCosta earlier today while promoting Season 2 of her hit NBC series Chicago Med (which returns next Thursday, September 22 at 9/8c), she said that Alafia wasn’t her husband after all.

“You know what’s funny? Because I never talk about my personal life, it’s hard to dispel rumors,” Dacosta said in response to a question of how she’s moving forward after the divorce. “And a lot of people say, ‘Oh, just ignore them, they’ll go away.’ But no, I never got divorced because I was never married, first of all. But I did have a child with someone, which is more of a commitment than marriages these days anyway. I broke up with him right after the birth because like I said, it was an enlightening experience. But I definitely make it a point to ensure that my son has a relationship with his father because everyone should.”

In reference to the “enlightening experience” statement, prior to the question about life after divorce, I inquired about how motherhood changed the actress (she used her social media to help normalize nursing soon after her son’s birth). She said it changed her entirely.

“I’m a completely different person and it’s difficult sometimes because people who think they knew you before want to hold you to who they think you are and should remain.”

She continued, “It’s definitely difficult letting go of things, ideas of yourself, in order to be able to figure out who you are. But if you don’t do that then yeah, that’s how a lot of people do end up stuck their whole lives. So yeah, having him has definitely shown me, or reminded me I should say, of who I really am.”

But DaCosta’s rep did confirm to Us Weekly in 2014 that they parted ways, and according to the New York Post‘s Page Six, DaCosta filed papers for a contested divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court, but the filing was sealed, so the reason behind the split is not known. Neither party spoke about the breakup publicly — until now.

The pair had an outdoor ceremony in Pennsylvania in June 2012, and have a son, Sankara. He was born in September 2013.