Aaron Rodgers is opening up about his former relationship with actress Shailene Woodley and the events surrounding their breakup.
The NFL star, during a podcast appearance, reflected on the breakdown of their relationship, making a surprising claim about what allegedly happened shortly after he proposed. They were once one of Hollywood’s most unexpected couples, moving quickly from dating to engagement.
Now, Rodgers’ latest comments have brought renewed attention to their past relationship, adding another layer to the story of how their romance fell apart.
Rodgers said he proposed to Woodley in December 2020 and that she accepted, but he now claims the relationship changed almost immediately.
During an appearance on Thursday’s episode of the “Not Just Football” podcast, Rodgers alleged that only a couple of days after the proposal, Woodley told him she wanted to be with another man before they got married.
He recalled the moment bluntly: “She said yes. … A couple days after that she tells me, ‘Before we get married I gotta go f-ck this guy.’”
Rodgers said he believes Woodley may have felt pressured to make a decision about marriage, but emphasized that the actress could have declined the proposal.
The quarterback claimed their attempts to repair the relationship the next year ultimately failed, leaving him with a very different understanding of when their engagement actually ended.
“We had a couple of times where we tried to get reunited, and nothing ever happened,” he noted, per Page Six. “There wasn’t even a relationship in ’22 to break off. She literally told me, ‘I don’t want to be with you,’ after we tried some reconciliation in 2021.”
The Quarterback Disputes His Ex-Fiancée’s Account Of Their Breakup
Rodgers also pushed back against the emotional account Woodley has previously given about the end of their relationship.
Woodley once described the breakup as a deeply painful period and claimed she experienced depression, anxiety, and what she called “complete soul detachment.”
In a December 2024 interview with Outside, the actress shared that she had gone through a traumatic period in early 2022 and described the relationship as both “beautiful and toxic.”
Seemingly addressing her remarks, Rodgers said, “Cause her story is that I ruined her life and gave her a crazy depression because I left her, but in actuality she told me that and took off the ring by March.”
Woodley has not yet publicly responded to Rodgers’ allegations.
Shailene Woodley And Aaron Rodgers’ Engagement Was Brief But Highly Publicized
Rodgers and Woodley first sparked romance rumors in 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their relationship became public in early 2021, when Woodley confirmed that they were engaged during an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
Cosmopolitan detailed the rapid progression of their romance, noting that the pair had gone from a relatively private romance to an engagement within months.
Rodgers now says the relationship was already failing soon after the proposal, while Woodley’s later comments suggest she experienced the period as deeply painful.
The contrast is evident in Rodgers’ claim that there was no relationship to “break off” in 2022, a statement that sharply differs from the public perception that their engagement lasted until that year.
Shailene Woodley Previously Described A Difficult Period In Her Life
Woodley has offered a very different perspective without directly laying out the specific events Rodgers now describes.
In her 2024 interview with Outside, she said she had reached what she considered “the lowest point” of her life after a traumatic experience in 2022.
Woodley connected that period with profound emotional pain and said she felt she had lost her sense of self and happiness.
“I felt like I lost my soul, my self, my happiness, my joy,” the actress told the publication at the time. “I really understood depression and anxiety and, like, complete soul detachment.”
Aaron Rodgers Has Since Moved On With His Wife
The former couple has taken very different paths since ending their engagement. Rodgers has married a woman named Brittani, whom he first met in 2017 and later reconnected with after both had experienced other relationships.
According to People Magazine, the NFL star said they eventually eloped in 2025 and described his wife as someone who had a transformative effect on his life.
He has also said that Brittani helped him repair his relationship with his estranged family. Rodgers is also preparing for what he has indicated will be his final NFL season, making his personal reflections part of a broader conversation about the next stage of his life.
Woodley, on the other hand, has continued her acting career and has largely kept her personal life private.
