Sophia Bush reveals how she came to realize that she loves women.

"I don't think we realize how deeply ingrained heteronormativity is," Bush told guests Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne on the latest episode of her podcast Work in Progress. "I think a lot of women are like, 'Well, I'm a little calmer.' They all say everything is so hard, and all my friends hate their husbands. And then they're like, "Oh." But maybe that's not true."

She then recalled a conversation she had with a friend after she and Grant Hughes broke up, which ultimately led to a better understanding of herself and her sexuality.

"After our last goodbye, one of my best friends looked at me and said, 'It was hard to watch. But not only do I think he wasn't the right man for you, I don't think you like men,'" Bush recalled. [When I fell in love with a beautiful French exchange student when I was 16, the drama wasn't that she was a girl; it was that she lived in France. She was only 16."

She added that she had previously identified as bisexual, but was told at age 25 that she couldn't because she had dated mostly men. At the time, she wanted to be respectful to the queer community, so she became "disturbed."

The One Tree Hill star married Hughes in 2022-2023 and contributed a moving essay to Glamour in April 2024 in which she came out as queer.

"Having been an ally in the queer community all my life, experiencing so much safety, respect, and love, I already felt at home there when I came into my own," Bush wrote. He adds, "I think I always knew that my sexuality existed on a spectrum. I think the word that best defines it now is queer. In fact, you can't say that without smiling. And it feels so wonderful."

In the essay, she revealed that she had fallen in love with girlfriend Ashlyn Harris, and the two seemed blissfully happy a few months later.