Actress Courteney Cox admits her brief breakup with Johnny McDaid was “brutal” but they have since reconnected like never before.

The two split in 2015 after being engaged, leading the 52-year-old star to find the situation especially difficult to manage.

However, Cox has learned from the experience and considers herself a better person, as she told Bear Grylls on the TV show Running Wild.

“We were engaged for over a year and then we broke up. There’s something about … you know, he’s from Ireland. And the way he regards love is precious. We have to treat it in a different way. It’s more special – you coddle it. So I didn’t know how to regard love the way he does. And I definitely made a lot of mistakes that I see – whether it’s co-dependency or people-pleasing. I didn’t know how to bring it in. It was always external.

I definitely have learned a lot, and no matter what, I will be a better person from that breakup, even though it was so brutal.”

The former Friends actress also revealed that her breakup with David Arquette was less intense despite being together for 14 years.

She shared: “We found ourselves living separate lives and just coexisting and being great friends, but not having the intimacy that is so important in a relationship. I think you really need to work in a relationship, and I think that we tried.”

Cox went on to explain how they are very different people at heart but still remain good friends and parents.

“We’re just really different, too. I’m the polar opposite of him. And that can be great for a lot of things, but I need this kind of real, one-on-one connection. And I don’t know – I don’t know.

It wasn’t a dramatic ending. It was more of a … just, I don’t know. No one’s ever asked me in this way, so I haven’t really thought about it like this. I mean, as divorces go, I would say it’s one of the better ones, for sure. We’re good co-parents together.”