HALEY Neill, 35, is a brand manager at a bank and lives in Arkansas, USA, with her husband Jason, 44, a salesman, and her children Brody, 16, Brylee, 14, and Brantlee, nine.
She is close friends with her ex’s new wife Morgan.
“Lying on the bed, I braced myself as Morgan pulled the waxing strip off my bikini line.
But she’s not only great at waxing – Morgan, 31, is also married to my ex-husband, Josh, 37, and she’s become a close friend.
It’s a scenario I couldn’t have imagined 11 years ago when my marriage ended.
I met Josh in a bar in July 2007.
We were both 18, and he charmed me with his dance moves and protective nature when another guy tried to hit on me.
The following January, I found out I was pregnant with our first child.
It wasn’t planned, but we were both happy, and in June we got married.
Looking back, I can see we rushed into marriage – we were worried about being judged for having a baby out of wedlock.
Brody was born in December 2008, and we went on to have Brylee and Brantlee.
But despite our beautiful kids, it wasn’t a happy marriage.
We squabbled over silly things, like me going to church every Sunday while Josh wanted to play golf.
We just didn’t make each other happy.
In June 2014, I told Josh I wanted to separate, and he said he felt the same.
Even though I no longer wanted to be married to Josh, it was still a shock when he started dating Morgan, a teacher, that November.
Haley Neill
I think it was a relief for us both, and we resolved to stay friends and co-parent our kids.
Even though I no longer wanted to be married to Josh, it was still a shock when he started dating Morgan, a teacher, that November.
I grew to like and trust her
She was 21, and I thought she was too young to be involved with raising my children.
I felt very protective of them and wasn’t comfortable with this new woman being in their life.
I’d grown up in a split family and it hadn’t been easy, as my parents couldn’t bear to be in the same room together.
So I wanted something different for my kids.
I knew I needed to create a healthy, blended family, which meant getting on with Morgan.
I decided to send her a Facebook friend request.
I remember one of the first times we met in person was when she came to my house to pick up the kids.
I was breastfeeding Brantlee, so she had to awkwardly wait for me to finish before she could take them.
But over time, I started to get to know her and see how much she loved children, especially my kids.
As we became the ones communicating about the children and organising drop-offs, I grew to like and trust her.
She was kind, funny and easy to chat to – everything I looked for in a female friend.
After Morgan and Josh got married in 2016, then had their son Brooks in June 2017, we became even closer.
My children loved having a new sibling and it was beautiful to watch them with their half-brother.
Now that she was a mum herself, Morgan understood me better than ever.
Just the two of us
We had become friends in our own right, not just an ex and new partner connected through a man.
As our friendship grew, we started to hang out just the two of us, going shopping and out to eat or just chatting on the sofa.
Josh thought it was great that we’d become friends, because it was good for our kids.
In September 2018, I met my now-husband Jason, 44, when he walked into the bank where I work and we got chatting.
At first, he found it strange that Morgan and I got on so well – he didn’t understand how you could be so close with your ex’s new partner.
But I explained to him that Morgan had nothing to do with my marriage ending, and had proven herself to be a wonderful stepmother.
He accepted that, and he and Josh became friends, too.
There’s often an assumption that the ex and new wife will hate each other, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Haley Neill
Morgan and Josh went on to have two more sons, Brady and Briar, and today we are a very happy blended family.
We live less than a mile apart and my children split their time between our two homes.
Morgan has become like a sister to me. We text daily and she also does my waxing!
We even talk about the silly arguments we have with our other halves.
There’s often an assumption that the ex and new wife will hate each other, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
It’s great for the children to see the four parents getting on well.
I hope we’re setting them a good example.
To have gained a best friend as a result of ending my marriage was totally unexpected, but I’m so glad Morgan came into my life.”
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- Around 42% of UK marriages end in divorce.*
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