Jordyn Woods Talks "Letting Go Of Shame" Following the Tristan Thompson Scandal
Jordyn Woods is leading with light and love in 2020... and beyond.
It's been over a year since the 23-year-old model and Tristan Thompson made headlines over their cheating scandal. Last February, news broke that the two made out at a house party on Valentine's Day weekend. At the time, Khloe Kardashian and the NBA player were very much in a relationship—and share a 2-year-old daughter, True Thompson.
"I should have gone home after the party. I shouldn't even have been there," the model expressed in a candid interview on Red Table Talk in March 2019. "On the way out, he did kiss me. No passion. It was like a kiss on the lips... I don't think he's wrong either because I allowed myself to be in that position and when alcohol is involved, people make dumb moves or people get caught up in the moment."
Fast forward to a year later and Jordyn has moved on. Sitting down with Natalie Manuel Lee sometime before the coronavirus pandemic, the model discussed the life-changing scandal, how she healed from it, how she learned to let go of the shame and so much more.
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On How the Incident Changed Everything For Her:
"I would say that was a moment in time where I had to be very, very still, and really take a look at where I was in life...," she discussed. "I remember just sitting in a very dark place and I didn't really... You know, I had my family to talk to, I had you to talk to but I felt like I had no one. You take everything you think you know for a whole decade, the people you think you know, the life you think you know, everything that you've grown up doing and you take it all away from someone. I didn't even know how to feel."
On How She Accepted the Scandal and Dealt With the Public Shaming:
"I think the first step in that is acceptance. Looking at the situation... What did I do? What role did I play in this? How was I responsible? How can I be held accountable? How can I take responsibility for what happened," she expressed. "Things happened and that's what makes us human... I feel like people in this generation lack accountability. And when you can't accept what you've done, or you can't accept that, then you can't heal from it."
"It's easy to beat yourself up over things you could've done differently, but you can't hold on to what you could've or should've done. You just have to accept what actually happened and then you can let it go," she added. "I think that letting go of shame is learning how to accept what's happened."
On the Online Backlash and Pain That Came From the Scandal:
"I just couldn't trust anyone... everything in my life changed," she explained, later adding, "To be honest, when people say things to you it's a reflection of how they feel inside. If you feel the need to go out of your way to say something negative about someone, it's most likely because you're not happy with something internally."
"I've had to deal with internet bullies and bullies, so this is nothing new to me," she said. "This was just on a much, much larger scale. Of course, some days it hurts. For the most part, it doesn't really affect me—other people's opinions. I feel if I allow it to, I would not be who I am today. I would not feel comfortable not leaving my house."
On Her Faith and Gaining Strength Over Her Experiences:
"In that case and in that moment, I did feel like everything was against me. And the only thing I really had to lean on was my faith and my family," she revealed. She explained she felt this before when her father, John Woods, passed away nearly three years ago. It "actually spiraled me to a darker place," she explained of his death, noting that she resorted to creating so many distractions in her life.
"My not being still led to this explosion in my life. So I think it was deeper than what happened on one night," she shared. "It was God sitting me down like, 'Look, pay attention. You haven't sat still for three years almost and you need to understand that your purpose is much bigger than you… What you're doing right now doesn't matter. Sit down, pay attention.'"
On How She Feels Following the Scandal:
"I'm not happy that people were hurt and people had to go through what they went through," she admitted. "It was a lot for everyone, my family, other families, friends, and not in a million years have I ever had a negative intention to do anything bad to anyone that I love. So I wouldn't say that I'm happy that something like that happened but I'm happy that I was able to become who I am today."
Watch Jordyn's full interview in the video above!
