Disney Channel actress Ashley Tisdale has been open with the world about her life as a mother, as she and her husband, Christopher Frenchshare two children. Recently, the former star of “The Suite Life of Zach & Cody” got vulnerable about her experience with postpartum depression, revealing that she tried several times to divorce her husband during a challenging time.
Ashley Tisdale opens up about wanting a divorce amid postpartum depression
Tisdale and French welcomed their first daughter, Jupiterin March 2021. Recently, while appearing on his new podcast focused on mental health, “Recovery,” the actress shed light on how postpartum depression affected not only her life but their marriage after having their little girl.
She recalled, “The hormonal stuff is the hardest part because you’re trying as hard as you can.” Tisdale then described the experience, saying, “And I’m like, ‘I know what to do and why do I still feel like this?’ And it was just so intense. ”
After that, the mother of two began to talk about how the situation disturbed her marriage with French, admitting that she, at times, suggested that they go on.
According to her, “Of course you dealt with a lot of that, and we had a problem, you know, in that first year.” From there, Tisdale credited France’s “grounded” nature for keeping them from divorcing, saying, “I tried to divorce you so many times, but you’re so grounded and calm and you knew you’d let it blow over.”
She then opened up about being diagnosed with postpartum depression
Tisdale continued to appear on the podcast by saying that she was initially undiagnosed for postpartum depression, meaning she went a while without knowing why she started experiencing her symptoms.
The 41-year-old actress explained, “My OB said, ‘Oh, you have PMDD. [Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder]’ And I’m like, ‘What is that?’ And it’s just kind of worse PMS before your period. And it, like, hits you from two weeks before your period. So you only, like, feel normal for two weeks. And I was like, ‘Well, what are you going to do about it?’ And she’s like, ‘Nothing. There is nothing we can do about that. And I’m sorry.’ And I’m like, ‘What?'”
Afterward, Tisdale said she feared she would be plagued by her symptoms forever and called her various emotions “terrible.” She then learned she had postpartum depression around their daughter’s second birthday.
According to her, “She is [Tisdale’s doctor] he was like, ‘Oh, you had postpartum depression,’ and I was like, ‘What? Like, how did you not know to tell me this?'” Tisdale also said on the podcast that she didn’t experience the situation with her second child, Emerson, who was born in 2024, reflecting, “It’s pretty cool, though, to do it again and not have that experience.
Ashley Tisdale has said that she and Christopher did not fight until they had children
Tisdale met French in 2012, and the couple got engaged the following year in August before getting married in September 2014. Fast forward several years, and they announced their first pregnancy in September 2020. Tisdale then opened up to Us Weekly in March 2023 about how parenthood had changed her marriage with French.
She said, “We’ve been married for, like, eight years and we never fought until we had a kid.” Tisdale then blamed the “pressure” and “just everything [with] my hormonal journey through postpartum.”
The actress continued, “[People] he told me what to expect [as a mom] and you read books about it, like the child, but no one tells you about the relationship you have as part of it – what that journey will be like.”
As for how they had overcome the new set of challenges that came with being parents, Tisdale revealed that they were in therapy and that they are “definitely taking time” to be together.
The Disney Channel alum revealed the key to her successful marriage in 2025
Tisdale spoke to PEOPLE in July 2025, and the outlet asked what she felt kept her marriage to French strong. In response, she said that keeping their lines of communication open was the key to their happiness.
She explained, “No matter what in life, things change. I think the biggest thing is to always try to stay on the same page throughout.”
Tisdale said, “Communication is key. That’s huge for us,” before emphasizing their many years together before the kids, adding, “We definitely had a really good foundation of years just learning about each other before having kids, which I think is so important because just having kids changes everything.”
Ashley Tisdale is still very involved in Disney
In terms of career, Tisdale will appear in the next film “Phineas and Ferb”, which Variety announced in January 2026. The upcoming film will be shown on both Disney Channel and Disney +.
The actress also returned for the revival series, which released a second batch of episodes in January 2026.