Sophia Bush reveals how a friend's advice helped her reconsider her sexuality

Sophia Bush has candidly explained how a conversation with a friend helped her better understand her sexuality.

The 41-year-old One Tree Hill star has been dating football star Ashlyn Harris since October last year - with the romance beginning after the actress decided to end her marriage to businessman Grant Hughes.

Now the star has explained that a conversation about the collapse of her marriage helped her open her mind to a new way of dating.

Sophia recalled during her Work in Progress podcast, "I think so many women are like, 'Well, I'm settling a little bit.' Everyone says everything's hard, all my friends hate their husbands. And you sort of go like, 'Oh. Then maybe that's not it'."

She continued, "One of my best friends looked at me and was like, 'I gotta say, that (her divorce) was just painful to watch, and I'm so glad you're getting out of it. But, like, I don't just think he was not the right person for you, but also, I don't actually think you like men.' And there was sort of the 'aha' moment."

Sophia then felt she could see her life through fresh eyes, explaining, "Then I was like, 'Oh, my God, the queer community has been my home and is the home of my whole family since I was old enough to understand'.

"Uncle Tony had a boyfriend and not a girlfriend. I would never want to hurt the people I care the most about who've been in this fight for liberation for so long. I'm gonna get out of the way. And then, it was like, 'Well, maybe I don't have to get out of the way. Maybe I just get to like who I like.' What a revolutionary f**king idea."