Sam Asghari will always carry a piece of Britney Spears with him.
In fact, despite Britney’s recent comments that their year-long marriage felt like a “fake distraction,” Sam affirmed how much their relationship truly meant.
“Our marriage was very real to me,” he told People on Aug. 25 through his rep. “It may have been short, but we were together for seven years. I was in love with her, will always have love for her, and wish her the best always.”
The affirmation comes just two days after Britney opened up about her marriage to Sam in a since-deleted Instagram caption, implying the relationship was a way to help her deflect the pain of being estranged from her sons Sean Federline, 20, and Jayden Federline, 18, whom she shares with ex-husband Kevin Federline.
“The hardest years of my life were my two sons gone for those 3 years,” she wrote in the caption of her Aug. 23 post, which featured a nude photo of the pop star. “I was cut off from calling or texting and I remember in shock my secret to survival was denial and a lot of tears.”