Chad Michael Murray responds to ex’s claims he cheated with Sophia Bush

Murray and Bush were married for five months before getting divorced in 2006

Chad Michael Murray is speaking out about his past after his ex-girlfriend claimed he was unfaithful during their relationship.

On 19 October, Erin Foster claimed in an episode of her podcast titled, The World’s First Podcast, that the One Tree Hill alum cheated on her during their relationship from 2001 to 2002 with his co-star at the time, Sophia Bush.

“While we were living together,” she said during the podcast before sarcastically adding: “Pretty cool.”

However, according to Foster, the situation worked out in the end, as she went on to say: “I’ve moved on though. I’m over it now.”

Following Foster and Murray’s relationship, he went on to marry to Bush in 2005. The couple divorced just five months after their wedding, in 2006. Currently, Murray is married to Sarah Roemer, who he wed in 2015, and who he shares three children with.

Despite Bush never publicly addressing the cheating claims, a fellow co-star of Bush and Murray’s, Hilarie Burton, took to her Instagram Story on 20 October to defend Bush. “As a person who had a front row seat then? This wasn’t it,” her statement on the platform began.

“We were all told you’d been broken up which is why our guy was perusing [sic] her,” she continued. “Happy to discuss @erinfoster. You also deserve the truth.”

In a new interview with E! News, Murray addressed the claim, while noting that he prefers to live his life by focusing on the present instead of the past. “It’s not one of those things that I want to go down the road of because there’s just never a winner,” he said. “I feel blessed to be where I am right now.”

“I live in the now, I live in the present, I live in the future,” Murray continued. “Things have changed so dramatically for me since I was a young man that I just try to live in this space - always. So, I don’t think you’ll ever find me saying anything negative or hurtful about anybody. I never will. That’s just not me. I’m not going to do it.”

After explaining why he is dedicated to focusing on the present and future, he also revealed why he chooses not to spend time dwelling on the past. “I have more regrets in my life than I care to think about, but I don’t live in the past,” he said.

“I try to move forward every single day and just go: ‘I got air in my lung, life in my step, the will to move forward and the sun’s gonna rise on a beautiful tomorrow.’”

As for Bush, she went on to get married to Grant Hughes in 2022. The couple announced their divorce earlier this year after one year of marriage. She is reportedly now dating former American soccer player, Ashlyn Harris, who filed for divorce on 19 September after four years of marriage to former partner and teammate, Ali Krieger.

Harris recently addressed rumours that she cheated on Krieger with Bush when she took to  Instagram on 18 November to share a lengthy statement following her divorce from Krieger. In her post, Harris denied the cheating rumours and revealed how the subsequent “online hate” has negatively impacted her mental health.

“Several weeks ago, a process that had been ongoing privately for some time became public,” Harris began. “Ending a relationship after almost 13 years of friendship, teammate-ship, marriage and co-parenting (many of them good years) is a decision that was not made lightly.”

“We agreed to centre our children, continue therapy, separate, and to move forward with our lives. Two happy families are always better than one unhappy one. This process is never easy, but we were making our way through,” she continued.

The Independent has contacted representatives for Murray and Bush for comment.