How This Beloved TV Couple's Real-Life Divorce Was A True 'Awakening' | HuffPost

Kristina Wagner says it also made her a better mother.

Lisa Capretto— OWN

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In the world of '80s soap operas, super-couples were super important. And there was perhaps no super-couple more well-known than Luke and Laura. This popular duo from "General Hospital" was a fan favorite for years, but when one of those actors unexpectedly left the show in 1984, producers were looking for the next big pairing. Enter: Frisco and Felicia.

The actors behind this new super-couple were Kristina and Jack Wagner, and as Kristina tells "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" in the above clip, there was no denying their chemistry -- on- and off-camera.

"Being thrown together on set in a romantic way, I think it was inevitable," she says. "You know, Jack's fun. He's an entertaining guy and engaging."

Via OWN

Kristina and Jack made their real-life relationship public in 1990, when Kristina became pregnant with their first child. Three years later, they married in a private ceremony in Lake Tahoe. Their second child was born in 1995. However, the Wagners' marriage was plagued with problems, and they divorced in 2006.

“It's easy to lose yourself when you're only in your young twenties and you're just doing what's expected of you.”

"This was an awakening," Kristina says of her post-divorce life. "I realized that I really needed to kind of figure out what was going on with me in order to move forward. It's easy to lose yourself when you're only in your young twenties and you're just doing what's expected of you, not really thinking about your own needs."

So, Kristina took the time to work on herself. The process, she says, helped her in more ways than she could have imagined.

"The divorce was the best thing that could have happened to me," Kristina states. "And for my children as well."

For as much as a parent worries about the effect of divorce on the children, Kristina says that being in a marriage that isn't working can be even more detrimental.

"I don't think I was being a very good mother at the time. I wasn't making good choices," she says. "I had to deal with myself first, because we ultimately have to take care of ourselves before we can help others."

Another revealing soap-star moment:

How Jack Wagner first met his daughter on a Rick Springfield cruise

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Before You Go

Celebrity Couples Who Met On Set

Will Smith & Jada Pinkett–Smith(01 of51)

Met on the set of "The Fresh Prince of Bel–Air" (credit:AP)

Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott(02 of51)

Met on the set of "Mind Over Murder" (credit:AP)

Ginnifer Goodwin & Josh Dallas(03 of51)

Met on the set of "Once Upon a Time" (credit:AP)

Kat Dennings & Nick Zano(04 of51)

Met on the set of "2 Broke Girls" (credit:AP)

Lauren Graham & Peter Krause(05 of51)

Met on the set of "Parenthood" (credit:AP)

Rob McElhenney & Kaitlin Olson(06 of51)

Met on the set of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (credit:AP)

Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson(07 of51)

Met on the set of "Bosom Buddies" (credit:Getty Images)

Josh Duhamel & Fergie(08 of51)

Met on the set of "Las Vegas" (credit:AP)

Vincent Kartheiser & Alexis Bledel(09 of51)

Met on the set of "Mad Men" (credit:AP)

Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner(10 of51)

Met on the set of "Daredevil" (credit:Getty Images)

Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt(11 of51)

Met on the set of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (credit:AP)

Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively(12 of51)

Met on the set of "The Green Lantern" (credit:AP)

Emma Stone & Andrew Garfield(13 of51)

Met on the set of "The Amazing Spider-Man" (credit:Getty Images)

Emily VanCamp & Josh Bowman(14 of51)

Met on the set of "Revenge" (credit:Getty Images)

Mila Kunis & Ashton Kutcher(15 of51)

Met on the set of "That '70s Show" (credit:Getty Images)

Daniel Craig & Rachel Weisz(16 of51)

Met on the set of "The Dream House" (credit:AP)

Jennifer Lawrence & Nicholas Hoult(17 of51)

Met on the set of "X-Men: First Class" (credit:Getty Images)

Halle Berry & Olivier Martinez(18 of51)

Met on the set of "Dark Tide" (credit:Getty Images)

Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem(19 of51)

Met on the set of "Jamon Jamon" (credit:Getty Images)

Freida Pinto & Dev patel(20 of51)

Met on the set of "Slumdog Millionaire" (credit:Getty Images)

Eva Mendes & Ryan Gosling(21 of51)

Met on the set of "The Place Beyond The Pines" (credit:Getty Images)

Anna Paquin & Stephen Moyer(22 of51)

Met on the set of "True Blood" (credit:Getty Images)

Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson(23 of51)

Met on the set of "Twilight" (credit:Getty Images)

Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth(24 of51)

Met on the set of "The Last Song" (credit:Getty Images)

Sarah Michelle Geller & Freddie Prinze Jr.(25 of51)

Met on the set of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (credit:Getty Images)

Channing Tatum & Jenna Dewan-Tatum(26 of51)

Met on the set of "Step Up" (credit:AP)

Jennifer Aniston & Justin Theroux(27 of51)

Met on the set of "Wanderlust" (credit:Getty Images)

Kurt Russell & Goldie Hawn(28 of51)

Met on the set of "Swing Shift" (credit:Getty Images)

Courteney Cox & Brian Van Holt(29 of51)

Met on the set of "Cougar Town" (credit:Getty Images)

Vincent Kartheiser & Alexis Bledel(30 of51)

Met on the set of "Mad Men" (credit:AP)

Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos(31 of51)

Met on the set of "All My Children" (credit:AP)

Johnny Depp & Amber Heard(32 of51)

Met on the set of "The Rum Diary" (credit:Getty Images)

LeAnn Rimes & Eddie Cibrian(33 of51)

Met on the set of "Northern Lights" (credit:AP)

Ian Somerhalder & Nina Dobrev(34 of51)

Met on the set of "Vampire Diaries" (credit:Getty Images)

Johnny Galecki & Kaley Cuoco(35 of51)

Met on the set of "The Big Bang Theory" (credit:AP)

Bradley Cooper & Zoe Saldana(36 of51)

Met on the set of "The Words" (credit:Getty Images)

Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams(37 of51)

Met on the set of "The Notebook" (credit:Getty Images)

Vanessa Hudgens & Zac Efron(38 of51)

Met on the set of "High School Musical" (credit:Getty Images)

Hugh Dancy & Claire Danes(39 of51)

Met on the set of "Evening" (credit:AP)

David Arquette & Courteney Cox(40 of51)

Met on the set of "Scream" (credit:AP)

Sienna Miller & Jude Law(41 of51)

Met on the set of "Alfie" (credit:Getty Images)

Rachel Bilson & Hayden Christensen(42 of51)

Met on the set of "Jumper" (credit:Getty Images)

Blake Lively & Penn Badgley(43 of51)

Met on the set of "Gossip Girl" (credit:Getty Images)

Shia LaBeouf & Carey Mulligan(44 of51)

Met on the set of "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" (credit:Getty Images)

Michael C. Hall & Jennifer Carpenter(45 of51)

Met on the set of "Dexter" (credit:Getty Images)

Chad Michael Murray & Sophia Bush(46 of51)

Met on the set of "One Tree Hill" (credit:Getty Images)

Hayden Panettiere & Milo Ventimiglia(47 of51)

Met on the set of "Heroes" (credit:Getty Images)

Rachel Bilson & Adam Brody(48 of51)

Met on the set of "The O.C." (credit:Getty Images)

Jennifer Garner & Scott Foley(49 of51)

Met on the set of "Felicity" (credit:Getty Images)

Gwyneth Paltrow & Brad Pitt(50 of51)

Met on the set of "Se7en" (credit:Getty Images)

Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman(51 of51)

Met on the set of "Days of Thunder" (credit:Getty Images)

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