Aisha Tyler gives tearful speech about her divorce on 'The Talk'

LOS ANGELES, April 19 (UPI) -- Aisha Tyler held nothing back when she discussed her divorce from husband Jeff Tietjens on the latest episode of The Talk.

The actress and longtime co-host of the daytime talk show broke her silence on her divorce Monday, sharing with the audience and fellow Talk hosts Sheryl Underwood, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne and Julie Chen how she felt about her marriage ending after 20 years.

"He's the person who has influenced me and cared for me the most. In fact, he cared for me even longer than my parents have cared for me and it's very hard when you love someone very much to also start to realize that maybe you want different things for your lives," Tyler explained with tears in her eyes. "That's a very difficult realization to come to and you don't want to accept it and you don't want to believe it."

News broke on Friday that Tyler and Tietjens were divorcing, citing irreconcilable differences. The longtime couple had been legally separated since January 2015.

Tyler explained to her co-hosts why issues with her marriage had been kept a secret.

"He didn't choose this life, I chose this life. It's very unfair to drag someone into this life that doesn't want any part of it. The only reason they're here is because they fell in love with someone in the business," she explained of wanting to protect her husband who values privacy. "He's a very private person. He's a very kind-hearted person and I didn't want to expose him to the kind of stuff I knew was going to come when this happened."

The Archer star admitted that she doesn't see the relationship as a failure, and mentioned how no matter what, she will always love her former partner.

"I was with this extraordinary person. I had this extraordinary love affair for 25 years of my life and that is how I feel. I think we did it exactly right," she shared after receiving a standing ovation from the audience.

"We loved each other passionately and lived life fully and we're trying to let each other go in the kindest way we possibly can and even though we're separating, all I want for him is joy and fulfillment and whatever he chooses to do in his life next and whatever I can do to help him do that, I want to do that."

"He's a wonderful person. He's been my best friend for always my entire life. I'll always love him. I want to say to people out there that are speculating about it, that's what I'm going to say about the relationship and the rest of it is none of your damn business," Tyler concluded.