Tina Knowles is no stranger to honesty. The matriarch of the Knowles family released her memoir, aptly named Matriarch, in April 2025. The book, which is already a bestseller, details Tina's often harrowing life. The 71-year-old mother to Beyoncé, 44, and Solange, 39, shared many stories of her life in the book, and in a recent interview, she opened up about something far deeper. Tina sat down at LA Times Studios' fifth annual Inspirational Women Forum & Leadership Awards, which was attended by HELLO!, and discussed her heartbreaking divorce with Mathew Knowles.
The author was married to Mathew, who she shares her children with, from 1980 to 2011. The former couple's union fell apart faster than either expected, but Tina chose to stay. Tina told the LA Times: "I was married for 33 years. I'd been with someone for 33 years and you can imagine how intertwined our lives were with Destiny's Child and that career."
Because of their deeply connected lives, the author feared leaving the marriage. Tina went on: "I thought, 'How do I untangle this ball of yarn? Because my life is so intertwined with my ex-husband.'" Tina and Mathew supported both their daughters' creative aspirations. Beyoncé fronted the girl group, Destiny's Child, along with Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland. Tina was the primary stylist for the group, while Mathew was the group's manager.
© WireImageBut, regardless of her and Mathew's shared life, Tina faced her fears and left her marriage. She and Mathew divorced in November 2011. The author explained: "When I finally decided that I would get out of the marriage – and I really needed to get out of it, I went into such a depression. I didn't know how to be solo without this other person who I had been with for 33 years."
© InstagramTina had to rebuild her life. But, the then 59-year-old didn't know how to be alone. She told the LA Times: "I thought, 'How am I going to do this by myself?'" Tina continued: "I thought to myself, 'I'm 59. Where am I going to get a man? I'm not going to the club.' There was so much of me that was thinking about the fact that I didn't have a man."
© via PictureGroup/ShutterstockThe recent divorcee explained that her therapist gave her homework to write down all the worst parts of her life. All her failures, insecurities, and all the times she messed things up. On the other side of the paper, her therapist instructed her to write down all of her accomplishments and all of the great things that she'd done.
© Tiffany RoseTina said: "I started to write out all of the things that were good in my life and they far outweigh[ed] the bad. All of a sudden, a lot of the anger [about my divorce] went away." She learned more about herself than she had during her 33 years of marriage. After her divorce from Mathew, Tina married again. She was with her second husband, her longtime friend and actor Richard Lawson, for nine years. The two divorced in 2024.
