Susan Sarandon didn’t expect to split from Tim Robbins

Susan Sarandon didn’t think she would ever split from Tim Robbins.

The Hollywood couple broke up in 2009 amidst what the actor has previously described as a "mid-life crisis" and the ‘Big Wedding’ actress – who has two sons, Jack, 24, and 21-year-old Miles, with the ‘Mystic River’ star – admits she was in shock when he ended their 23 year relationship and she need to lean on friends to help her through the ordeal.

She told the Daily Mail newspaper: "I didn’t think it would ever happen. You need your girlfriends. You need to take long walks until you’re exhausted and no longer crying out and you hold on until a new dawn."

The 66-year-old star has since found love again with entrepreneur Jonathan Bricklin – who at 36, is three decades younger than her – but Susan reveals it was both "exciting and simultaneously terrifying" to move on from her romance with Tim, 54.

She said: "[It was] exciting and simultaneously terrifying because there are certain comforts you take for granted in long-term relationships. Even though in my business I meet lots of people, you think of yourself differently when you’re on the market than when you’re not. So, yes, I’d be lying if I said it was an easy transition."

The ‘Stepmom’ actress – who also has 28-year-old daughter Eva from a previous relationship with filmmaker Franco Amurri – says her children also found it difficult to get used to their mother returning to the dating pool.

She admits: "You know how your kids think you came into existence when they did? When I started having more freedom and going out more, they were a little concerned. One said, ‘I’m not sure who you are any more.’ I said, ‘I’m the person I was before you came along.’ "