Jennie Garth admits that she "didn't want to let [her husband Peter Facinelli] go" when the pair decided to separate.

The couple, who have three children together, announced their official separation earlier this month.

Peter went ahead and filed for divorce from Jennie after 11 years of marriage just days ago.

Jennie foresaw the split, but she didn't want to say goodbye.

"At first, I wanted to say that [our marriage] is not working for him and he's the one that's not happy," she told People magazine.

"But when I really looked into how I was feeling, I could see it was the best thing for both of us. I didn't want to admit it, because I didn't want to let him go."

Jennie is slogging through the break-up.

"I know how hard it is," Jennie said. "I've said many times to myself, 'I can't imagine that happening to me.' It was the unimaginable to me. But guess what, it happened and I got through it."

Peter submitted divorce documents to the court on March 28, six days before Jennie's 40th birthday.

The papers state that Peter wants joint physical and legal custody of their girls; Luca, 14, Lola, nine, and Fiona, five. Jennie has agreed to this.

Jennie filed a response to the divorce petition simultaneously and is requesting that her legal name be changed back from Facinelli to Garth.