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Nia Long ‘feels bad’ for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith

Nia Long feels "bad" for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith after the couple went public with their relationship troubles.

The high-profile duo recently confessed to having a brief split in their relationship, during which time Jada embarked on a romance with August Alsina – and Nia has now praised the pair for having the "courage" to be so open about their issues.

Nia – who starred alongside Will in ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ – said: "I feel bad for Will and Jada right now, because they’ve been extremely vulnerable with their personal story. And it takes a lot of courage to do that."

Jada discussed her romance with August during a ‘Red Table Talk’ episode, and Nia acknowledges that love is a "complicated thing".

The 49-year-old actress told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: "When you have a show like ‘Red Table Talk’, you want to be what you are sharing with the world, and that’s gotta be a tremendous amount of pressure.

"We all have our ups and downs with love. Love is a complicated thing."

Nia hailed Jada as "an icon in our community", adding that she hopes the public will "back off" the couple.

She continued: "I think any key to any relationship is, give your partner the room to be who he needs to be, who she needs to be, and if it means you’re taking a break to do that? Take the break!

"I know I sometimes just leave the house and I don’t tell anyone where I’m going and I’m like, OK guys I’ll be back. Because I’ve learned that if I don’t take care of myself first, nothing else in the house runs smoothly."