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Perhaps her role in “Cougar Town” is a natural fit. But then, there’s something much sweeter about Courteney Cox.

The sitcom star covers the new issue of “Harper’s Bazaar,” and opens up about her separation from husband David Arquette, a process complicated by their tight relationship and Arquette’s subsequent breakdown.

There was no one huge reason for the split, Cox said. “I just had a moment of looking at our relationship, and there wasn’t anything in particular , but it brought up a lot of stuff,” she told the magazine. Arquette wasn’t able to look at it so philosophically, with his drug use, sex with another woman and breakdown on Howard Stern’s radio show as proof. Not that Cox blames him.

“You can’t really get mad at David because he’s not a malicious person,” she said. “He was dealing with things the best way he could. And don’t get me wrong, he was on a show for entertainment. David is smart, and David is also a showman. He knew what he was doing… I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I don’t think he’ll be doing more Howard Stern any time soon. He’s not out to harm. But I’m his biggest protector. I can’t help it.”

Arquette later apologized for the sexual tell-all, on the show, as well as his one night stand with a waitress. He then had another breakdown on Stern’s show, talking about his emotional breakdown and drinking; that collapse led to a stint in rehab and a stint on Oprah’s couch.

During that Oprah appearance, Arquette revealed that, before their separation, Cox told him that she “didn’t want to be his mother anymore.” Cox reflected something similar, telling Harper’s that she was “his biggest protector.”

That may be in part because she’s seven years older than Arquette, something of which she’s always been aware.

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