In a magazine interview, Courtney Cox spoke out about her rocky marriage with David Arquette, for the first time since their separation was announced last fall.

Even when Arquette appeared on the Howard Stern radio show and divulged details about their 11-year marriage, Cox chose to maintain a low profile. The star of ABC’s “Cougar Town” not only refused to criticize Arquette for his recent rehab stint and rants, she defended him.

“I’m not saying there wasn’t some crazy behavior, but if you know who David is, you know what his intentions are, how honest he is, and how big his heart is,” Cox told Harper’s Bazaar. “You can’t really get mad at David because he’s not a malicious person. He was dealing with things the best way he could,” she added. “He’s not out to harm. But I’m his biggest protector. I can’t help it,” she added.

She said that their problem was not so much love and marriage, but compatibility,” If anything I feel like we’ve been extremely successful at marriage,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “I think every relationship has a point where you stop and reevaluate. Are you happy? Have you grown together or apart? What do you share interests in? I think that’s a normal thing to do, but it’s so much harder when it’s done publicly.”

Cox, 46, is seven years older than Arquette, and he said on Howard Stern, that she was tired of acting like his mother. On her end, Cox didn’t think the age gap made much of a difference, saying, “Most guys aren’t that mature, are they? They just don’t think the way we think.”

She told Harper’s Bazaar that she still had “strong feelings” for him and wasn’t even close to thinking about dating again.

“I have no desire right now. … I’m not saying never. It just seems weird. I don’t even know how that would happen or how you meet people. I really don’t like to go out. I’m not great at small talk. I like to go to dinner with people. I don’t like to go to parties. There’s a sign on my forehead: EXITING SOCIAL LIFE, ENTERING INTO ISOLATION,” she admitted to the magazine.