Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been separated since 2016

Jada Pinkett Smith said she has been separated from her husband Will Smith since 2016.

The actress, 52, said in an interview with Sky's US partner network NBC News that the couple are "figuring out" their marriage.

She said the couple are still legally married but living separately.

"[We're] still trying to figure out between the two of us how to be in partnership and how do we present that to people? We hadn't figured that out.

"Why it fractured? That's a lot of things. I think by the time we got to 2016, we were too exhausted with trying.

"I think we were both stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."

She told NBC presenter Hoda Kotb that she considered getting a divorce but did not go through with it.

"I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through whatever and I just haven't been able to break that promise."

Pinkett Smith admitted in 2020 that she had a years-long affair with singer August Alsina.

Jada and Will, 55, married in 1997 and have two children together - Jaden, 25 and 22-year-old Willow. Will has a third child, 30-year-old Trey, from a previous relationship.

In a separate interview with People Magazine, she said: "We've been doing some really heavy-duty work together. We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us."

Pinkett Smith praised her children, saying: "They're little gurus. They've taught me a deep sense of self-acceptance. They love every part of me.

"The level of love, unconditional love that they have for me and their dad. And it's one thing to want to be the person that gives that unconditional love. And then there's, to be the recipient of that."

Pinkett Smith also revealed in the People interview she thought the Oscars slap in 2022 was a skit at first.

There were shockwaves across Hollywood when her husband hit Chris Rock on stage on live television after the comedian made a joke about Jada's shaved head.

"I thought, 'this is a skit'.

"I was like, 'there's no way that Will hit him'. It wasn't until Will started to walk back to his chair that I even realised it wasn't a skit."

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Pinkett Smith, who hosts the online talk show Red Table Talk, also said she took the psychedelic drug ayahuasca to deal with her depression and suicidal thoughts.

"Ayahuasca helped me, it gave me a new intimate relationship with myself that I had never had before." She said the first time she took the drug, "the suicidal thoughts completely went away".

The interviews come as Pinkett Smith embarks on a publicity tour for her new book.