Paula Patton on Life After Robin Thicke: 'I'm Doing Really Well'

Sometimes it takes a really unfortunate experience — you know, like the painful, slow burn of a public breakup — to make you suddenly feel like you're a whole new woman. Look no further than Paula Patton, who was all smiles while chatting with Meredith Vieira about her recent divorce from Robin Thicke for an episode of The Meredith Vieira Show airing on Tuesday.

If you couldn't already tell by how the 39-year-old actress is legitimately glowing, she's doing A-OK post-divorce. "You know, I'm doing really well," she told Vieira. "It's been a long year and a lot of challenges, but I've grown quite a bit and [I'm] just getting used to change."

A long year indeed. The two separated in February 2014, and then Thicke publicly unraveled. He disclosed in a deposition that he recorded "Blurred Lines" while high and that he was never sober for a single interview he did at the height of his fame in 2013. He then named his follow-up album after his estranged wife in an attempt to win her back. His song, "Get Her Back," underlined that desire, but alas, he did not succeed at winning back Paula, who is clearly a strong, independent woman. Instead of succumbing to Thicke's musical plea, she filed for divorce in October 2014.

Regarding her new life, she said that she just "[embraces] it" and that she's "thankful for everything that [she does] have," which probably includes her 4-year-old son, Julian. "I live in a place of gratitude," she added.

But perhaps the biggest perk to her new life without Thicke is that she has been able to experience a major rite of passage: living alone (well, that is if you don't include her son). "I went from my parents' house to moving in with Robin and now... I'm like [becoming] an adult at this old age," she smiled. "I'm really like a real woman now!"

Paula, you were always a real woman.

See a sneak peek of her conversation with Vieira above, and be sure to tune in to NBC on Mar. 31 to watch the full interview.