Justin Theroux and Jennifer Aniston.

Justin Theroux has revealed that he still feels “protective” over his former wife Jennifer Aniston, six years after their split.

The actor, 53, was first romantically linked to the Friends star, 55, in 2011 and the pair married in 2015. They announced their break-up in 2018, describing their decision to part ways as “mutual and lovingly made”.

In an interview with The Times, the Leftovers star was asked to share his thoughts on Aniston’s recent criticism of Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, after he made derogatory comments about “childless cat ladies”.

“She is still very dear to me so of course, yeah, I feel protective,” he told the paper. “But she batted back criticism, as well she should.”

In a resurfaced interview from 2021, Vance had told Fox News that the United States was run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too”.

He went on to namecheck politicians such as Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris and congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, and asked: “How does it make any sense we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”

Vance’s remarks, which he later tried to brush off as “sarcastic”, were quickly met with backlash.

Aniston, who has spoken candidly about fertility struggles in the past, was among the celebrities to call out his comments.

“I truly can’t believe this is coming from a potential VP of the United States,” she wrote in an Instagram story in July.

“All I can say is… Mr Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too.”

Vance later hit back at Aniston, claiming that her remarks were “disgusting”.

“Hollywood celebrities say, ‘Oh, well, JD Vance, what if your daughter suffered fertility problems?’” he told the Megyn Kelly Show.

“Well, first of all, that’s disgusting because my daughter is two years old.”

Theroux, who recently announced his engagement to girlfriend Nicole Brydon Bloom, has stayed on good terms with his former wife in the wake of their split.

“I would say we’ve remained friends,” he told Esquire in a 2021 interview. “We don’t talk every day, but we call each other. We FaceTime. We text.”

“Like it or not, we didn’t have that dramatic split, and we love each other,” he added. “I’m sincere when I say that I cherish our friendship.”

The Independent