Frankie Muniz has told fans he has reached “rock bottom,” opening up about an intensely difficult period just two months after announcing his divorce.
The Malcolm in the Middle star eloped with Paige Price in 2019, and the couple welcomed their son, Mauz, five, in 2021. They announced their separation in July.
In an Instagram post shared this week, Muniz wrote: “The last 6 weeks of my life have been a nightmare I’m praying to wake up from.”
The 40-year-old actor added: “Everything felt heavy, unclear, and like it was falling apart at the same time. I wouldn’t wish this season on anyone.”
Muniz said the experience had also brought an “unexpected gift” by leaving him with “nowhere to hide.” He explained that he had been able to reflect honestly on the parts of his life that needed work, adding that he wanted to become a better version of himself—not just the “polished version” he presents publicly, but the “actual one.”
Our News Outlet has contacted Muniz’s representatives for comment.
Frankie Muniz has left fans concerned after revealing that he has reached “rock bottom” two months after his divorce
Muniz eloped with Paige Price in 2019, and they welcomed their son, Mauz, five, in 2021 before announcing their separation in July
The former child star said he had read that reaching rock bottom can sometimes be the moment that forces people to make long-needed changes. “That idea has been sitting with me,” he wrote.
“In five years I believe I’ll look back at this exact low point and feel grateful for it, because the high I’ll be standing on then only exists because I went through this.”
Muniz reassured followers that this difficult chapter was not the end of his story. Instead, he said, it marked the beginning of the “uncomfortable, unglamorous, necessary work” needed to rebuild his life, describing the period as a foundation rather than a finish line.
He ended with a message of support for anyone facing similar struggles: “If you’re in a low place right now too, you’re not broken. You’re being rebuilt. Let’s keep going!”
Fans responded with heart emojis and messages of encouragement, including: “You got this never give up,” “Keep fighting brother,” “We are here for you Frankie! Keep your head up,” and “Sending you a big hug Frankie!”
Muniz became famous as a teenager playing the title role in Malcolm in the Middle, which aired on Fox from 2000 to 2006. Jane Kaczmarek and future Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston played his character’s parents.
When Muniz announced the end of his marriage in July, he adopted a warm and amicable tone, reflecting on the “10 beautiful years” he had shared with Price. He said he was “endlessly grateful to Paige for everything she’s done for me and our family.”
Price, who was working as a television presenter when she met Muniz, put her own ambitions aside so he could pursue his, he said, calling her his “biggest supporter.”
Muniz and Price began dating in 2016, became engaged two years later and eloped after climbing Camelback Mountain in Arizona in 2019; pictured in 2017
Muniz accompanied his divorce announcement with a cheerful video of himself dancing with Price and Mauz, which some fans criticized as “out of touch”
In April, three months before confirming their split, Muniz admitted that balancing his marriage and career had been “very hard”
“That foundation of respect and friendship isn’t going anywhere. We’re excited to keep building Muniz Racing together and to co-parent our boy with the same teamwork and love we’ve always had,” he said.
Muniz Racing is the brand that he fronts as a race car driver, a career he began pursuing in 2008 shortly after the end of Malcolm in the Middle.
His divorce announcement was accompanied by an ebullient video of him cheerfully dancing with Price and Mauz, accompanied by the caption: ‘Who says you can’t stay best friends with your baby momma?’
Outrage erupted online over his ‘out of touch’ clip ‘celebrating breaking up his family,’ and Muniz quickly deleted the footage from his Instagram page.
Price sprang to his defense, posting: ‘Frankie, I am so sorry that you felt the need to delete an old fun video of our family because people are so cruel to you…’
She publicly observed that the ‘world is so f****d… divorce is bad, sure — it’s not like we’re excited about it… but we’re two adults who know how to be on the same team…I can’t believe people could scrutinize that.’
Muniz and Price struck up their romance in 2016, got engaged two years later and in 2019 climbed up Camelback Mountain in Arizona to elope.
They held a more formal wedding with their family and friends in February 2020, on the four-year anniversary of the day they first met.
Muniz (left) the title character on Malcolm in the Middle, which ran on Fox from 2000 to 2006 and featured Jane Kaczmarek (center) and Bryan Cranston (right) as his character’s parents
In the couple of years leading up to their divorce, Muniz was candid about the strain his professional commitments had placed on his family life.
He left I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! prematurely in 2024 and informed his campmates that he was headed home to be with his wife and son.
‘My current situation with my wife and son is…I’m guilty of not noticing what they do for me,’ he shared with his fellow competitors. ‘Hearing my wife say that my son is sad that I don’t play trucks with him, I realize I’ve been home so many days, and when I’m home I’m not present. And I’m so ready to be present.’
This April, three months before he and Price went public with their split, he confessed that juggling his marriage and career was ‘very hard, I won’t lie,’ via Us Weekly.
‘Honestly, my wife is a saint. She’s sacrificing so much for me to live my dream,’ he said. ‘I know I need to be better. I know it’s not easy for her to be basically a single mother a lot of the time, if I’m being honest.’
Muniz pointed out that his family attend ‘a few’ of his races but noted that ‘it’s hard to uproot them and take them all over the place,’ insisting: ‘I want my son to have a routine and his school and his friends and go to church.’
Three months later, in his statement on their divorce, he revealed that he and Price took the decision after a ‘period of separation that we kept private.’
