Sean Penn likes life sans relationships

To be single is not fate but the choice of Sean Penn, who opened up about changing his opinion on romance.

During an interview with The New York Times, the Oscar winner remembered the moments when "the first thing I see in the morning are eyes wondering what I'm going to do to make them happy that day. Rarely reciprocated."

He continued, "On one of my marriages, the background noise of life was a [Real] Housewives of Beverly Hills or another thing called Love Island. Not even being in the room — I'm not saying this to be cute — I was dying. I felt my heart, my brain shrinking," noting. "It was an assault."

The Milk star credited his "friends in the female department," who are "beautiful, wonderful people, wonderful with their partners or wonderful on their own," for showing him that "relationships don't have to be dramatic or draining."

Sean has a number of relationships with A-listers, including his marriage to Madonna, Robin Wright and Leila George.