Paula Patton's divorce from Robin Thicke has made her feel like a "real woman"

Speaking during an appearance on 'The Meredith Vieira Show', she said: "I live in a place of gratitude and growing up in many ways I think, I moved from my parents' house to moving in with Robin and now I'm like becoming an adult at this old age. I'm really like a real woman now."

The brunette beauty, who filed for divorce from Robin in October, found the break-up challenging but is starting to adapt to being a single mother to their four-year-old son Julian.

She explained: "It's been a long year and a lot of challenges but I've grown quite a bit and just getting used to change."

However, she has admitted it's been emotional leaving her son, whom she and Robin have joint custody of, while she goes off to work because he's more aware of her going away now he's older.

She said: "I took a lot of time off to be with him and then I had to pack for a trip because I had to go to work and he said, 'Mommy I don't want you to go to work.'

"It's the challenge of being a working mother and it's the first time he ever said that to me because I did work when he was a baby but now he is more aware of everything, so what are you going to do? It's sort of the trials and tribulations of being a woman. Right?"