At long last, Chad Lowe is speaking out about his struggles with substance abuse and the collapse of his marriage to two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank. During a taped interview with the ’’Extra’’ TV show, Lowe admitted, ’’It has been a tough year and not something I expected. It’s very humbling.’’

While Lowe said he was ’’disappointed that the details of our relationship became public,’’ and is unhappy Swank had revealed his struggles with substance abuse in a recent Vanity Fair magazine interview, Lowe admitted the comments ’’were absolutely true.’’

The good news: ’’I’ve been sober for three and a half years and very grateful for that.’’

As for his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Lowe told ’’Extra’’ there’s no chance for a reconciliation ’’in a marital sense,’’ but he is ’’so grateful to Hilary for her support of me in a very difficult time in my life three and a half years ago. What hurt me more than anything is that people would think that she wasn’t there for me, and she was. She was the love of my life, and that’s not something you just shut off. I will always love her.’’

To see more of the Lowe interview — including news about his ’’24’’ appearance on Fox-TV and his directing of the upcoming film ’’Beautiful Ohio,’’ starring William Hurt, Rita Wilson, Michelle Trachtenberg and Julianna Margulies, tune into ’’Extra,’’ (4:30 p.m. today, WMAQ-Channel 5).

Seems Lowe is turning more to directing and producing these days. His most recent acting gigs have including starring in the Hallmark Channel TV film ’’Fielder’s Choice’’ in 2005, appearances on ’’Medium’’ and ’’ER,’’ and co-starring in the acclaimed ’’Unfaithful’’ with Diane Lane and Richard Gere in 2002.