Nicola Sturgeon has opened up about the breakdown of her relationship with predecessor Alex Salmond.
The First Minister compared the fallout to a “grieving process” and said it would be a “relief” to have her say on events that led to their friendship souring.
In an interview with Times Radio, she also claimed independence would happen "sooner rather than later".
Sturgeon has spoken in the past about the huge influence Salmond has had on her political career.
She was his protege and took over the leadership of her party and the Government in 2014 after the referendum.
However, their friendship ended after her Government investigated complaints of sexual misconduct against Salmond in office.
Salmond blasted the probe and a judge later ruled the internal inquiry had been biased and unlawful. He then was charged with sexual offences, but a jury cleared him.
In the interview, Sturgeon said of the Salmond situation: "It's been personally difficult.
"I suppose I would just reference or say to people, imagine how it would feel, you know, for any reason and whatever the circumstances if somebody that has been one of the biggest presences in your life, outside my own family, my husband, probably the most significant adult in my life for all of my adult life, and just imagine that and then imagine that they're not in that role anymore.
"And it's difficult.”
She added: "I've not been able to talk about this because of the criminal trial and then when the criminal trial ended, I was immersed as I still am in Covid, I will get the opportunity to talk about that in the parliamentary inquiries that are to come and while I wouldn't say I relish that prospect at all, there will to some extent be a sense of relief, at just being able to have my say."
She continued: “There is a sense of something that I suppose is not a million miles from a grieving process, but you know, we all go through difficult things and we have to cope with them."
On independence, she said: "It won't happen because I say it should happen, or any other politician says it should happen, but I believe that is the path Scotland is on and I think when that day comes, and I think it will be sooner rather than later.
"We don't turn our backs on others across the UK. We become an equal partner and we take more responsibility for our own decisions and forge our own path in the world."
The First Minister also spoke about sexism and the media commenting on her not having children:
"Don't make assumptions about something that is intensely personal and why should women in the public eye constantly be asked that question? I mean talking about Alex Salmond earlier on, who was my predecessor as leader, he doesn't have children. I don't think I've ever heard him once asked in an interview, why he didn't have children.
“Whereas for a period of my life, it was probably the question that it, or that it would not be true, but it's how it felt to me for the period that it was a question I was asked more than anything else."
