Nia Long feels ''bad'' for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith after the couple went public with their relationship troubles.

The high-profile duo recently confessed to having a brief split in their relationship, during which time Jada embarked on a romance with August Alsina - and Nia has now praised the pair for having the ''courage'' to be so open about their issues.

Nia - who starred alongside Will in 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' - said: ''I feel bad for Will and Jada right now, because they've been extremely vulnerable with their personal story. And it takes a lot of courage to do that.''

Jada discussed her romance with August during a 'Red Table Talk' episode, and Nia acknowledges that love is a ''complicated thing''.

The 49-year-old actress told 'Entertainment Tonight': ''When you have a show like 'Red Table Talk', you want to be what you are sharing with the world, and that's gotta be a tremendous amount of pressure.

''We all have our ups and downs with love. Love is a complicated thing.''

Nia hailed Jada as ''an icon in our community'', adding that she hopes the public will ''back off'' the couple.

She continued: ''I think any key to any relationship is, give your partner the room to be who he needs to be, who she needs to be, and if it means you're taking a break to do that? Take the break!

''I know I sometimes just leave the house and I don't tell anyone where I'm going and I'm like, OK guys I'll be back. Because I've learned that if I don't take care of myself first, nothing else in the house runs smoothly.''