Jaime King finds the child custody system "terrifying"

Speaking to Jana Kramer on her 'Whine Down' podcast, she said: "It's terrifying, when to be able to be free means that you have to pay a very extreme price, and I'm not just talking about financially.

"It's very upsetting, and I will do everything in my power to change this system, and it's not a will. I'm going to. There's no price to pay for freedom."

The interview marked the first time Jaime had spoken out about losing custody of her kids and she admitted it was "scary" to do so.

She said: "My duty as a mother is to protect my children. And that's all that matters to me. This is scary."

The 45-year-old star admitted she had never expected things to turn out the way they had.

She said: "I just didn't know when I got married at a young age. I just didn't know that that the world works like this. I didn't know that legal systems work like this.

"And not to sound like some kind of neophyte, but I thought that, you know, when you choose to love someone, then you love that person. You build a family with them, and, you trust them."

Jana, who also endured a custody battle with ex-husband Mike Caussin, replied: "I agree with you on the legal system.

"I've been in abusive relationships in the past and, you know, even from the comments to the system, it's very messed up, and what they do to women and how they can turn it on us is mind-blowing."

Jaime - who explained she hadn't spoken out before now for the sake of her children's privacy - also addressed claims she had been ordered to complete a six-month stint in rehab.

She said: "I've never had to think about myself as sober or not sober. I stopped using drugs at 17 or something."

According to documents obtained by People magazine last month, Jaime is permitted to see her sons three times a week for an hour at a time.

An addendum to the court order showed the meetings have to be supervised because the actress hasn't completed a six-month drug/alcohol programme, with weekly testing and aftercare, a 26-week parenting course, individual counselling to address case issues, and joint counselling with the children when the kids' therapist "deems it appropriate".