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Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness split: Photo that signalled things were on the rocks
The Australian couple had reportedly ‘morphed into roommates’ after COVID lockdowns.
Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness had ‘morphed into roommates’ after COVID-19 lockdowns ‘put a strain on their relationship’, sources claim.
The beloved Australian couple shocked fans with an announcement that they are parting ways after 27 years of marriage and two kids.
In a statement to People magazine on Friday, the pair said: “We have been blessed to share almost 3 decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage. Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth.
"Our family has been and always will be our highest priority," the statement continued. "We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness. We greatly appreciate your understanding in respecting our privacy as our family navigates this transition in all of our lives."
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They signed the statement "Deb and Hugh Jackman," and noted, "This is the sole statement either of us will make."
Deb was seen without her wedding ring at the 2023 US Open Tennis Championships on September 5th in New York, however, going from photos, it’s not clear how often she used to regularly wear one at all. She did however usually wear a ring on her pinky finger if she decided not to wear a wedding band. Hugh was also pictured with Ryan Reynolds in Wrexham on August 5th sans wedding band.
Broken by COVID lockdowns
A source told the Daily Mail the couple grew apart during COVID lockdowns and things haven’t been the same ever since.
“They are forever linked, forever together with the children they have,” the inside said.
“But after the past few years, the love they had for each other turned more into a friendship which got broken during COVID, as the lockdown didn't help their marriage at all and really put a strain on their relationship.”
While the source said the former couple “worked on it”, they just “couldn’t get it back”.
'It happened a while ago'
Another source revealed to Page Six that the writing was on the wall for the couple and it was "a long time coming".
“It happened a while ago. Friends and family knew about it,” they said.
They added that Deb “wasn’t at rehearsals very much” in February 2022 for Hugh’s The Music Man and she was even spotted snoozing during some of them.
Deb and Hugh's family life
The couple met in 1995 on the set of the TV show Correlli, with Deborra-Lee saying they had an ‘instant attraction’.
“I remember I was sitting in his kitchen and he was cooking for a dinner party and I said, ‘You haven’t been coming into my trailer lately, we always used to hang out’, and he goes ‘Yeah yeah I know, I haven’t, I’ve got a crush on you, then I said ‘I’ve got a crush on you too’ and that was it, we admitted it, and I don’t think we ever spent a day apart,” she told Anh Do in 2020 on Anh’s Brush With Fame.
"We just had this amazing connection, and I feel blessed that I experienced, that I feel like I met my soulmate, whatever that is."
The couple share two children together: Oscar, 23, and Ava, 18, whom they adopted after a heartbreaking fertility journey.
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