General Hospital star Steve Burton and Sheree Burton will now divorce, following a monthslong separation. According to TMZ, Steve, 52, officially filed papers to end the union of 23 years, citing “irreconcilable differences” and listing March 1 as their official date of separation. The couple have had a tumultuous year. Fitness professional Sheree, 45, announced that she was pregnant with her fourth child — which Steve says isn’t his — in May, touching off their separation. And back in November, Steve was fired from the iconic ABC soap opera after failing to comply with vaccine mandates.
Steve took to Instagram stories earlier this summer to clarify the situation. “I wanted to clear something up,” he wrote. “Sheree and I are separated. She recently announced that she’s expecting her fourth child. The child is not mine. We are still co-parenting our three beautiful kids. We would appreciate privacy at this time. Much luv, Steve.”
The longtime couple reportedly met on the set of the ABC soap in 1999. They share children Makena, 18, Jack, 16, and Brooklyn, 7. Sheree has not confirmed details about her pregnancy or the identity of the father, though she did confirm the pregnancy itself via Instagram stories. “Life sure is full of surprises!” she captioned a baby bump photo.
Steve is currently appearing as Harris Michaels in Peacock’s Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem. And while he’s been involved with Days of Our Lives as far back as 1988, he’s equally well-known for his run on General Hospital, which began in 1991. Steve did depart the show in 2012, appearing on The Young and the Restless in the interim. But by 2017, he’d returned to GH, only to be let go over the coronavirus vaccine mandate 7 months ago.
At the time, Steve explained to fans in a video that he had applied for “medical and religious” exemptions, which were denied. “But this is also about personal freedom to me,” he told fans. “I don’t think anybody should lose their livelihood over this.” He also said it would be “an honor” to return to the show someday and added that whatever happened, he would be “forever grateful” for his experience on the show.