AJ McLean and his wife Rochelle are going their separate ways, for now. The Backstreet Boys member, 45, and a makeup artist and hairstylist, 41, announced on March 27 that they are taking some time apart after 11 years of marriage, but are not divorcing. “Marriage is hard, but worth it. We have mutually decided to separate temporarily to work on ourselves, and on our marriage with the hope of building a stronger future,” the couple said in a joint statement, per TMZ.
“The plan is to come back together and continue to nurture our love for one another and our family. We ask for respect and privacy at this time,” the statement continued. “Separation is hard enough without the commentary, please be kind and remember there are children involved.”
AJ and Rochelle met in 2008 and began dating about a year later. They walked down the aisle in Dec. 2011 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. They’ve since welcomed two daughters: Elliott, 10, and Lyric, 6.
The split may come as a surprise to fans, as the couple didn’t show any signs of major issues. However, Rochelle last posted about AJ on her Instagram to celebrate their eleventh anniversary at the end of last year with a throwback photo and lyrics to “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses, a song about hard times in a relationship. “And shadows still remain, oh yeah / I know that you can love me when there’s no one left to blame / So never mind the darkness, we still can find a way / ‘Cause nothin’ lasts forever, even cold November rain,” her caption read. A month prior, she shared a photo of herself, AJ, and their girls smiling together and said she was “thankful” in the caption.
Meanwhile, AJ last shared a photo with Rochelle in April 2022 as they prayed before his show. In the pic, which can be seen here, they bowed their heads and had their two girls between them as they took part in the prayer circle. “Family appreciation post! Couldn’t do it without my girls. Love you!!” he captioned the post.
AJ once admitted in 2020 that he and Rochelle nearly broke up amid his struggle with sobriety. “[Rochelle] was at her wit’s end with me,” he confessed to PEOPLE. “She had thrown out leaving and taking the girls, but my ego always told me, ‘She’s not going anywhere.’ If I were her, I would have left, but she’s always been able to see through the BS to who I really am.”
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