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Topics: Hugh Jackman, Celebrity
Claire Reid
Topics: Hugh Jackman, Celebrity
Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee have announced that they are separating after 27 years of marriage.
The Greatest Showman star shared a joint statement with his wife to People magazine confirming the split.
"We have been blessed to share almost three decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage,” the statement reads.
“Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth.
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"Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. 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."
The statement was signed ‘Deb and Hugh Jackman’ and ends: "This is the sole statement either of us will make."
The couple had been married for 27 years and have two children together: Oscar, 23, and Ava, 18.
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The pair met on the set of Australian TV show Correlli in 1995 and got hitched the following year.
In an interview with People back in 2017, Jackman opened up about their first meeting and what an impression his future-wife had on him.
He said: “Deb, she was a big star… I get picked up, and Deb is in the front seat of the car. I’ll never forget.
“She took off her seatbelt and she turned around and put out her hand and took off her sunglasses and said, ‘Hi, I’m Deborra-Lee Furness, nice to meet you.’ I remember thinking, ‘I like this girl.’”
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The star was so smitten that he was willing to drop everything to be with her.
In an interview on Sirius FM, he shared: “A few weeks into my relationship with Deb, she said, ‘By the way, do you think this is going anywhere? I’m going to live in New York.’
“I was like, ‘Yeah, all right - coming’, “When you fall in love with someone, what you’re actually getting a glimpse of is the real them.
"That’s why it feels so great, like: ‘Ah, I don’t have to pretend to be something’.”
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Jackman has previously said that he and his wife have not spent more than two-weeks apart since getting married in 1996.
Speaking a couple of years back, he explained: “She has the two-week rule. No roles that take you away that long.
“That was that rule, which we’ve kept for 25 years.”