“Reacher” star Alan Ritchson and his wife Catherine are ending their marriage after two decades together, the couple announced in a joint statement posted to Instagram on Saturday.
“We’ve decided to end our marriage and continue alongside one another in a different way,” the 43-year-old actor and his wife wrote. “We grew up together. We built a life and a family together. And we are raising three incredible boys who will always be the center of our world. Nothing can diminish what these years have meant to us or the love and respect we will always share.”
The couple said they intend to move forward with “friendship, grace and a commitment to becoming the strongest co-parents we can be,” while also giving each other “room to grow into the people we are becoming.”
“Change is hard enough without the whole world weighing in,” the statement continued. “We hope, especially for the sake of our boys, that you will allow our family to move through this chapter with privacy and compassion.”
The couple thanked their followers for “supporting us as we continue to make the health and happiness of our family a priority.”
According to court documents cited by TMZ, Ritchson filed for divorce in December. The filing indicates the two reconciled in March before announcing their separation in September.
Ritchson and Catherine met as teenagers in high school, split for a time, then reconnected in college. They married in May 2006 and went on to have three sons: Calem, Edan and Amory.
Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to representatives for Ritchson but had not immediately received a response.
From “Smallville” to “Reacher”
Ritchson broke into Hollywood with a role on “Smallville” and went on to appear in “Blue Mountain State,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “Titans.” His defining role came in 2022, when he was cast as Jack Reacher in Amazon Prime’s “Reacher.”
Speaking to GQ in January 2024 about sharing the show with his own children, Ritchson said he let his kids watch the first season, with some scenes excepted. “They loved it, man. For me, it’s not ‘Dad TV,’ it’s ‘family TV,'” he said. “I walk down the street and little ladies on their walkers are like ‘Reacher… Reacher…’ It’s such a misnomer to me to qualify this as ‘Dad TV.’ But I am a father and I, too, love the show. Maybe it does work.”
