Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe have announced they decided to separate after seven years of marriage.

“We are saddened to announce that Reese and Ryan have decided to formally separate. They remain committed to their family and we ask that you please respect their privacy and the safety of their children at this time,” the statement released by the couple's agent says.

Oscar-winning Reese Witherspoon, 30, has already contacted the divorce lawyer who represented Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Marie Presley, TMZ.com reports.

 

Reese Witherspoon, one of Hollywood's highest-paid actresses, burst to fame after the Legally Blonde movies. She met her future husband in 1997 at Reese's 21st birthday party when her famous first words to her husband-to-be were reportedly "You must be my birthday present."

Reese Witherspoon had admitted the couple needed to work on their marriage while denying they are having problems.

"I'm not interested in the fallacy of the Hollywood relationship: 'We have perfect children who never cry; we never have problems; we never argue, we're always best friends,'" she said to People magazine at that time, "That's just not true. We're normal people with normal problems."

In 2002 Hollywood's golden couple attended couples therapy.

Lately, celebrity magazines claimed that Witherspoon-Philippe relationship is quite shaky, but all rumours were repeatedly denied.

"They are completely happy," a rep declared last March.

Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe married in June 1999 and have two children, seven-year-old daughter Ava and three-year-old son Deacon. 

 Other news