After 21 years of marriage, Leah Remini and Angelo Pagan are doing what’s best for them: filing for divorce.
The former couple posted a joint statement on social media Thursday. Though Remini, 54, and Pagan, 56, have been together for nearly three decades, the decision to end their relationship came “after much thought and care,” they said.
“As difficult as divorce is, we are facing it with a positive attitude because we know it is the best thing for us,” the couple wrote. “We are proud of how we have gotten through this together.”
The lengthy statement acknowledged that both Remini and Pagan are “saddened” by the end of their marriage, but that they will “continue to move forward toward our new normal, still together in many ways and apart in some new ones.”
Remini and Pagan, who share a 20-year-old daughter, said they will continue to spend holidays together, watch their favorite TV shows together and continue to gather as a family.
“Simply put, we both changed, as people often do, and got used to playing roles that no longer fit us,” the soon-to-be ex-spouses wrote. “Our bond is still strong, it has just evolved into something different.”
Remini and Pagan celebrated their marriage and called it “a great success.”
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They said they decided to issue the candid statement about their divorce because they have shared much of their relationship publicly in several television specials, including Leah Remini: It’s all relativewhich aired for two seasons on TLC.
“We would love for everyone to have more access to different types of relationship stories and not feel so isolated as they navigate the changes that millions of couples experience each year,” Remini and Pagán continued. “We hope our journey can inspire others to see that relationships, whether they change or end, are not failures.”
The former couple said they would continue to share “snippets” of their lives as they navigate their divorce and new paths forward.
Remini, who is best known for her long-running role in King of queens, Pagán has a daughter, Sofía Bella, and three other children from a previous relationship.
The couple met in 1996 and later married in a Las Vegas ceremony in 2003.
When Remini left the Church of Scientology in 2013 after 30 years in the faith, Pagan defected as well.
In the years since, Remini has been an outspoken critic of Scientology, accusing the religious organization and its founder David Miscavige of gross abuses of power.
Remini is currently in a legal battle with the church over allegations that religious leaders have retaliated against her for years with a campaign of “ongoing and aggressive harassment” and “mob-style operations and attacks.” The Church of Scientology has denied all allegations and maintains that Remini is “spreading falsehoods and hate speech.”
In 2016, he launched the documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and its consequenceswhich he produced and co-created. The series won three Emmy Awards.
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