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Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean and Wife Rochelle Split Amid Separation After Hoping ‘for Reconciliation’
The New Year has had its first marital casualty, as the Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean and wife Rochelle announced they were splitting on Monday January 1. They pair announced their separation in March 2023, but said at the time they hoped to make the marriage work.
“As you all know we have been separated for over a year now. While we have hoped for reconciliation, we have decided to officially end our marriage,” the former couple wrote in a joint social media statement.
“It is with deep love and respect that we have made this decision,” the duo continued. “Our focus now is moving forward in the healthiest possible way with friendship and coparenting our girls at the forefront of this next chapter. We appreciate your kindness respect and privacy at this time.”
AJ, 45, and Rochelle, 42, married in December 2011 after two years of dating. They later welcomed daughter Ava – who later changed her name to Elliott – in November 2012, followed by a second daughter, Lyric, in March 2017.
When the pair revealed their separation, they hoped their marriage would come back stronger.
“Marriage is hard, but worth it,” they said in a statement. “We have mutually decided to separate temporarily to work on ourselves, and on our marriage with the hope of building a stronger future. 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. Separation is hard enough without the commentary, please be kind and remember there are children involved.”
AJ, Rochelle and their daughters most recently appeared on the red carpet for the Hollywood premiere of Trolls: Band Together on November 15, 2023.
That same month, the boy bander spoke about the status of their marriage during an appearance on Cheryl Burke’s ”Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast.
“We still live separately, but we are in couple’s therapy, we are in individual therapy,” AJ told the Dancing With the Stars pro. He seemed hopeful, adding, “We talk every day, we are spending more time together. We just have to rebuild something that was never there from the beginning.”
AJ recalled how they each had issues going into their marriage.
“I came with baggage, she came with baggage, she had trauma, I had trauma. I wasn’t sober or ready to get sober. She was dealing with her own s–t,” he explained. “It was just a constant push-pull: She would sweep her feelings under the rug, or I would dive into a bottle.”
AJ got sober after entering rehab in 2021. He revealed how his sobriety journey was going and how Rochelle was a part of it in an August 2023 interview.
“I’ve battled self-esteem issues my entire life, and I’ve learned a lot. My sobriety is the most solid it’s ever been,” he told People, adding, “I’m in the best shape of my life, both mentally, physically, spiritually. I’m actually really happy and I love it, and I don’t want to lose it. I want to continue to keep growing, growing with my wife and my kids and myself.”
