After 21 years of marriage, Leah Remini and Angelo Pagán are doing what’s best for them — filing for divorce.
The former couple posted a joint statement to social media on Thursday. Though Remini, 54, and Pagán, 56, have been together for nearly three decades, the decision to end their relationship came “after a lot of thought and care,” they said.
“As hard as divorce is, we are approaching this with a positive outlook because we know it’s what’s best for us,” the pair wrote. “We are proud of how we have worked through this together.”
The lengthy statement acknowledged that both Remini and Pagán are “sad” about the end of their marriage but will “continue to move forward into our new normal—together still in many ways, and apart in some new ones.”
Remini and Pagán, who share a 20-year-old daughter, said they will continue to spend holidays together, watch their favourite TV shows together and will still gather as a family.
“To put it simply, we both changed, as people do, and we got used to playing roles that didn’t fit us anymore,” the soon-to-be ex-spouses wrote. “Our bond is still strong—it’s just evolved into something different.”
Remini and Pagán celebrated their marriage and called it a “huge success.”
They said they decided to issue the candid statement about their divorce because they’ve shared much of their relationship publicly in various TV specials, including Leah Remini: It’s All Relative, which ran for two seasons on TLC.
“We would love for everyone to have more access to different kinds of relationship stories and not feel so isolated in navigating the changes that millions of couples make every year,” Remini and Pagán continued. “We hope our journey can inspire others to see that relationships—whether they change or end—aren’t failures.”
The ex-couple said they would continue to share “snippets” of their lives as they navigate the divorce and new paths forward.
Remini, who is best known for her longstanding role on King of Queens, shares daughter Sofia Bella with Pagán. He also has three other children from a previous relationship.
The pair met in 1996, then tied the knot in a Las Vegas ceremony in 2003.
When Remini left the Church of Scientology in 2013, after 30 years in the faith, Pagán also defected.
In the years since, Remini has been a vocal critic of Scientology, and has accused the religious organization and its founder David Miscavige of serious abuses of power.
Remini is currently in a legal battle with the church over allegations that religious leaders have for years retaliated against her with a campaign of “continued, aggressive harassment” and “mob-style operations and attacks.” The Church of Scientology has denied all allegations and maintains Remini is “spreading falsehoods and hate speech.”
In 2016, she released the documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, which she produced and co-created. The series won three Emmy Awards.