Aussie star Naomi Watts has announced her separation from long-time partner Liev Schreiber.
The Hollywood power couple, who have two children together, released a statement to ET confirming the sad news.
“Over the past few months we’ve come to the conclusion that the best way forward for us as a family is to separate as a couple,” the statement reads.
“It is with great love, respect, and friendship in our hearts that we look forward to raising our children together and exploring this new phase of our relationship.
“While we appreciate your curiosity and support, we ask the press to be mindful of our children and respect their right to privacy.”
Naomi, 47, and Liev, 48, have been together since 2005, though they never married.
They have two children – Alexander, 9, and Samuel, 7 – who they regularly bring back to Australia so they have a constant connection with their home and family.
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Naomi and Liev first met at the Met Gala in 2005, an encounter he happily recounted for Esquire magazine earlier this year.
He told Esquire he had felt out of place at the fancy event – until Naomi walked in.
She said, ‘What are you doing later on — you want to go dancing?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah’,” he told the mag.
“So I went down to this club that she told me to meet her at, and of course she was there with Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro, and I’m kind of standing around like a bump on a log, waiting for my turn.”
With all the movie stars hovering around Naomi, Liev said he felt “very embarrassed being there, and self-conscious”.
Worried he wouldn’t impress her, he told Naomi: “I’m sorry, but I gotta go home.
“She chased me outside and said, ‘Don’t you want my digits?’,” he said.
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Their first official date was near Magnolia Bakery in Manhattan’s West Village, where they ate cupcakes on a park bench.
“It was very silly, very romantic,” he said. “And we had a kiss, not a big kiss, but it was a kiss that was like, ooh. Then she went back to LA. and I wrote her all the time. Lots of emails. I think that was it — seduced by email.”
However, the first small cracks had begun to show a few months ago, with Naomi opening up about their relationship troubles in a candid interview with Los Angeles Confidential.
“Relationships are hard whether you’re famous or not. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have to work on it,” she revealed.
“Being an actor doesn’t change anything.”
