Ashley Judd seemed like the dutiful race car wife when husband Dario Franchitti won his third Indianapolis 500 in May 2012, but it seems that all wasn’t well with the relationship. Less than a year later, the couple has announced their split.
Judd released an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, which read, “We have mutually decided to end our marriage. We’ll always be family and continue to cherish our relationship based on the special love, integrity, and respect we have always enjoyed.
Judd, 44, and Franchitti, 39, met in 1999 at Jason Priestley’s wedding through mutual friends who hoped to set the couple up. It worked and the couple began dating and got engagedin December 1999. Less than three months later, Franchitti was involved in a bad racing accident, suffering a broken hip and pelvis. Judd remained by his bedside as he recovered and they married in 2001 in Scotland.
It wasn’t always blissful as Judd entered rehab for emotional problems and depression in 2006. But, she said the program helped her marriage and in 2007, when Franchitti won his first Indianapolis 500, Judd rushed over the pit wall to congratulate him.
While Judd and Franchitti are splitting, Rihanna has finally admitted that she and ex Chris Brown have reunited as girlfriend and boyfriend. Rumors have been swirling for a while that the couple was back together, but many oppose it. In 2009, photos were leaked to TMZ of the injuries Rihanna suffered after Brown hit her during an argument. Brown plead guilty to a felony assault and received five years probation.
He was also ordered to stay fifty feet away from Rihanna, but these two just couldn’t stay away from each other. This time around, Rihanna says it is “different.” Let’s hope for her sake it is.