Getty Images
AJ McLean and Wife Rochelle Officially Split 10 Months After Announcing Separation
Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean and his estranged wife, Rochelle DeAnna McLean, have officially split 10 months after they announced that they “temporarily” separated in March 2023.
“As you all know we have been separated for over a year now,” AJ, 45, and Rochelle, 42, wrote in a joint statement posted via his Instagram on Monday, January 1. “While we have hoped for reconciliation we have decided to officially end our marriage. It is with deep love and respect that we have made this decision.”
The former couple added that they plan to amicably raise their children despite their separation. “Our focus now is moving forward in the healthiest way possible with friendship and co-parenting our girls at the forefront of this next chapter,” their statement continued. “We appreciate your kindness, respect, and privacy at this time.”
After they began dating in 2009, AJ and Rochelle got married during a ceremony in Los Angeles in December 2011. They became parents when they welcomed daughter Elliott in 2012, followed by daughter Lyric in 2017.
Fans first became aware that the “I Want It That Way” singer and former waitress were having problems when they announced their plans to temporarily separate in March 2023. “Marriage is hard, but worth it. We have mutually decided to separate temporarily to work on ourselves, and on our marriage with the hope of building a stronger future,” they said in a joint statement at the time, according to Us Weekly.
They added that they planned “to come back together and continue to nurture our love for one another, and our family” following their time apart. “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 and Rochelle concluded in the statement.
The pair took their relationship seriously during their separation and worked hard to fix their problems.
“We still live separately, but we are in couples therapy. We are in individual therapy. We talk every day. We are spending more time together,” the “Everybody” singer said about his relationship with Rochelle while appearing on a November 2023 episode of Cheryl Burke‘s “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast. “We just have to rebuild something that was never there from the beginning.”
AJ then admitted they had many problems to work through, including his past problems with substance abuse.
“I came with baggage, she came with baggage. She had trauma, I had trauma. I wasn’t sober or even ready to get sober, she was dealing with her own s–t,” he said. “It was just a constant push-pull. She would sweep her feelings under the rug, I would do the same thing or I’d dive into a bottle. Now, it’s taken this time apart for us to really do some serious growing and understanding and listening.”
AJ and Rochelle seemed to be in a good spot recently, and they even walked the red carpet with their daughters ahead of a Trolls: Band Together screening in Hollywood in November 2023.
Have a tip? Send it to us! Email In Touch at contact@intouchweekly.com.
