Backstreet Boys’ member AJ McLean and his wife are taking a break. After 11 years of marriage, the 45-year-old singer and Rochelle, 41 are separating but they have plans to reunite in the future.
“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,” the couple said in a joint statement. “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.”
They continued: “Separation is hard enough without the commentary, please be kind and remember there are children involved.”
TMZ was first to report the news.
AJ McLean Credits Family
In December 2011, the couple got married. They started dating in 2009 and have two children, Elliott, 10 and Lyric, 6. The singer credited his family to get him sober after more than two decades of struggling with substance abuse issues.
McLean told People that his drug and alcohol problems escalated months earlier during a trip to Las Vegas.
“Before I even got on the plane, I had already mapped out the whole night,” McLean explained.
He meant that he knew where to go get drugs and get drunk, figuring out that its only one night and ‘OK, it’s one night. As long as I don’t go past a certain time and I don’t smell like it, I can have a nice last hurrah and then come home.'”
He did not go to sleep that night and missed two flights back to California.
Lyric convinced McLean to sober up
McLean recalls his “moment of surrender” when his youngest daughter told him he didn’t smell like her daddy, leading him to feel disgusted and committed to sobriety.
“That was it for me,” he said. “As we say in the sober world, that was my moment of surrender.”
Soon after, McLean began attending 12-step meetings and found a sponsor.
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NOTE: Photo above is from Instagram