Pop Culture

Why Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson Are Divorcing: They’ve ‘Been Having Issues’

Jodie Turner-Smith filed for divorce from Joshua Jackson on Monday after nearly four years of marriage. The breakup was unexpected, given that the couple was recently photographed together during New York Fashion Week. However, sources have made it clear to Entertainment Tonight and Daily Mail that, privately, it’s been on the horizon for some time.

“Jodie and Joshua have been having issues lately,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “They celebrated Jodie’s birthday on September 9 at The Flower Shop in NYC but arrived separately and left separately. It was a big party, and they were distant throughout the night and barely around each other. Jodie spent majority of the evening downstairs.”

Another source gave Daily Mail much more detail about Jackson’s feelings regarding the split. He didn’t want it, that insider claimed, but the couple just didn’t work romantically anymore and are better as co-parents to their three-year-old daughter.

“Joshua is heartbroken over the impending divorce. He always thought that he would be married and grow old with his family, and everything would be happily ever after,” the source said. “He had the dream scenario in his mind, and Jodie was his person and the person he thought he would be with forever.”

Jackson would reconcile, the source claimed: “He would have loved nothing more than to still be with Jodie and in a perfect world would probably even take her back if she were to stop the divorce, but now that they have got to this place, he is going to have to accept it.”

That source said no “bad behavior” caused the split: “Nothing horrible happened between the two like infidelity, the relationship just went its course, and it is just a sad time.”

Turner-Smith listed “irreconcilable differences” as their cause of divorce and their date of separation as September 13, right after their fashion week appearances. Neither she, Jackson, nor their reps have commented on the news.

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Senior News and Strategy Editor

Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.