Over and out. Nia Vardalos and her husband, Ian Gomez, are splitting.
Vardalos, 55, and Gomez, 52, are calling it quits after 25 years of marriage due to irreconcilable differences, according to documents obtained by Us Weekly. They are also asking for joint legal custody of their 11-year-old daughter, Ilaria Vardalos Gomez.
“We’ve been respectfully separated for a lengthy period of time. Our relationship became a friendship so the decision to end the marriage is completely mutual and amicable,” the former couple said in a statement to Us on Tuesday, July 3. “It is our hope that decency will prevail on the reporting of this story which will soon be yesterday’s news. Thank you for respecting our privacy.”
The couple tied the knot on September 5, 1993, and went on to costar in My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002. Vardalos portrayed lead Fotoula “Toula” Portokalos-Miller, while Gomez starred as Mike, the best man at Toula’s wedding to Ian Miller (John Corbett).
Although Vardalos and Gomez have stayed out of the spotlight, she opened up about their struggle to conceive in her 2014 book Instant Mom.
“I believe now in the order of things. I believe everything was supposed to happen to me and not work, so that I could meet my real daughter. I get it now,” she wrote of Illaria, the former couple’s adopted child. “This is why I feel this was time for the [My Big Fat Greek Wedding] sequel. There was no way I could have written this story of wanting to stay close to my daughter if I didn’t experience motherhood. So I’m grateful for all the years I’ve waited and I’m grateful that my producers waited for me.”
