A new chapter. Bestselling author Rachel Hollis and her husband, Dave Hollis, announced that they have split after 16 years of marriage.
“Guys, I have some hard news to share and the honest truth is, I have no idea how someone announces something like this, so I’m just going to say it. Dave and I have made the incredibly difficult decision to end our marriage,” Rachel, 37, wrote via Instagram on Monday, June 8.
“We started out as best friends 18 years ago and the truth is, that core friendship and the parts of us that work so well, have become a band-aid for the parts of us that don’t. We have worked endlessly over the last three years to make this work and have come to the conclusion that it is healthier and more respectful for us to choose this as the end of our journey as a married couple,” she continued. “We remain dear friends as we raise our family as co-parents and run our company as partners. We are choosing joy—even though, I’ll be honest, the last month has been one of the most awful of our lives. I want to be strong and bold and optimistic for you now, but every ounce of my energy is reserved in being those things for my children.”
The Girl, Wash Your Face writer asked her 1.8 million Instagram followers to “allow us a human moment” and respect the estranged couple’s privacy as they “process these changes away from social media.”
Dave, 45, also shared the news on his Instagram page, telling fans that his and Rachel’s marriage simply ran its course over time.
“Despite still loving and deeply respecting each other as friends, co-parents and business partners, Rae and I decided that the best way to allow each of those to thrive in the future is to end our marriage while the option for a beautiful, unconventional new family, friendship and partnership still exists as a real and hope-filled option,” he wrote. “This is a decision we have wrestled for years and made with so much counsel, thought and prayer… keeping love for each other and our kids as the ultimate and only goal.”
The Hollis Company CEO admitted that divorcing “isn’t the way we may have dreamed up the future of how our family or friendship would look,” but he and the blogger will always be “connected” by their four “amazing” children: Jackson, Sawyer, Ford and Noah.
“As much as there will be sadness until we reach our next shore, your love and support will be part of the bridge that affords us the opportunity to reach the other side, new… ready to write the next half of the story of our evolving family,” he added.
Rachel and Dave met while working at the entertainment company Miramax. They wed in May 2004.
