Deadliest Catch star Jake Anderson shocked viewers of the Discovery Channel reality series when he confirmed in the season 22 premiere that he was divorcing wife Jenna Anderson.
While he announced his split in the TV episode airing in May, Us Weekly has confirmed that Jake, 45, officially filed for divorce in September 2025 in Washington.
Jake specified in court filings obtained exclusively by Us that he and Jenna separated on August 1, 2025, when they started living in separate homes. (At the time of the Deadliest Catch season 22 premiere, Jake said he and Jenna had been broken up for around eight months.)
The reality star argued to the court that “spousal support is not needed,” in addition to suggesting he and Jenna each pay their share of related daycare, summer school/care, long distance transportation, education, college support, and other child related expenses for their three children. (Jake and Jenna share sons Aiden, 10, and Luka, 5, and daughter Cadence, 8).
Jenna disputed several key elements of Jake’s divorce petition, including the timeline of their relationship, in a response submitted to the court in October 2025. She agreed with Jake that they were married on May 12, 2012, but clarified that they “began living together in a serious, marriage-like relationship (committed intimate relationship) in September 2009.”
She denied that they’d separated on August 1, 2025, claiming instead that they’d split two weeks earlier on July 15, 2025, when she moved into another residence.
In her response, Jenna rejected Jake’s request for child support to be waived, arguing that “spousal support is needed by me.”
“[He] has the ability to pay and should pay support in an amount decided by the court,” she wrote.
In addition to asking for Jake to pay her legal fees and associated court costs, Jenna disagreed with the parenting plan laid out in Jake’s divorce petition. Jenna suggested that “instead the court should grant the parenting plan I propose,” which she planned to file with the court.
Jenna also disagreed with Jake’s request for them to share long-distance transportation costs, dismissing it as “not necessary.”
As for their children’s education, Jenna insisted that support for college “should be reserved” though she felt Jake’s breakdown of costs for other child-related expenses was “too vague.”
However, Jenna agreed with Jake that they should split costs associated with educational needs and extracurricular activities — and planned to lay this out in a child support plan submitted at a later date.
The divorce documents also touched on the former couple’s shared property. Online records show that the Andersons sold their Washington home for nearly $1 million in November 2025.
Us has learned that both Jake and Jenna initially received $25,000 from the sale proceeds, with the rest to be divided later via a written agreement and court order.
Us has reached out to the Andersons’ attorney for comment.
In May’s Deadliest Catch season 22 premiere, Jake revealed that “after 17 years being together, 13 years married, Jenna and I have decided to call it quits.”
“It’s due to a lot of things. The major one is that I’m gone too much crab fishing,” Jake admitted in the episode. “But I got three little ones that need to eat, that have to go to school, that have to have doctor’s appointments, and I don’t have a job.”
Jenna is seeking to return to her maiden name, Patterson, once the divorce is finalized, per court documents obtained by Us. The divorce case is ongoing, as of publication.
