Jillian Michaels and her fiancée, Heidi Rhoades, have split after almost nine years together.
“Hey tribe, you’ve been with me through it all so I’m sharing some news with you…Heidi and I have been split for a while now,” Michaels announced in an Instagram post on Friday, June 15. “We’ve found we’re better friends and parents living apart than staying together. Life and people change but our love for one another and commitment to raising our two kids as an inseparable team remains. Thanks for always loving and supporting us, the feeling is mutual!”
A source tells Us Weekly exclusively, “It just wasn’t working. They tried to make it work for a long time, but they decided it was too late. They have been coparenting their kids and they are their main priority right now.”
Another insider adds, “Jillian is living at her beach house, and Heidi is at the farmhouse. Heidi has always wanted the farm, so it was an easy decision on who would live where. Heidi is a fantastic mother and lives a quiet lifestyle. She has never loved the spotlight and enjoys working on the farm.”
The Biggest Loser alum, 44, and the yoga instructor began dating in 2009. They got engaged in late 2015 and documented the sweet proposal on the series finale of E!’s Just Jillian the following March. “Heidi is the perfect person for me,” Michaels gushed on the show at the time. “The only place where there’s a solace, a safe haven, is with my family. And Heidi is the nucleus of that family. She’s the glue that really holds everything together, and I think without that, I would be lost.”
Michaels adopted their daughter, Lukensia, now 8, from Haiti in May 2012, the same week that Rhoades gave birth to their son, Phoenix, now 6.
Prior to breaking up, the personal trainer opened up about not wanting an extravagant wedding. “We have not even begun [planning],” she admitted to Us in June 2017. “I was just like, ‘Listen, you find the time for this because I am [all] about City Hall.’ I think she can’t accept that, but also hasn’t found the time to plan it, so I just am like, ‘Whatever, you let me know!'”
Michaels echoed similar sentiments to ABC News. “We’ve been together for seven years!” she said in an April 2016 interview. “And [Rhoades] would like to invite everybody that she has ever known, and that her parents have ever known, and that she’s ever met in her entire life. … I’ve handed it off to her. If I know her though, the cake will be chocolate and peanut butter because that’s her thing.”
Through it all, the couple enjoyed plenty of quality time with their children. “Downtime is like family time and animal time,” the fitness expert told Us in June 2017. “We have a lot of animals. So [date night] could be, like, going on a horseback or trail ride with my daughter, it could be going to my son’s softball game.”
