Honeymoon over for Pop Idol Gareth Gates

Gareth Gates has revealed that he has split from his wife, ending their three year marriage. The singer and his wife, Suzanne, have been together for 10 years, with a young daughter, Missy.

Gareth, aged 28, has recently been accused of having an affair with his Legally Blonde co-star, Faye Brooks. However, Gates insists that the reason for the breakdown of their marriage is that he and Suzanne have “grown apart”.

At the end of September, I was quoted in The Daily Telegraph and The Huffington Post, reporting the increased number of cases which I have seen recently, involving couples in their twenties and thirties who had been involved in long-standing relationships, often since school, only for their marriages to come to an end.
There appear to be a number of reasons for an increase in the rate of divorce amongst such couples. Many suggest that like Gareth, they have grown apart. For others, they no longer feel the same way about their long-term partners once they have children. Another frequent cause of break-ups is infidelity on the part of husbands who have never had relationships with anyone other than their wives.

The frequency of divorce involving young celebrities means many other couples no longer feel stigmatised by the prospect of marriage break-up.
Getting divorced at any age can be a stressful experience. However, younger couples often find it easier to reach agreement with their spouse about finances or children  than couples in their forties and fifties.

We are a team of specialist family law solicitors in Manchester. For more divorce advice please read our family law blog or follow us on Twitter @Divorce_experts
Claire Reid, Senior Associate