The Truth About Kristin Cavallari And Jay Cutler's Divorce

After 10 years together and nearly seven years of marriage, Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler are getting divorced. The Uncommon James jewelry designer and reality TV star announced the split with a lengthy Instagram post on April 26, 2020. She wrote with "great sadness" that they had come to a "loving conclusion to get a divorce."

Cavallari explained, "We have nothing but love and respect for one another and are deeply grateful for the years shared, memories made, and the children we are so proud of. This is just the situation of two people growing apart." She added that she hopes fans and media will respect their privacy as they navigate this "difficult time." Cutler posted the same exact statement on Instagram announcing the split. The couple has three children: sons Camden Jack, 7 years old, and Jaxon Wyatt, 5 years old, along with daughter Saylor James, 4 years old. 

The news shocked fans, who are accustomed to watching the couple bicker and run their businesses together on their E! reality show, Very Cavallari. But the news also re-fueled rumors about Cutler allegedly cheating on Cavallari with her best friend. 

Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler were very close with each other, even if they didn't initially have a storybook romance. For example, the reality star revealed on Season 1 of Very Cavallari that Cutler helped her clear her clogged milk ducts while breastfeeding. "Sucking harder than he's ever sucked. And you know what? Saved my life," she said, per InStyle. 

Still, they weren't always so joined at the hip and had their share of ups and downs. In 2009, Cutler reached out through a publicist to set up a date with Cavallari and she was "a little weirded out," according to her 2016 book Balancing in Heels (via Insider). It wasn't until she visited her mom and was reminded about him that they actually met and went out. 

From there, it was what Cavallari called a "swift and intense" romance. They were engaged, broke up, and got re-engaged all throughout the course of 2011, ultimately tying the knot in 2013, a year after they welcomed their first child in August 2012, per Insider. She added in Balancing in Heels (per People), "Having a kid made me realize that I wanted the security of a legal union for him. I wouldn't want him (or any of our kids, now) to ever interpret our voluntarily not getting married as a sign that Jay and I may not be completely committed to our family."

Like most couples, they've been through a whole lot.

Although the couple often disagrees with each other on their reality show, Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler's divorce still surprised many fans. One fan commented on Cavallari's post about the split, "they were our favorite couple! Love is officially dead." Another expressed the same shock, writing in all caps, "I AM NEVER GOING TO EMOTIONALLY RECOVER FROM THIS," with several crying emoji faces. 

Still others speculate that this divorce was coming for some time. On Season 3 of Very Cavallari, rumors about an affair between Cutler and Cavallari's best friend, Kelly Henderson, drove the plot for a handful of episodes. Fans wondered on Cavallari's Instagram post if Cutler had "come clean" about what they thought was "undeniable chemistry" between the retired NFL player and his wife's BFF. 

Cavallari denied the rumors back in January 2020, although she did admit that the rumors destroyed her friendship with Henderson. "When Season 2 was airing, there was a lot of talk on social media about Jay and Kelly having an affair," she said on her show (via People). "Not for one second have I ever thought that it was true. It wasn't the actual accusations of them having an affair that made me upset, it was how Kelly went about it," referring to Henderson's continued commentary about Cutler on her own social media channels. 

Fans were especially surprised by Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler's divorce announcement, given that they've seemed really happy while out in public. Most recently, the couple took a trip to the Bahamas with her other BFF Justin Anderson and his fiancé Austin Rhodes, where they ended up being quarantined together for three weeks during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

They faced backlash for staying on the tropical island after the Bahamian government urged all international tourists to return home in the wake of the first confirmed death due to COVID-19 on March 24, 2020, per HuffPost. The group returned home on April 7.

Whether or not their tropical isolation together was the breaking point for the couple will likely never be confirmed, but the timing does seem to suggest that April 2020 was not the easiest period for the Nashville-based couple. Until they speak out further about their relationship, fans will just have to wish Cavallari and Cutler the best during this difficult time.