Following a yearlong separation, Backstreet Boys bandmate AJ McLean has officially called it quits with his wife, Rochelle.
In a joint statement on Instagram, the McLeans announced they are parting ways and will be divorcing in 2024. AJ captioned the post with only a crying emoji. “As you all know we have been separated for over a year now,” the statement reads. “While we have hoped for reconciliation we have decided to officially end our marriage. It is with deep love and respect that we have made this decision.”
AJ and Rochelle McLean then stated their focus now is moving forward in the healthiest possible way with friendship and co-parenting for their two daughters, Elliott and Lyric. We appreciate your kindness, respect, and privacy at this time,” they added.
.AJ McLean first met Rochelle in October 2001. They began dating in 2009 and on his birthday in 2010, AJ proposed to Rochelle. The couple was then married in December 2011. Unfortunately, in March 2023, AJ and Rochelle announced they were separating temporarily in order to build a stronger future.
“Marriage is hard but worth it,” the couple stated. “We have mutually decided to separate temporarily to work on ourselves, and on our marriage with the hope of building a stronger future,” the couple said in a joint statement. “The plan is to come back together and continue to nurture our love for one another and our family. We ask for respect and privacy at this time.”
“Separation is hard enough without the commentary, please be kind and remember there are children involved,” they added.
AJ McLean Said He and Rochelle Were in a ‘Much, Much Healthier’ Place While Separated
During his November 2023 appearance on the iHeartMedia podcast Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans, with Cheryl Burke, AJ stated that he and Rochelle were still living separately and were in a “much, much healthier” place.
“We still live separately, but we are in couple’s therapy, we are in individual therapy,” McLean explained. He then said that they talk every day and spend more time together. “We just have to rebuild something that was never there from the beginning.”
AJ McLean further explained that when he and Rochelle first got together, there was good with the bad. “I came with baggage, she came with baggage, she had trauma, I had trauma. I wasn’t sober or ready to get sober. She was dealing with her own s—,” the star explained. “It was just a constant push-pull: She would sweep her feelings under the rug or I would dive into a bottle.”
Meanwhile, the Backstreet Boys bandmate said he’s focusing on listening and having more empathy as he ages. “Normally I would twist it and make it about me. Not anymore,” he continued. “By us kind of approaching things that way, it’s been much, much healthier.”
AJ McLean added that the separation has taught him and Rochelle some life lessons that they hadn’t learned before. “It’s taken this time apart for us to really do some serious growing and understanding and listening.”