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'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' star Nia Vardalos files for divorce from Ian Gomez after almost 25 years of marriage

Nia and Ian had been staying separately for a lengthy period of time and so they thought it was time to make a clean break with the divorce.
UPDATED MAR 6, 2020
Nia Vardalos (Source:Getty Images)
Nia Vardalos (Source:Getty Images)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding’s Nia Vardalos has filed for divorce from husband Ian Gomez after almost 25 years of marriage. In the court documents obtained by The Blast, the couple has cited 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason for their divorce. The pair filed for divorce on Tuesday (July 3) but told the website that they have been separated for a long time and thought it would be best to get a divorce in their situation. 

The pair has filed for divorce after nearly 25 years of marriage  (Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for Chrysler)

"We’ve been respectfully separated for a lengthy period of time. Our relationship became a friendship so the decision to end the marriage is completely mutual and amicable. It is our hope that decency will prevail on the reporting of this story which will soon be yesterday’s news. Thank you for respecting our privacy," the pair said in the statement. In the documents, the date for the split has been mentioned as June 29, 2017. 

The pair wed in September 1995 and her hit movie ' My Big Fat Greek Wedding' was inspired by her romance with Ian, who also starred in the movie. For a long period of time, the couple struggled to become parents. In 2008, they adopted a daughter, named Ilaria Vardalos Gomez. Nia has filed for joint legal and physical custody of their daughter. At the same time, she has also asked for spousal support to be “determined in mediation.”

The pair adopted a daughter in 2008 (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Joyful Heart Foundation)

In an interview with People, Nia had opened up about 13 failed IVF treatments, unsuccessful surrogate attempts and several miscarriages and the feeling she got when she finally adopted a child. “I felt so embarrassed that I couldn’t have a biological child,” she said while adding that having a child was one of the reasons she waited for 14 years to make a sequel of her hit movie, 'My big fat Greek wedding'. 

"I'm a private person, who doesn't relish making her personal life public," Nia previously told the magazine. "I kept so much of what I went through quiet because of my feelings of failure. But now I realize that's truly ridiculous and I feel a responsibility to use my big fat mouth to talk about this issue." She thought it was important for her to experience motherhood in order to depict the relationship in the movie. 

“I wouldn’t know the emotions of what to write,” she said. “I just said, ‘I can’t do it.’” In 2008 her wish was granted when she adopted her daughter. “I am so grateful and can’t imagine my life without her,” she said. Nia also spoke about motherhood in her book 'Instant Mom'. “I believe now in the order of things. I believe everything was supposed to happen to me and not work so that I could meet my real daughter. I get it now,” she wrote. 

“This is why I feel this was time for the [My Big Fat Greek Wedding] sequel. There was no way I could have written this story of wanting to stay close to my daughter if I didn’t experience motherhood. So I’m grateful for all the years I’ve waited and I’m grateful that my producers waited for me.”

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