Josh Duhamel Reveals the Real Reason He Divorced Fergie
Josh Duhamel’s opening up about his divorce from Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson. The actor says he and the “Big Girls Don’t Cry” singer “outgrew each other.” Despite their split, the Shotgun Wedding star insists he and Fergie “have a great relationship” as co-parents.
Josh and Fergie divorced in 2019 after 10 years of marriage
After 13 years together, eight years of marriage, and one child, Duhamel and Fergie called it quits. “With absolute love and respect we decided to separate as a couple earlier this year,” they said in a 2017 statement announcing their separation (via People).
In August 2013, the Black Eyed Peas singer and Buddy Games star became parents with the birth of their now 10-year-old son after a 2009 wedding in Malibu, California.
“To give our family the best opportunity to adjust, we wanted to keep this a private matter before sharing it with the public,” they continued. “We are and will always be united in our support of each other and our family.”
In 2019, Fergie and Duhamel filed for divorce before it became official later that same year. Per details of their divorce settlement, they agreed to joint custody of Axl as well as no child support due to their sizable separate incomes. (A 2019 estimate puts Fergie’s net worth around $45 million.)
The ‘Hollywood stuff’ became a problem for Josh during his marriage to Fergie
In an October 2023 appearance on In Depth With Graham Besinger, Duhamel reflected on what went wrong in his and Fergie’s marriage. The Transformers star shared he struggled to “handle” the spotlight and publicity surrounding their relationship.
“I don’t think I ever really got comfortable with all of it,” he explained. Duhamel, a North Dakota native, continued, saying he “just missed the simplicity of who I really am, you know? I’m just not a guy who is comfortable going to red carpets. Doing all the Hollywood stuff.”
Duhamel, 50, also shared he’d wanted to return home to North Dakota. Meanwhile, Southern California was home to Fergie. With that in mind, he couldn’t see a move to the Midwest being what she wanted.
Josh Duhamel has ‘no hard feelings’ toward Fergie after divorcing
Today, Duhamel’s at “peace” with his and Fergie’s divorce. He has a lake house in North Dakota, a place where he “can get back to being who I really am,” and he’s now expecting a baby with his wife, Audra Mari, after marrying the fellow North Dakota native in September 2022.
“I made peace with that part of my life. She and I have a great relationship,” Duhamel said of Fergie. “There wasn’t anything wrong with it. We had a great time. I think we kind of outgrew each other and had very different interests.”
“I’ve got no hard feelings for it. I truly don’t,” he went on. “I’m very lucky that she’s a kind human.”
As for what Fergie has said of her and Duhamel’s divorce, she told ET in 2018 they “split” co-parenting in a “really balanced” way. “We’re all love, and we love each other. We’re all cool and just a family. I have a good co-parenting partner, so we work it out.”
