Example and wife Erin McNaught separate after 11-year relationship comes to ‘natural end’

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Musician Example and his wife Erin McNaught have announced they are separating after 11 years together.

The couple posted a joint statement on their Instagram accounts and explained that their relationship has “come to a natural end”.

“At the start of the UK summer, we decided to separate. We have had an amazing 11 years together, but just a few too many adventures,” they said.

“Obviously we spent a lot of time behind the scenes trying to figure things out, but we came to the realisation that perhaps out time as a couple had just come to a natural end.”

Example – real name whose real name is Elliot John Gleave, – and McNaught, both 40, married in 2013 and share two sons, seven-year-old Evander and five-year-old Ennio.

In their joint statement, they said they have been “co-parenting happily and effectively now for almost half a year”, adding: “Our boys are surrounded with love.”

McNaught, an Australian model and Miss Australia beauty pageant titleholder, flew with the couple’s children to London for four weeks in the summer due to Gleave’s “busy summer schedule”, to ensure he “wouldn’t have to go months” without seeing them.

“We had an amazing family holiday and look forward to more in the future,” they wrote.

The couple asked for privacy and space, adding that they “need to devote so much time [to] our well-being and most importantly, that of our children”.

“If you see us out and about together, it’s still the same old Elliot and Erin,” they continued. “Though we spend a lot of time apart we still enjoy time together climbing, jogging, cinema, chasing kids around the park or getting coffee.

“This is as amicable as it gets. Nobody is blaming anyone in all this. We are very happy that this is the right decision and hope that others can respect this too.”

On their 10^th anniversary last year, Gleave shared a touching tribute to his wife on Instagram, describing her as his “life partner”.

He thanked her for “having my children, having me, having the most twisted sense of humour, ageing backwards and teaching me something new each and every day”.