NAME: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston

AGE: 41 & 35

NATIONALITY: American

CLAIM TO FAME: It’s splitsville for Hollywood’s golden couple

THE NEW Year has started with the break-up of the year — Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have announced their separation after four and a half years of marriage. For months there had been talk of their break-up and it is said that the two made a last attempt to reconcile by spending the New Year weekend together in the Caribbean. But it seems things didn’t work out and their fairy tale union came to an end.

Being Hollywood’s most glamourous couple, the two had always been in the news and media scrutiny had increased in the recent months. It was either speculation about Aniston being pregnant or their relationship being under strain due to the rumours of Pitt’s friendship with Angelina Jolie. However, in the statement released by Pitt’s publicist, they have stressed that their break-up is not the result of these speculations. There is no indication of whether the two will divorce or not but they have stated: “We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another.”

Their busy acting career had made the two spend a lot of time away from each other in the last couple of years. When Pitt was away in Malta, in 2003, shooting Troy, Jennifer was busy with the wrapping up of her TV series Friends. Soon after, Pitt began work on Mr and Mrs Smith with Angelina Jolie, and then on Oceans 12 where the cast spent much time in Italy. During the filming of Mr and Mrs Smith, Pitt became friends with Jolie and that didn’t sit well with his wife and many consider this to be the prime reason for their separation. Friends also feel that Aniston’s decision to put off starting a family in favour of her acting career that had been doing well is the bone of contention between them, as Pitt desperately wanted children.

Friends star Jennifer Aniston and the only man to be named “The Sexiest Man Alive” twice by Peoples magazine, met after being set up on a blind date in 1998. After a highly publicized courtship they tied the knot in a lavish wedding on July 29, 2000, in Malibu. Some 200 people attended the event, which included four bands, a gospel choir, fireworks and tens of thousands of flowers.

Pitt and Aniston were considered not only to be one of Hollywood’s most glamorous couples but also one of the film industry’s most powerful. They are co-owners of the Plan B production company with producer Brad Grey.

Pitt is among the top actors of Hollywood with films such as Ocean’s Eleven, Fight Club, Meet Joe Black, Seven Years in Tibet, Sleepers, 12 Monkeys, Legends of the Fall, and the recently released Ocean’s Twelve. The most recognized star of Friends, one of television’s highest-rated comedies, Aniston has starred in such films as Along Came Polly, Bruce Almighty and The Good Girl. — S. Arshad Kama