AJ McLean and his wife, Rochelle DeAnna McLean, have announced that they will be pausing their marriage, but not divorcing. "Marriage is hard, but worth it," the couple told TMZ on Monday, March 27th. "We have mutually decided to separate temporarily to work on ourselves, and on our marriage with the hope of building a stronger future." They went on to add, "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."

AJ and Rochelle tied the knot in 2011 after dating for six years. The two were wed at the Beverly Hills Hotel and according to TMZ, all of his Backstreet Boys bandmates were in attendance. The two concluded their statement by asking the general public to remember their personal lives are more than a headline and mentioned their two daughters Ava and Lyric. "Separation is hard enough without the commentary," they added. "Please be kind and remember there are children involved."

The Backstreet Boys star has been making major changes in his life since last year. In September, he revealed he had reached one year of sobriety and had managed to lose 32 pounds on the life-changing journey. "AJ is kind of the celebrity who was living the rockstar lifestyle and Alex got stuffed down. But now I've come to a place where they can both coexist," he shared. "I am so so happy to be in the place that I am today."

Jack Kratoville