After four years of marriage, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, one of country music's favorite couples, are going their separate ways.
"This is not the future we envisioned," their representatives said in a joint statement. "And it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, real families, friends, and colleagues. Therefore, we ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter."
TMZ reported that Shelton filed his divorce documents nearly two weeks ago, and that a judge signed off on the papers on Monday afternoon.
Us Weekly has obtained records of the couple's official split filing one day after their divorce was finalized on Monday, July 20. The papers were reportedly filed under "B.T.S. vs. M. L. S." on Monday, July 6, under the name of Shelton's attorney, Virginia Henson. Judge John G. Canavan of Shawnee, Oklahoma signed off on the divorce after Shelton and Lambert agreed to the prenuptial terms of agreement. As detailed in their prenup, Lambert will get the couple's Nashville property while Shelton will keep his Oklahoma ranch.
The couple first met during an onstage duet at CMT's 100 Greatest Duet Concert back in 2005, when Shelton was still married to his first wife and childhood sweetheart Kaynette Gern. Shelton divorced Gern in 2006 and he started his relationship with Lambert soon after. They married in May 2011 in Texas. They have no children together but share a number of pets, including six dogs, a flock of chickens, two pigs, horses, and three cats.
Since their split, a source from Us Weekly said that Shelton has been working on new music late into the night in the recording studio, while it was reported that Lambert broke down in front of fans on stage at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Festival, where she performed her Grammy winning hits including "The House That Built Me" — a song that was written by Shelton especially for her.
