Breaking apart is tough to do.
Amicable splits are one factor, however what occurs when divorced duos nonetheless cozy up like {couples}?
Right here, forward of the brand new TLC sequence “You, Me & My Ex” that’s premiering Sunday, The Submit meets former spouses who can’t — or gained’t — let go of the previous, and their present long-suffering companions.
All of them dwell below the identical roof
Each time Kayee Lovey explains that she lives along with her boyfriend Jerry Philippeau — and his ex-wife Jessica Rios-Philippeau — she receives a barrage of criticism.
“Individuals say I’m legit nuts,” stated the singer-songwriter.
However Kayee, 24, is so smitten with Jerry — “I’ve butterflies speaking about him,” she stated — the lovebird defends her resolution to arrange house with the chummy divorcees. Her arrival got here round six months after Jessica returned to Chicago, Illinois, from Park Metropolis, Utah. The 40-year-old was on a mission to nurse Jerry, 54, whereas he recovered from a monthlong sickness — and by no means left.
Regardless of Kayee’s preliminary enthusiasm, the association has not gone nicely.
“We don’t have something in frequent,” stated Jessica, a bodily therapist, whose eldest son with Jerry is simply two years youthful than Kayee. “Kay appears occupied along with her personal wants, not these of the household as an entire.”
Conscious of the hostility, Kayee goes as far as to say she “pities” Jessica since “I now have her ex-husband.”
As for Jerry, he stays philosophical about the issue he created, noting: “It’s a little bit of a prepare wreck.”
These exes acquired matching tattoos
John Kirk initially thought it was cute when he first caught sight of his spouse April Kirk’s new tattoo — the coordinates of her son’s birthplace inked on her shoulder.
However the proud Marine was much less impressed when he noticed the very same design on the forearm of April’s ex-husband, and the daddy of her little one, Roy Farner.
“It was irritating as a result of I assumed they may at the least have given me a heads-up,” stated John, 42.
The clandestine journey to the tattoo parlor is illustrative of the comfy relationship 40-year-old April shares along with her 39-year-old ex, who can also be within the Marines.
April, the supervisor of a dental workplace in Jacksonville, North Carolina, typically treats Roy like her No. 1 man. She nonetheless does his taxes and provides him honey-do lists, so he might help renovate the home she shares with John — who, alongside together with his then-wife, Loren, 33, was their next-door neighbor when she and Roy have been married.
“Our relationship may be very distinctive and we’re extraordinarily shut,” April stated. “Once we divorced, there was by no means any hatred.”
John, who acknowledged that “Roy is a large a part of our lives,” stated he’s greater than OK with it: “We really love one another to demise.”
However that doesn’t imply he by no means will get jealous.“I might be mendacity if I stated I didn’t fear typically,” he stated.
They’re enterprise companions — and discuss consistently
Jimmy Marchica’s ex and present spouse typically get instructed they appear alike.
However Lisa Marchica — who divorced Jimmy in 2003 after seven years of marriage — isn’t having it.
“I believe I look higher,” the 52-year-old stated.
Wendy Waters-Marchica, 48, who has been married to Jimmy for 12 years, gained’t dignify the comment with a response.
“She is a aggressive one that likes to see me riled up,” stated the elementary college aide. “However I’ve already gained — there’s a purpose Jimmy is now not along with her.”
Nonetheless, a lot to Wendy’s annoyance, Lisa exerts an enormous quantity of energy over her ex.
The entrepreneur, who sells Bella D’Oliva additional virgin oil from her house in Lengthy Hill, New Jersey, invited Jimmy to be her enterprise associate six years in the past.
The pair spends hours speaking store on the cellphone day by day. “He’s my first name within the morning and my final at evening,” stated Lisa.
“Lisa by no means runs out of issues to say,” stated Jimmy, 54, of Bay Shore, Lengthy Island. Very like Lisa’s fiancé, Jack Marchesi, a 55-year-old regional gross sales supervisor, he’s largely unfazed by the strain.
If solely their vital others felt the identical method.
Showing on “You, Me & My Ex,” Wendy places on a courageous face — at the least in entrance of the cameras. “Once I took on Jimmy, I took on an entire lot of bags,” she says, with a notice of resignation.
Lisa can’t maintain again the snark, concluding: “I’ll all the time be Jimmy’s past love. And Wendy will all the time be his second spouse.”
“You, Me & My Ex” premieres Sunday, June 20, at 10 p.m. ET on TLC
