Alan Ritchson and his wife, Catherine, have announced that they are ending their 20-year marriage, but the news quickly took an unexpected turn online.
Some users began speculating about the actor’s s*xuality, with a few claiming the Reacher star is finally preparing to come out as gay.
The couple said they want privacy as they focus on raising their three sons together.
“I wonder if they were cheating on each other with the same dude,” one person wrote.
Alan Ritchson and his wife Catherine announced separation after two decades of their marriage
On September 12, Ritchson and Catherine shared the news in a joint Instagram statement.
“After twenty years together, Cat and I have decided to end our marriage and continue alongside one another differently,” they wrote.
The couple said they grew up together and built a family over their two decades together. They share three sons, Calem, Edan, and Amory, who they said would remain their priority.
“Nothing can diminish what these years have meant to us or the love and respect we will always share,” the statement continued.
Rather than presenting the split as a complete break, the pair said they hoped to remain friends and work together as parents.
“The best gift we can give one another — and our boys — right now is friendship, grace and a commitment to becoming the strongest co-parents we can be,” they wrote.
They added, “Change is hard enough without the whole world weighing in,” asking for “privacy” and “compassion” as they move through the separation.
The couple’s announcement came after months of private changes in their relationship
According to TMZ, court documents revealed that Ritchson filed for divorce in December 2025. The documents reportedly indicate that the couple reconciled in March 2026 before eventually announcing their separation in September.
That history suggests the decision followed an extended period of trying to work through their relationship rather than happening overnight.
Ritchson and Catherine originally met as teenagers. In a 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he recalled being nervous about approaching her.
“I thought she was a college student, so I was afraid to talk to her. I figured there was no point because she’s going to be older than me, but I found out she was doing the exact same thing that I was. We finally spoke and then did a play together that summer,” he said.
“We ended up dating, and I was madly in love, but she also lived far enough away that when the play was over, I figured we were never going to see each other again.”
They married on May 12, 2006.
Their relationship also appeared affectionate in public in recent years.
For their 19th wedding anniversary in 2025, Ritchson shared a tribute describing their marriage and family as the greatest success of his life.
“I’m the luckiest man alive,” he wrote in an Instagram video.
He also described Catherine as “wisdom personified” and “strength incarnate,” adding that he and the boys were “so beyond blessed” to have her in their lives
However, he did not post a similar anniversary tribute in May 2026.
While the couple did not give a reason for their separation, detractors quickly created their own theories
One person wrote, “He’s a closeted homose*ual who is struggling to come out,” while another claimed, “Next step: coming out as gay (which is what he has always been, but never had the courage to admit).”
Someone else wrote, “She prolly realized how gay he is now.”
There were also comments claiming he had “turned trans,” while another user wrote, “He’s gone Hollywood.”
However, there is no information confirming that Ritchson is gay or that his separation has anything to do with his s*xuality.
Other commenters took a more sympathetic view of the breakup.
“They are high school sweethearts, how sad,” one person wrote.
Another said, “That’s sad. I pray they can resolve the problem. Because you are not going to find the perfect person, just going to run around in circles wishing you hadn’t left each other.”
The speculation also brought attention to a role Ritchson played earlier in his career.
In 2011, he appeared in an episode of 90210 as Tripp, a former college roommate and love interest of Teddy, played by Trevor Donovan.
The storyline involved Teddy realizing that Tripp was the first man he had developed feelings for. The two characters eventually kissed and hooked up, although the show did not show the encounter itself. Tripp later explained that he and his boyfriend were in an open relationship.
Although Ritchson and Catherine occasionally shared family moments online, they generally kept their marriage away from the spotlight
Before announcing their separation, Ritchson and Catherine often spoke warmly about their family and the life they had built together.
In 2024, Catherine wished Ritchson a happy birthday and called him “the leader of our family,” describing him as the person who led their family in “play,” “adventure,” and the important things in life.
She also called him “quite possibly the most fearless man on this earth.”
Their sons often appeared in the family moments they shared publicly.
Ritchson once called the boys the “best workout partners [he’s] ever had,” while Catherine shared family trips, homeschooling moments, and other memories with their children.
“I’m beginning to think there’s no such thing as true love,” wrote one netizen
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