Very Cavallari stars and spouses Kristin Cavallari, 33, and Jay Cutler, 36, surprised fans when Kristin announced in an Instagram post on Sunday about the couple's plans to split. But it appears that Kristin was caught by surprise herself with the contents and timing of Jay's divorce filings.
While the reality star and Uncommon James owner agreed that marriage was over, she was not anticipating that the former NFL quarterback would legally file for divorce last week or state in his petition that he was the "available at home parent and the primary caretaker of the parties' minor children." Reportedly, the couple previously agreed to share equal custody of their three children, so Jay's unexpected and ill-timed claims sacked their desire for an amicable divorce and custody negotiation. Now, the former star of The Hills and Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County wants full custody of the kids, believing that "she can raise [them] in the safest environment."
In Kristin's own divorce filing, the TV personality and entrepreneur cited "irreconcilable differences" and accused the retired Chicago Bear of "inappropriate martial conduct [that] renders further cohabitation unsafe and improper." Although he filed first, according to their documents, Jay recorded their separation date as April 21, while Kristin listed their separation as April 7, which was the day the duo returned to Nashville after being forced to extend their vacation in the Bahamas for three weeks due to the travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus outbreak. In spite of vacation photos, which showed the pair to be having a good time together and with Very Cavallari guest stars Justin Anderson and his fiance Austin 'Scoot' Rhodes, Jay and Kristin - who married in June 2013 after three years of dating - planned on splitting up prior to the trip. They were having problems and had been distant for the past few months. Prior to Jay's divorce filings, the Nashville-based husband and wife had been "staying in the house three days on and three days off," so their children - Camden, 7, Jaxon, 5 and Saylor, 4 - could maintain some level of normalcy. But now the former flames are living in separate wings of their 10,000-square-foot mansion in the community of Leipers Fork, where other celebrities like Chris Stapleton, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel and The Judds also reside.
Per Daily Mail, Kristin is seeking primary physical custody of all three children, child support and for Jay to continue paying for the family's health insurance, as well as maintaining his life insurance policy with Kristin labeled as the sole beneficiary. Unlike Kristin, in his petition, Cutler did not note any "misconduct," and, while he states that he is the available home parent and primary caretaker, he requested joint custody of their three children. Conversely, in her documents, she denied that Jay "has always been the available at home parent and primary caretaker of the parties' minor children." Her attorneys added that Kristin will "show that she had been the primary residential parent." According to a source of E! News, "His filing was basically trying to take her out of the equation so she had to respond strongly." A second source stated, "Jay was playing for the NFL a majority of their marriage; for him to call himself the primary caregiver just because he is retired and she is working is not accurate."
A few months prior to announcing the end of their marriage, Kristin revealed further feelings and details about the end of her friendship with bestie Kelly Henderson, which was a major story line throughout season 3 of the series. Kelly had been accused of having an affair with Jay, and while the accusations and rumors were unsubstantiated, they caused majors rifts in the friendship and marriage. That said, both Kristin and Jay previously suspected one another of being unfaithful during the course of their marriage, but their suspicions have not been validated, at least publicly. Instead, sources reckon that her bustling career, budding empire, and their opposing priorities have caused the split. While the main sacrifice of their marriage had always been for Jay's football career, since his retirement in 2017 after a brief stint with the Miami Dolphins, it has shifted to filming the E! series and to the building of her businesses and brands, including launching a second brick-and-mortar location of Uncommon James in Chicago. On the reality series, Jay appeared to be a reluctant star, albeit a good sport. But he seemed to prefer to take his time figuring out his next chapter, rather than staying in the spotlight or doing things other than hunting, fishing, farming or being Mr. Mom. For Kristin, after being the supportive NFL girlfriend and wife for eight seasons, she was ready to shine again and doesn't seem to have interest in slowing down. These differing desires at least partially pulled them away from each other.
The highs and lows of their relationship and their opposites attract ways always felt unfiltered and unforced on the E! reality series, Very Cavallari. The audience seemingly saw authentic marital arguments between the pair, as well as Kristin's brutally honest girl talk with her friends and employees about their common marital struggles, but, at least on-camera, the TV personalities gave no hint that any of their drama and disagreements were atypical of an average American marriage or that divorce was anywhere in the cards. While fans are still in shock and hoping for reconciliation between the two, Kristin has already removed "wife" from the bio on her company website, and now just lists "Momma" and "Founder + CEO" of Uncommon James and Little James.
Source: Daily Mail, E! News