Did reality TV ruin another celebrity relationship?
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Apr 27, 2020
Kristin Cavallari's reality show recently wrapped up its third season. When Cavallari first announced a few years ago that she would be stepping back onto the reality scene with her own show, fans were popping some popcorn and grabbing their beverages.
Seven years after wrapping The Hills, Kirstin Cavallari was coming back to TV! But fans were most excited to get to know more about the MTV star's current life, especially her relationship with hubby QB Jay Cutler.
However, fans were shocked this weekend when Cavallari announced on Instagram that she and Cutler would be splitting up after sharing 10 years together.
While all the stuff about Cavallari's career has been a wild ride, this announcement is even more shocking. Here’s what we know about Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler, their marriage, and the recent decision to divorce.
Their marriage almost didn’t happen.
Back in July 2011, the couple called off their engagement. They headed to couples counseling around that time and managed to reconcile their differences later that year.
Two years later, they finally tied the knot in a ceremony in Nashville.
They credited couples therapy with keeping their love alive.
Cavallari says their therapist was vital in getting them to the altar in the first place.
In 2016, she said, “One hundred percent, I think it saved our relationship. It’s the best. And I think it’s so good for each person individually as well. I realized why I react certain ways to certain things, and you learn great tools for communication, which is the most important thing I think... I 100 percent credit our therapist.”
His career made her nervous.
Cutler was the quarterback for the Chicago Bears, and Cavallari worried about his safety on the field.
Once he was let go from the team in 2017, she acknowledged that leaving football was tougher for him than for her, saying, “Selfishly I’m excited for him to be safe from now on. It will be nice not to see him get hit anymore and it will be nice to have him around a lot more.”
She hadn’t kept her feelings about the danger of football a secret before that. After watching her hubby get a concussion on the field, she took to social media to say, "Sometimes I wish I could just say how I really feel about this football sh*t ... And give commentary about what I’m realllllly thinking.”
Her career didn’t thrill him, either.
When they first got married, Cutler expected Cavallari to be a stay-at-home mom and wife. That wasn’t in her plans, though!
As she says in her book, Balancing in Heels: My Journey to Health, Happiness, and Making It All Work, "If I stayed at home, I wouldn't be happy and would probably end up resenting Jay for it."
Absence made their hearts grow fonder.
When asked about keeping a marriage going despite Cutler’s football travel schedule, Cavallari said it was actually a good thing for them. In 2018, she said, "He was in Miami for five months, and I only saw him every few weeks. So that kind of keeps the passion alive.”
She wasn't afraid to make fun of her husband.
There’s an Instagram account out there called “IfJayhadInstagram” that has some truly amazing photos of Jay Culter. But don’t be fooled into thinking he’s behind the account — Kristin had actually started the account to have a little fun at his expense.
Cutler was Mr. Mom.
Now that Culter is off the field, he was home with the kids a lot more, leaving his better half with more time for her career pursuits as Cavallari said in 2018 that he’s the one getting their three kids ready in the mornings and picking them up from school every day.
But don’t think that the kids are getting an easy ride from Daddy!
Cavallari said, “Jay is the stricter of the two for sure. Jay doesn’t even really yell. If we’re going to go down that route, I’m probably the one that yells more. They just know not to mess with Daddy because Daddy’s going to drop the hammer, and for some reason, they feel like they can get away with a lot more with me. Isn’t that great?”
There were rumors that Cutler cheated with Cavallari's best friend.
On the most recent season of their reality series, the biggest drama seemed to surround the cheating rumors between Cutler and Cavallari's former bestie, Kelly Henderson. Cavallari had revealed on the show that they had even had a falling out and stopped talking due to the rumors.
However, both Cutler and Henderson denied the rumors, and sources have claimed that cheating had nothing to do with the couple's decision to separate.
Cavallari recently announced their separation on Instagram.
The reality star captioned the photo, "With great sadness, after 10 years together we have come to a loving conclusion to get a divorce. We have nothing but love and respect for one another and are deeply grateful for the years shared, memories made, and the children we are so proud of. This is just the situation of two people growing apart. We ask everyone to respect our privacy as we navigate this difficult time within our family."
The pair had been married since 2013 and share three children. A source claimed that the couple had actually been experiencing issues in their marriage for a while. "This isn't out of the blue. They've been trying to make it work for a while."
Cavallari herself had also recently opened up about her marriage in her show, saying that she and Cutler weren't perfect and had problems much like all couples do and had their ups and downs.
Rebekah Kuschmider is a DC area writer with a background in non-profit management and advocacy. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on April 13, 2018 and was updated with the latest information.