Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich Break up After Almost 3 Years of Marriage

Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich have decided to separate after nearly three years of marriage, the couple confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE Friday. The couple has been rumored to be on the rocks for months, with rumors intensifying after the pro hockey player and Dancing With the Stars alum quarantining in different states amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have lovingly and carefully taken the time we have needed to arrive at our decision to separate,” the couple confirmed in their joint statement Friday. “We share an abundance of love and respect for one another and will continue to lead with our hearts from that place. We kindly request your compassion and respect for our privacy moving forward.”

A source close to the couple told PEOPLE that with Hough quarantining in Los Angeles and Laich in Idaho, the pair realized it was finally time to come clean with themselves as to the state of their marriage. “It’s over, it’s been over for a while, and it’s time to just call it what it is — and it is over,” the insider said. “There is honestly no ill will. He loves her. She loves him. I can truly say they always will. But they both understand they are not meant to go through their lives as husband and wife to each other.”

They continued that the Footloose star is a “deeply different person than she was when they got married” in 2017 and is “proud” of the changes she had made. “He is the man he is and he shouldn’t change a thing. But they shouldn’t spend the rest of their lives together — not as spouses, anyway,” they continued, adding that the two are both “on the same page about that now.” While it might have taken a while to arrive on that page, the pair are reportedly “hoping to move forward as deeply loving friends forever who will always be supportive and encouraging of one another.”

In April, Hough admitted she was “really enjoying” her time quarantining apart from her husband to Oprah Magazine’s Arianna Davis, saying it was “glorious” to “look inward, and connect back to myself” during the time alone. She added of Laich, “My husband is in Idaho doing lots of yardwork… and so we’re kind of doing our separate things right now. But it’s really been a magical time.” Laich previously had said on his How Men Think podcast that he was also enjoying his time alone, saying he decided to quarantine away from Hough in Idaho because he “always wanted to spend more time” at the property since buying it in 2014.