The Real Reason Téa Leoni and David Duchovny Divorced After 17 Years

Quick Facts

The marriage between and David Duchovny was a mirage they held onto for a while before they decided to call it quits. Téa met David in 1992 but they didn’t pick interest in each other at the time. They only started dating five years later, in 1997, and soon after, they got married in a private ceremony that had only close friends and family relations in attendance.

Their marriage, like most celebrity unions, was in the spotlight and endured huge media attention, especially when David was said to have a sex addiction problem. This marriage also made headlines when the couple separated in 2008 but reconciled before going their separate ways yet again in 2011. Due to this breakup, it was rumored that the couple was heading for a divorce which they finally did in June 2014.

Both Téa Leoni and David Duchovny are very popular faces on television. The former is popularly known for her role in the 1995 movie, Bad Boys. She is an American actress and producer. Some of her popular television series’ appearances include Naked Truth, and Flying Blind, among others. David is also on a similar career path; he is an actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for playing FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series The X-Files and writer Hank Moody on the television series Californication. Learn more about the couple and try to figure out what went wrong after 17 years of marriage.

How Did Téa Leoni and David Duchovny Meet?

Before we delve into the intricacies of the circumstances that led to the meeting of the former couple, let us take a look at their past relationships. For Téa Leoni, the gorgeous American actress was married before meeting David Duchovny. She got married to Neil Joseph Tardio Jr. in 1991 and divorced him in 1995. This was her only known romantic involvement before her second marriage to David.

David, on the other hand, has dated quite a number of women but was never married before Téa Leoni. He was involved with the likes of Sheryl Lee, Perrey Reeves, Samantha Phillips, , Dana Wheeler-Nickson, and the list goes on.

Téa Leoni and her ex-husband, David Duchovny, met a long time ago. They were introduced to each other by a mutual friend – the producer of the Tonight Show program – in 1992 when both their careers were just beginning. They became friends after the introduction but remained so for over 5 years. The romantic spark between them began in early 1997 when the couple began dating secretly. They were so bent on keeping their relationship clandestine that Duchovny publicly stated how lonely he was despite being with Leoni at the time. They made no public appearances together or acted or said anything that will suggest that they were involved with each other romantically.

Their Marriage

Not only was their relationship a secret, but they also made their wedding ceremony private too. The wedding occurred on May 31, 1997. David was said to have just finished shooting his hit series for Fox in Vancouver and quickly hopped on a plane to New York to meet Téa for their wedding. First, they went to the City Hall to get their marriage license before heading to the garden of the Grace Church School in the evening for the main ceremony.

The groom wore an Armani suit while his bride wore a beautiful Lily et Cie pink floral gown. The wedding had in attendance very close family members and friends including Leoni’s parents and siblings, a corporate attorney and wife, David’s sister, brother and a few others. After the ceremony at the garden, the celebrants and their guests converged at a French restaurant for refreshments.

The marriage between the Spanglish actress and the Evolution actor led to the birth of two kids – Madelaine West and Kyd Miller.

Why Did Téa Leoni and David Duchovny Divorce After 17 Years? The Real Reason For Their Split

Before Téa Leoni and David Duchovny divorced, there were a lot of rumors surrounding the marriage. While some people suggested they would split others believed they already had even when they were still legally married to each other. The rumors were fueled by their double break up during the course of the marriage. The first occurred in 2008 during David’s sex addiction crisis and resolution and the second was in 2011 for unknown reasons.

However, in June 2014 the couple officially filed for a divorce. Some sources say that the reason for the divorce was the alleged infidelity of the Madam Secretary actress. These sources record that David found some explicit text messages sent to his wife by actor Billy Bob Thornton. This is in contrast to the reason given by the couple. According to them, they split was because of an “irretrievable breakdown of the relationship”. The divorce has since been finalized and they both live apart as they did before the news of the divorce went public. Téa Leoni has custody of both children and is entitled to $8,000 and $40,000 monthly in child and spousal support respectively. However, the couple has remained friends even after the split.

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