The 'Shameless' co-stars

Why Did James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff Breakup?

It's always fun when TV co-stars get together in real life. That was the case for Shameless actors James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff, who married in 2006. The couple, however, divorced about a decade later. Here's what they've said about the breakup since then.

Anne-Marie Duff starred in 'Shameless'
She married her co-star James McAvoy
They ended up getting divorced

For years, Shameless fans cheered on the relationship of stars James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff.

The British TV stars began dating while on the hit series, and they married in 2006. They even welcomed a son, Brendan, in 2010, but the couple ultimately called it quits in 2016. So, what went wrong for the Shameless power couple?

Why did James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff divorce?

For starters, as a couple, McAvoy and Duff were known to value privacy for their relationship. In 2020, McAvoy even revealed that they had a "policy not to speak about each other in public."

James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff from Shameless were married for nine years.

As you might expect, when James and Anne-Marie broke up in 2016, their divorce statement was pretty unspecific. They wrote: "It is with tremendous sadness that we have come to the decision to divorce.

"We enter this next phase with continued friendship, love and respect for one another and the shared focus of caring for our son. We ask that you respect our and, most importantly, our child's privacy during this time."

In 2020, however, McAvoy gave a rare personal interview about life post-divorce. He told Mr Porter that: "My life has changed massively. At the same time, so much has stayed the same."

In that interview, McAvoy revealed that he began drinking less after his divorce. He didn't link the issue to the breakdown of his marriage, but McAvoy did say whiskey made him "a bit leery, a wee bit fighty, a bit chippy, looking for an argument. And I didn't like that."

For her part, Duff chose to focus on the weight of divorcing itself rather than get into specifics about what went wrong with James.

In 2018, she told The Times: "Divorce is a profound, difficult experience. It just is. It's a bit like you go to bed and you wake up holding hands with a hurricane. And nobody gave you any storm warnings."

Anne-Marie Duff and James McAvoy post-breakup: Remarried?

In the years since the split, McAvoy and Duff appear to be a rare case of truly remaining on good terms. In 2018, they even co-starred together in the series His Dark Materials.

James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff divorced in 2016 after nine years married.

James and Anne-Marie also co-parent their son and had continued to share a home for an extended period after the split.

Neither party is thought to have remarried, though The Sun reported in 2019 that McAvoy secretly wed his girlfriend Lisa Liberati. Given that McAvoy operates with such secrecy, it wouldn't be out of the question, but he's never confirmed the news.

You can click here for more on James McAvoy's love life today.