Ricky Martin & Husband Jwan Yosef Split: ‘We Have Decided To End Our Marriage’
After nearly six years of marriage, Ricky Martin and his husband Jwan Yosef are calling it quits.
Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef confirmed on July 6 that they are divorcing after six years of marriage. “We have decided to end our marriage with love, respect and dignity for our children and honoring what we have experienced as a couple all these wonderful years,” they told PEOPLE. “Our greatest desire now is to have a healthy family dynamic and a relationship centered on peace and friendship to continue the joint upbringing of our children, preserving the love and respect we have for each other.”
Ricky and Jwan met via Instagram in 2015, and they confirmed their romance six months later in the spring of 2016. They went red carpet official at the amfAR Inspiration Gala that year, and Ricky announced his engagement to Jwan during a Nov. 2016 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
In January 2018, Ricky confirmed that he and Jwan had gotten married, although their exact wedding date is unclear. “I’m a husband, but we’re doing a heavy party in a couple of months. I’ll let you know,” he dished at the time in an interview with E! News. “We’ve exchanged vows.”
Together, Ricky and Jwan have two children: A daughter, Lucia, 4, and a son, Renn, 3. Additionally, Ricky has two children — twin boys Matteo and Valentino — who he welcomed in 2008, before he was with Jwan.
Jwan is an acclaimed painter and artist. Ricky previously revealed that he first reached out to the 38-year-old when he saw a piece of his work on social media. “I saw him and I said, ‘Oh My God, I am marrying him,'” Ricky recalled. “He’s the most romantic man I’ve ever met.” Ricky and Jwan spent months getting to know each other online before actually meeting in person. “We were talking for, like, six months without me hearing his voice,” the singer admitted in a 2017 interview. “We talked about art. Nothing sexy. I swear, nothing sexy. It was all about our art and life in general.” They began dating after meeting in London for the first time.