The Real Reasons Hilary Duff And Mike Comrie Divorced
Disney star Hilary Duff and former professional hockey player Mike Comrie began dating in 2007 and a fast-paced romance ensued. They got engaged in February 2010 and said "I do" in a top-secret, ultra-romantic candlelit evening ceremony in August 2010. The couple walked down the aisle at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California (the same place where JFK honeymooned with Jackie O, according to Marie Claire), but despite their picture-perfect nuptials, their marriage wasn't so perfect.
The young lovebirds began to build a family, welcoming their first child, son Luca Cruz, into the world in March 2012, but something soon went awry. In January 2013, the couple pumped the breaks on their fairy tale and a headline-making scandal pushed their union over the edge.
Jump to January 2016 and the couple was officially divorced. So what exactly happened and why were they driven apart so soon after their unforgettable wedding? Here's the real reason why Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie couldn't make their marriage work.
Why was Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie's marriage such 'hard work?'
Speaking with Cosmopolitan in 2015, the former Lizzie Mcguire star opened up about some of the underlying factors that lead to her divorce from Comrie, namely, their flame dwindling out. "Mike and I were very in love when we met," she told the mag, but unfortunately that began to change. "It was just a slow set-in of us not being the match that we used to be," she revealed, adding, "I don't want to sound bitter because I'm definitely not, but I don't know if people are meant to be together forever. Things happen over a long relationship that you can't always fight," she argued. "A marriage of 20 years, the accomplishment of that must feel really great, but there are also huge sacrifices. I just always want to fight for happiness."
Echoing a similar sentiment during an interview with Younger co-star Nico Tortorella on his podcast, The Love Bomb, Duff alluded to a difficult lesson she may have learned first-hand during her union with Comrie: "Marriage is work. Marriage is really hard," she proclaimed. Later, when asked whether she still believes in monogamy, Duff added, "I understand boredom or not connecting after however many years of marriage or a relationship [...] that's where the work comes in." That's a lot of lip service to "hard work," right? Was this a marriage or a roofing job?
Were Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie 'too young' to tie the knot?
While getting candid about her divorce for her 2015 Cosmopolitan cover story, Duff hinted that, in retrospect, the pair may have simply been too young to tie the knot. "I'd been working since the age of 11 or 12, so making that choice at a young age seemed right for me [but] maybe it wasn't," she noted. However, she was quick to make it clear that she has no regrets. "We spent the majority of our time together really happy," she continued. "It wasn't working well enough to stay together, but there was still a lot of love involved."
The following year, when the actress stopped by The Talk, she was more adamant that age had indeed been a factor in her divorce. When one of the hosts asked, "Looking back, do you think you were too young when you got married?", she didn't play coy. The then-29-year-old didn't mince words as she responded [via People], "I do. I was 22 when I got married. I'm now divorced, I have a 4-year-old." She added, "I wouldn't change any of it for the world, however, I don't think we were mature enough to stick it out."
Did Mike Comrie try to seduce other women?
Rather than filing for divorce immediately, Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie were separated for around two years, but if there was any potential of them getting back together, it went out the window following Comrie's alleged questionable behavior. According to the Daily Mail, Comrie's booze-soaked antics at a Los Angeles, Calif. restaurant would be enough for any woman to burn his wardrobe on the lawn.
An anonymous staffer at Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills told the outlet, "Mike was clearly already tipsy when he arrived. He was already slurring his speech a bit and walking funny, and it was only 9pm. I watched him as he blatantly and repeatedly hit on his waitress." The source added, "She handled it well, remaining kind and professional [but] Mike just wouldn't let up with the flirting. It became a bit creepy."
As the night rolled on, the waitress reportedly told the former hockey star that she wasn't available, but he allegedly insisted that he would wait for her shift to end. According to the server, his focus eventually shifted to another woman sitting at the bar with her date. "I heard him say to her, 'I saw you making eyes at me. Do you like what you see?'" she said, claiming Comrie pulled out "hundreds of dollars" and asked, "How much do you want? How much for sex? Name your price." Restaurant security reportedly stepped in and placed Comrie in a taxi.
Hilary Duff finally pulled the plug
Immediately after her husband's aforementioned tabloid scandal, Hilary Duff made the split official and filed for divorce on February 20, 2015 — just one day after the Daily Mail story went live. According to one insider who spoke with TMZ, the timing was no coincidence. Citing irreconcilable differences, Duff listed their date of separation as January 2013 and asked for primary custody of Luca because she was reportedly worried that Comrie's partying would have a bad effect on their young son.
They finally settled in January 2016 — three years after their initial split — and despite Duff's initial demands, they ended up settling on joint custody of Luca. According to the divorce papers obtained by TMZ, the actress kept the couple's two homes: a Beverly Hills mansion and a Malibu mobile home, which we're guessing is not a typical trailer. Meanwhile, Comrie walked away with a "2014 Bentley coupe, a 2013 Mercedes G-Class SUV and a bunch of jewelry."
While a prenup ensured that the pair would "split the child-rearing costs and neither gets spousal support," Duff did have to pay her ex-husband a cool $2,408,786, or 50 percent of the value of their Beverly Hills mansion.
Being a single mom hasn't been easy for Hilary Duff
Despite her celebrity status, being a single mom has not been easy for Hilary Duff. Speaking with Redbook in 2017, she revealed that having joint custody doesn't make the situation any easier. "Some of my friends tell me, 'God, it must be so nice, you get a break from your kid because you share him.' I'm divorced, and it sucks," she proclaimed. She appeared to backtrack on her harsh words, however, as she quickly added, "Well, it did suck for a while; now it's just normal. But it's true, I do get a break. I had Luca by myself for a few weeks, no help, when Mike was on the road, and when he got home I was like, 'He's yours! Bye!'"
Even tougher than adjusting to life as a single mom was getting "over the fact that I'm not going to have a baby that's close in age with Luca," she confessed, explaining, "It sucked when everyone would be like, 'When are you having another?' I'd be like, "Do you know what's happening right now? I'm not having another."
Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie remain close (and were even spotted kissing)
Despite all of the drama, Duff and her ex have managed to remain close. Following their split, they continued to engage in relationship-like behavior, spending Valentine's Day together in 2014 and vacationing in Hawaii just one week after their divorce was finalized. They were even spotted kissing goodbye after spending time with their son in Beverly Hills, Calif. in May 2016. As Duff once told Entertainment Tonight, "We're a family, and we're always going to be a family."
She sure wasn't lying. During an appearance on The Ellen Show in 2016, the actress revealed, "We are good friends and we laugh a lot. And we have great communication and we share pictures when one is not with Luca. He's great, we are great, and we keep on trucking." Speaking with Cosmopolitan, she gushed, "Mike's amazing. We're so ingrained in each other's lives. I wouldn't choose anyone else to co-parent with. We are really good friends and care a lot about each other."
Things were still going just as strong in 2019, when Duff's sister Haylie told Us Weekly, "Mike is great. He's still very close with our family, so I think it makes it easy for everybody to co-parent or co-family," she said, adding, "Because at the end of the day, it's about Luca and what's best for him and we love Mike."