Fall Out Boy member Pete Wentz is opening up about his 2011 divorce from Ashlee Simpson.
Marriage and Divorce
Wentz, 35, and Simpson, 30, were married in 2008. Three years later they decided to divorce.
“I thought it was a forever thing,” Wentz said in an interview with Howard Stren. “I’m not the kind of guy … My parents have been married, I think, 35 years. Forty years, this year, maybe? But no, I didn’t [anticipate the split]. At the same time, we were both very young.”
The two share a son, six-year-old Bronx Mowgli.
Leading to Divorce
During the interview the rockstar also revealed that he hit a low point after Fall Out Boy took a break in 2013 that contributed to the failing of the marriage.
“Here’s what it really was: At 31, we’d had all these great years, you know, as a band, and then we took time off, and I basically became Mr. Mom,” he explained. “I had the beard, the flannel shirt. I didn’t know what my identity was. That factored in. When your identity is what you do, it’s hard when you stop doing it.”
His depression, along with his youth made it hard to keep his marriage together.
“I would be an idiot to think that I didn’t contribute to the unraveling of it,” he now reflects. “Of course, at first, I’m like, ‘This sucks! You bailed on me!’ That kind of stuff. But you get perspective. We have a kid together. Our kid is awesome.”
Shared Custody
Wentz and Simpson share 50/50 custody of Bronx. “We’ve actually figured out how to parent that way in a really good, healthy way,” he said. “And, we can be friends.”
Both of them have moved on since their divorce. Simpson is married to Evan Ross. Wentz has recently welcomed a new son, Saint Laszlo with girlfriend Meagan Camper.
“To me, the right way is when we have time to plan it,” he said regarding plans to marry Camper. “I didn’t really want to do it in the public eye this time. I didn’t really want to do it in magazines. We’re just doing it on our own a little bit.” And he’s not jaded about marriage.
“I do still believe in marriage,” he clarified. “My parents are married. My sister is married … I’m a man in love!”