Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who was shamed into leaving his position because of a prostitution scandal, announced Tuesday night that his marriage of 26 years is over.
The couple's announcement comes two days after reports revealed that Spitzer, 54, is in a relationship with a 31-year-old spokeswoman from his campaign for New York City Comptroller.
"We regret that our marital relationship has come to an end," Spitzer and his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, said in a joint statement obtained by the New York Post. "We have agreed not to make any other public statement on the subject."
The statement does not specify if the Spitzer and his wife are officially divorced.
According to the Post, a source close to Silda, 55, said they are trying to reach a settlement without having to sell any of his father's upscale Manhattan property, including an apartment building on Central Park South. In 2012, Eliot and Silda together made an adjusted gross income of $4.2 million, the Post reported.
Eliot and his wife, who were married in 1987, have been living apart for several months, but the status of their marriage was never officially stated. A spokeswoman for Eliot said in May that the two were still married and that he moved out to take care of his elderly parents, the New York Daily News reported.
Eliot met the woman he is currently dating, Lis Smith, at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, but did not become involved until after she was chosen to work with Eliot on his political comeback campaign, the Post reported. Smith is currently a spokeswoman for Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio.
Friends close to Eliot said his relationship with Smith would not be a problem if he had divorced his wife first.
"They're both consenting adults and can do what they want," one of Eliot's former colleagues told the Daily News. "The only real rub is that he's still married. He should make it clear that they are separated and just file for divorce already."
Sources close to Eliot also said he is putting his wife through excess turmoil. Silda stuck by her husband as he resigned as Governor in 2008 when news broke of his involement with prostitutes.
"He hasn't humiliated [her] enough, so now he's screwing the press secretary," a female press representative told the Daily News.
