Considered one of the most long lasting couples from Hollywood, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have shocked the entire media with their decision to call it quits. Find out more about this unexpected decision.

Relationships in Hollywood are often challenging and hearing about breakups is very common. However, when solid, long lasting couples are involved and no signs of trouble are visible, the shock is often significant. This is certainly the case for Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony who have recently made a brief joint statement for People.com announcing their unexpected decision.

The two stars, who have been married for 7 years and have two children together, 3 year old twins Max and Emme were very brief in their statement, however they mentioned that the break up was an amicable one: "We have decided to end our marriage,' they said.'This was a very difficult decision. We have come to an amicable conclusion on all matters."

The news is extremely surprising as there were no noticeable signs that something might be going wrong between the two. In fact, when they were last seen together, on June 10, they seemed quite happy together. Moreover, the couple has renewed their vows just last year.

The now former couple has also highlighted the fact that they would appreciate privacy during these difficult times: 'It is a painful time for all involved and we appreciate the respect of our privacy at this time.”

This desire is a completely understandable one as they have a lot of issues to sort out and more media exposure will just intensify the suffering of all the people involved, even though both singers have gone through similar experiences before. In fact, for Jennifer this will be the third divorce, while Marc Anthony will go through this process for the second time.

Jennifer Lopez got married in 1997 to Ojani Noa, then married again in 2001 with Cris Judd, one of her backup dancers. Marc Anthony on the other hand was married with  former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres in 2000. They split two years later and then Marc married Jennifer in 2004.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images