Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner to divorce

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are to divorce.

After weeks of speculation about the state of their marriage, the couple has released a statement confirming the sad news to TMZ.com, a day after their 10th wedding anniversary.

It reads: "After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce.

"We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting our children, whose privacy we ask to be respected during this difficult time."

The stars wed in Turks and Caicos in 2005 and have three kids together - nine-year-old Violet, Seraphina, six, and Samuel, three.

Affleck and Garner met on the set of Pearl Harbor in 2001 and worked together again in 2003 on flop film Daredevil. This is Garner's second failed marriage - she divorced actor Scott Foley in 2004 less than four years after the couple wed.