General Hospital star Cameron Mathison and his wife, Vanessa Mathison, are divorcing after more than two decades together.
“After 22 years of marriage, we have made the difficult decision to part ways,” the couple announces in a joint statement shared exclusively with ET. “We enter this new chapter with deep love, kindness, and respect for each other. We hold gratitude in our hearts for the wonderful years we shared together.”
The statement continues, “Our children have been and will continue to be our highest priority, and we will forever share in our devotion and love for them.”
Cameron, 54, and Vanessa, 57, share two children — son Lucas, 21, and daughter Leila, 18.
“We remain friends, and both wish the best for one another,” the statement concludes. “We sincerely appreciate your respect for our family’s privacy during this transition.”
Cameron and Vanessa first met in 1998 when they were models working in New York City. They began dating the following year, and tied the knot on July 27, 2002.
In April 2022, ET spoke with Cameron — a former ET correspondent — and Vanessa about acting together in an episode of General Hospital.
Cameron stars on the ABC soap opera as Drew Cain, while Vanessa guest starred as an executive coach named Mia in three episodes.
“This was an absolute dream come true,” Vanessa told ET at the time, before admitting to being “terrified” at the idea of acting on the series, of which she’s been a long-time fan.
The fear wasn’t one-sided, with Cameron telling ET, “We were both nervous. I was nervous. I can tell Vanessa was nervous… then I started getting even more nervous.”
Cameron reflected on their long romance at the time, telling ET, “We’ve been married 20 years coming up this summer, and it hasn’t all been smooth, for sure. We went through rocky times the first five years. Getting through those times, and getting to call Vanessa my best friend and fully enjoy every moment together, it’s been better than I could have ever imagined marriage being for me.”
Among those “rocky times” was in 2019 when Cameron revealed that he was diagnosed with kidney cancer and underwent an operation. Luckily, the cancer was caught early and was the least aggressive form of the disease. At the time, Cameron shared that his doctor said his healthy diet and lifestyle kept it from “growing and spreading to other areas.”
“I’m feeling so great,” Cameron told ET in June. “I work really hard at this and I take it real serious, as far as this transformation and rebounding from the cancer journey, specifically. But also [in terms of] longevity and continuing to do blood work and gut tests and hormone tests and then doing my MRIs and CT scans. And I keep on it the best I can.”
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