Nigella Lawson's husband, Charles Saatchi, has
announced he's seeking a divorce from the celebrity chef following the
fallout from a June incident in London, where he was photographed
grasping the celebrity chef's throat.
"I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced," he said in a statement to Britain's The Daily Mail.
"I
feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the
last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no
public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against
women, and have never abused her physically in any way," the 70-year-old
art collector continued.
Following the June incident, which Saatchi initially referred to as a "playful tiff" regarding the couple's children, he was interviewed by British police for five hours and received a formal police citation for his actions.
"This
is heartbreaking for both of us as our love was very deep, but in the
last year we have become estranged and drifted apart," Saatchi's
statement read. "The row photographed at Scott's restaurant could
equally have been Nigella grasping my neck to hold my attention - as
indeed she has done in the past."
A rep for Lawson had no comment on the divorce when contacted by People.
The
celebrity chef, 53, married Saatchi in 2003. They live together in
London with Lawson's son and daughter from her marriage to journalist
John Diamond -- who died of cancer in 2001-- and Saatchi's daughter from
a previous marriage.
