Inside Leah Remini and Angelo Pagán's Unusual Love Story
3 months ago
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Leah Remini and Husband Angelo Pagán Divorcing After 21 Years of Marriage
If Angelo Pagán had been wearing achromatic socks erstwhile helium met Leah Remini, this communicative would already beryllium over.
"Because if you person achromatic socks on," the histrion wrote successful her 2015 memoir Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, "you're dormant to me."
Remini, who archetypal laid eyes connected the vocalist successful 1996 astatine the Cuban nine El Floridita successful Los Angeles, was relieved to spot that helium was wearing achromatic socks with his "good achromatic shoes," she noted. So, reader, she joined him.
They noted that, conscionable due to the fact that they wouldn't beryllium hubby and woman immoderate longer, they didn't see their narration to beryllium a failure. And they hoped that others, by proceeding their story, "would not consciousness truthful isolated successful navigating the changes that millions of couples marque each year."
Remini and Pagán adjacent earned immoderate other snaps successful the aftermath of their statement, which didn't clasp backmost connected the why and whitethorn person adjacent comforted a fewer radical on the way: We're 2 individuals who don't privation to beryllium joined anymore but are inactive going to beryllium successful each other's lives and it's good if that happened to you, too.
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Of course, Remini has ne'er been 1 to clasp back, not erstwhile discussing her analyzable interruption from Scientology and not erstwhile it came to her and Pagán's emotion story. Which, she emphasized successful her book, was not a emotion story.
"I mean, it's a communicative astir love," she wrote, "just not the benignant that you anticipation to archer your kids 1 day."
Because, she elaborate successful her memoir, not agelong aft they archetypal got together, Pagán admitted to Remini that helium wasn't separated from his wife, arsenic she thought helium was.
"'I'm a cheater—and not conscionable with you,'" she recalled him telling her. "'I person been a cheater my full life.'"
Her response? "This feline is truthful f--ked-up, he's cleanable for me!" His (eventual) honesty made her emotion him adjacent more, she noted. But helium besides had issues, truthful she introduced him to Scientology and helium signed up for a course. She liked that helium was a "normal guy" from extracurricular the church, she wrote, but besides "someone who could rapidly get with the programme and get with Scientology."
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However, she continued successful the book, that astatine archetypal resulted successful Pagán re-committing to his woman and going to counseling with her at Remini's insistence.
"But an unintended effect of nary longer being burdened by his ain guilt," she wrote, was that Pagán realized helium needed to get retired of his matrimony for good.
When Pagán popped the question implicit meal connected Christmas Eve successful 2002, Remini "was wholly taken by surprise," her rep said astatine the time. "She was crying and truthful excited."
They tied the knot July 19, 2003, astatine the Four Seasons successful Las Vegas—"It was, I kid you not, 110 degrees easy," Remini wrote—and welcomed girl Sofia Bella Pagán on June 16, 2004.
Recalling the chemistry that archetypal brought her and her hubby together, Remini said connected RuPaul's eponymous speech amusement successful 2019, "It was similar everything wrong, similar everything that you should not bash arsenic a miss is inquire a feline erstwhile helium gets disconnected work, deed it existent quick, and it was a batch of that…I was similar a groupie."
But that's what made their communicative "beautiful," she continued, "because we did person a hard clip astatine the beginning. We didn't conscionable nether the champion of circumstances. We got counseling and it was not an casual road. So I'm saying these things to beryllium funny, erstwhile again, but the information of the substance is helium is my rock."
The small household chugged along, Pagan guest-starring connected a fewer episodes of his wife's deed sitcom The King of Queens, which ran from 1998 until 2007, arsenic good arsenic her aboriginal shows similar Kevin Can Wait and In the Motherhood. Remini besides spent a play arsenic a cohost of The Talkfrom 2010 until 2011 and competed on Dancing With the Starsin 2013, returning successful aboriginal seasons to guest-host and judge.
Having spent decades arsenic a member, the histrion notably left Scientology successful 2013 and became 1 of the church's astir outspoken critics. Returning to her Catholic roots, she and Pagán—who successful the meantime opened their doors to TLC to marque 2 seasons of Leah Remini: It's All Relative—had Sofia baptized successful 2015.
“For the grounds @leahremini and I person ever been Catholic !" Pagán, who besides has 3 sons from a erstwhile relationship, tweeted aft the service. "Why we waited truthful agelong to baptize Sofia ! Hmmm .anyway it was a beauteous acquisition and our small angel is connected her mode to a much spiritual existence. God Bless."
Visiting Catholic churches, "sometimes I don’t bash anything" but conscionable beryllium there, Remini told Peopleat the time. "To maine it's what religion is expected to be: a beauteous thing."
After releasing her tell-all memoir successful 2015, she went connected to marque three seasons of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermathfor A&E, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series oregon Special successful 2017 and different for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series oregon Special successful 2022.
In the meantime, Remini decided to spell backmost to school. When she was accepted astatine New York University successful 2021, she called it "one of the past chunks of my beingness that I americium taking backmost for myself from Scientology."
"Going to assemblage for the archetypal clip astatine 51 aft surviving astir of my beingness successful a cult and lone having an 8th people acquisition hasn't been easy," she tweeted successful May 2022. "But I took my archetypal NYU last exams this week and I'm gladsome I decided to amended myself. It's ne'er excessively late. It's tough, but it's worthy it." (She completed her associate's degree successful May and said she's moving connected her bachelor's.)
But portion she was pursuing higher education, becoming an bare nester admittedly deed her and Pagán hard. In September 2022, Remini called dropping Sofia disconnected astatine assemblage "the astir excruciatingly achy and proudest moment" of her life, writing connected Instagram, "I person ne'er cried truthful overmuch successful my life."
Their 20-year-old really ended up coming location for awhile, but they re-dropped her disconnected astatine different schoolhouse successful January.
"It's been a fewer weeks since she near for the 2nd time," Remini told Peoplein February, "and my hubby and I are adjacent much of a messiness now."
She and Pagán seemingly had a batch to fig retired erstwhile they were near to their ain devices, but it sounds arsenic if they're connected the aforesaid leafage astir what to bash next.
Instagram/Leah Remini
"This determination came aft a batch of thought and care," they stated successful a shared Aug. 29 Instagram post, "and arsenic hard arsenic divorcement is, we are approaching this with a affirmative outlook due to the fact that we cognize it’s what’s champion for us."
"We are arrogant of however we person worked done this together," they continued. "Yes, we’re sad, and we’ve got immoderate figuring retired to bash arsenic we proceed to determination guardant into our caller normal—together inactive successful galore ways, and isolated successful immoderate caller ones."
Their enslaved had "evolved into thing different," they explained. "We deliberation a matrimony that lasted this agelong and created truthful galore beauteous memories, particularly raising our unthinkable daughter, is thing to celebrate. From our perspective, this matrimony was a immense success."
So, a toast to Remini and Pagán. But we besides wonderment if immoderate of these celebrated couples who divided up aft much than a decennary unneurotic arrived astatine a akin conclusion...