Darren Hayes, Richard Cullen split: Savage Garden star divorces

Former Savage Garden frontman Darren Hayes made a sad personal announcement overnight, revealing he’s split from his husband of the past 17 years.

Hayes, 50, made the announcement via Instagram, telling fans that while he’s an “intensely private person when it comes to my home and family life,” he has “felt the need to be honest” about what’s been going on his private life “these past two years”.

Namely: The end of his second marriage, to British artist Richard Cullen. The pair had wed in London in July 2005.

“After 17 years of marriage to the best person I ever met, Richard and I have chosen to accept that our union has gently and beautifully come to rest,” Hayes wrote.

“In honour of this realisation, we separated earlier this year and have been supporting each other emotionally throughout this massive change in our lives.”

Hayes also pre-empted any speculation about the reasons behind the split, writing:

“Because people will ask, let me answer the ugly questions to get them out of the way forever – no, there’s no scandal to report, no infidelity, guilty or third party. It’s just life. We adore each other and always will.”

Hayes called his marriage to Cullen – with whom he’d collaborated on various projects throughout his solo career – their “greatest collaboration”.

“We are still best friends. We always will be,” he wrote, signing off the letter from “Darren (and Richard)”.

This was Hayes’ second marriage – he’d previously been married to childhood sweetheart makeup artist Colby Taylor in 1994, and they were still together when Savage Garden became a global music sensation in 1997. They separated in 1998 and were divorced in 2000 – shortly before Hayes began the process of coming out as gay to many of the people in his life. He first publicly acknowledged his sexuality when announcing he and Cullen had wed.

The news comes as Hayes recently returned to his solo career following a 10-year hiatus, releasing an album, Homosexual, in 2022. Earlier this week he released a music video for his latest single from the project, the break-up track Feels Like It’s Over.

The accompanying music video shows Hayes in a relationship with a male partner that then turns sour before they break up. Launching the clip on social media, Hayes hinted it had been a difficult video to make given the personal subject matter.

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“Never in my entire career has art ever imitated life more than this year,” he wrote, thanking director Andrew Huebscher and the actor playing his partner in the clip, who helped him through some emotional moments.

“I’m forever indebted to Andrew for his outstanding direction and cinematography and to my wonderful scene partner, Casey James – who laughed with me and patiently held me while I cried for three days straight as we made this short film,” he wrote.

“This is the end of an era in so many ways. I poured my soul into this album, this tour and into people I met along the way and yes, I got my heart broken in the end. Was it worth it? I don’t know. But it’s all real. I don’t know how to be any other way.”

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