What Went Wrong in Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli's Marriage? Inside Their Nearly 20-Year Relationship That Ended in Divorce

Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli's love story spanned nearly two decades before coming to an end.

Garth and Facinelli's relationship blossomed after meeting on the set of An Unfinished Affair in 1995. They exchanged vows on January 20, 2001, and welcomed three children during their marriage.

In 2010, the Beverly Hills, 90210 actress relocated with their daughters to their Santa Ynez Valley, Calif., ranch house, while Facinelli split his time commuting from Vancouver and New York City.

In March 2012, the Twilight actor filed for divorce from Garth after 11 years of marriage.

They finalized the filing in June 2013. They declined spousal support and agreed to share custody of their three children.

In a 2012 interview with People, Garth revealed she was "very resistant" when Facinelli told her he wanted a divorce.

"I didn't want it to happen. It took me some time to come to peace with it," she said.

Reflecting on their 2010 move to California, she shared, "He would do everything he could to fly back every weekend. [But] it took a real toll on our marriage."

"I've gone through my darkest parts and I'm coming out of it," she added. "I'm okay. I don't know what the future holds, but then I've never been a planner. And maybe that's a good thing."

During their first joint interview post-divorce, the Fastlane actor reflected on his marriage to Garth, which he said felt "arranged."

"We came together very fast, very furious, and very quick and I remember thinking, 'Well, let's move in together and see how it goes,' and it just went," Facinelli said of their romance in a June 2024 episode of Garth's "I Choose Me With Jennie Garth."

He continued, "Five years went by, and I thought, 'Well, we should get married.' Then we got married and had another kid. It was almost like an arranged marriage in a way and things seemed well. We had disagreements here and there, but I think we were really young."

According to Facinelli, he did not have a sense of who he was, so he was "just trying to be all these things for other people."

"When that fell apart, it took me time to try to get in touch with me," he admitted.

Reiterating his statement that they were like in an "arranged" marriage, he added, "I loved you and we had this beautiful family from the outside, but I hadn't developed who I was. So how you could you love me? I didn't know me."

The 13 Minutes actor told his former spouse he felt he lacked the "space" to discover himself during the marriage.

"Considering all of that, we really did last a long time. I think because of the children," Garth acknowledged.

"I think if we didn't have children, I wouldn't have stayed," Facinelli admitted. "Because of the freedom to go, 'OK, I need to figure out who I am.'"

During the same podcast appearance, he shared he felt conflicted about asking Garth for a divorce, saying it "broke" his heart "to break up a family."

"It was one of those decisions where you never know if you're making the right decision," he reflected.

His sentiments echoed what he shared on the "Allison Interviews" podcast about noticing how their relationship slowly changed before their split.

"Somebody might say something that is kind of hurtful. The other person might permit it and then they get into a habit," he stated. "So, bad things can become habitual, the way you start to treat each other, giving the other person permission or an allowance to talk to you in a certain way."

Facinelli pointed out, "If that person talks to you in a certain way or does something, then all of a sudden, they feel they have permission to do that because you didn't say, 'That hurt my feelings.' You didn't speak up. All of a sudden it gets habitual, and it grows, and then you get resentful."

Facinelli and Garth expounded on the dynamics of their marriage on the June 11, 2024, episode of her "I Choose Me With Jennie Garth" podcast. The exes unpacked the codependency that gradually set in during their union.

"We were very codependent on each other because we were very young, it was like we were all that we knew," he told Garth. "I was codependent on you in an emotional way and you were codependent on me in an emotional way, so I think that was not the best."

While she thought it was not a major issue for them, the Supergirl alum said he was "kind of living [Garth's] life."

"You had a life that was established already and I came into it and I kind of moved into this established life, so for you, you were like, 'This is great. I've got a husband and I've got dogs and I've got a house,'" he explained.

Facinelli observed his fixation on maintaining a "happy wife, happy life" mindset resulted in Garth becoming his identity.

"I had to rediscover who I am," he continued.

When wildfires swept through Los Angeles, Facinelli extended refuge to Garth and her husband, Dave Abrams, noting she was still an important person in his life.

"When people are going through hard times, my door is always open," he told a news outlet. "So, as much as it's flattering for someone to say, 'Hey, it was really noble of you to take your ex-wife and husband,' I mean, I could never imagine saying no."

The Can't Hardly Wait actor also shared, "I love her. She's the mother of my kids. I consider her a friend. I consider her husband a friend."

In an interview with E! News, the What I Like About You actress divulged she and Facinelli were not always on the best terms after their split.

"For so many years, it wasn't as fun as it could have been, and we made it seem like it was great and it was all rainbows and ponies. But it was not at times," she said.

Per Garth, Facinelli's appearance on her podcast "cleared the air" for them "in a lot of ways."

"I like Peter. He likes me. I mean, obviously we were together for 17 years. And I love his fiancée and his new son. It's just nice to be open and be easy," she continued.

Garth unpacked shocking confessions in her new memoir, I Choose Me, including the moment she sank into a period of depression when her marriage to Facinelli fell apart.

"I noticed my light really dimming," she revealed to a magazine. "I wasn't putting off good vibes. I could see it in the mirror."

As a means of coping, she turned to alcohol and pills. But one night, she ingested so much that she had to have her stomach pumped. She then entered rehab and learned to eschew self-medication and focus on herself instead.

"I could look at the negative impact that that kind of grief and anger was having on me," she shared. "And there was a weird switch where one day I just said, 'I don't want to carry this anymore. It's impacting my relationships and how I feel about myself. I've got to let it go. I've got to forgive him.'"