This was something that former View host Debbie Matenopoulos didn’t want to see. On Internet sites, there were rumors that her husband was cheating. Now to her shock and dismay, her husband, the music executive Jay Faires, has surprised her by filing divorce papers in California.

"I am deeply saddened by the dissolution of my seven-year relationship with my husband, a man I truly believed I would be with forever," Matenopoulos said in a statement to E! News, where she now works. “Although my public persona may seem unconventional at times, I do not take marriage and family lightly, and I am quite traditional.”

Faires filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court citing the usual — irreconcilable differences. He also said that, since the couple does not have any children and she is gainfully employed, he should not have to provide any spousal support.

It appears, he wasn’t supporting the relationship for some time. The couple, who married in July of 2003, did separate in March of this year. But like many women, Matenopoulos thought they were going through a rough patch and that maybe a separation would give them time to appreciate what they had.

But perhaps she should have read How To Tell If Your Man Is Cheating. Although she may have known that less than 5 percent of couples who separate ever get back together, hope is something all of us have when it comes to reviving troubled relationships.

Before it is truly over, women try really hard and are willing to forgive many sins in an effort to keep their marriages afloat. However, the boat has now left the dock and Matenopoulos will sail on solo, seeking a safe harbor with someone who will appreciate her, which is just what she deserves.

Leave it to Moms to give researchers a spoonful of reality. A poll of online mothers conducted by Allen & Gerritsen on the economic challenges facing the US found that 80 percent thought Americans had been encouraged by the culture to overextend themselves and that 58 percent believed the average American is too greedy.

The researchers recognized that moms “teach and enforce family values” – and manage family pocketbooks – and believe that these findings may predict more saving and less spending. That seems confirmed by figures for retail sales for October, released this morning, which showed a 2.8 percent decline from the previous month. That’s the biggest drop the Commerce Department has recorded since measures began in 1993.

Maybe that isn’t so good for Coach and Gucci but it certainly will be for the culture at large. And this way Mom won’t have to ask Junior to support her down the road.

A&G surveyed moms to get a pulse on how the economy will affect their purchasing behavior. The report didn't make distinctions between divorced or married moms but I would bet the single moms have already been on a fiscal diet for some time and are quite good at it.

According to the report, 65 percent of the mothers said they were eliminating purchases that are not absolutely necessary, and 52 percent were cutting back in general. Some 71 percent say they have made more sacrifices this year than last. Only 49 percent say that the economic situation may improve within the next year, but perhaps President Obama can alter that view.

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Some call it karma or comeuppence,  or stars colliding but not in your favor: Sienna Miller's romance with "Brothers and Sisters" star Balthazar Getty now seems over.  Sources say that Getty was stalling getting the divorce he had promised, and now the relationship is over.

As we reported, Miller was caught canoodling with the very married Getty this summer. The affair sparked a lot of criticism since Getty has a wife and four children, one just a baby.

Although his representative released the standard defensive, that the actor had had problems in his relationship before this happened and he and his wife were in the midst of separating, the news came a shock to his wife, Rosetta.

In the past four months, Rosetta has played it smart by building her own life away from her husband but still welcoming him to share the children's birthdays and school events. This allowed him to see what he was missing while the novelty of something new perhaps wore off with the ho-hum of everyday life. Plus, it's hard to be involved in a relationship that so many disapprove of, something the couple faced on a daily basis. Getty complained about the intrusiveness of the press, calling it "dangerous."

Last weekend, Miller acknowledged to Us Magazine that it's "nice not to have a relationship that the press constantly want to scrutinize."

Well Sienna, the press wouldn't be scrutinizing it as much if you were not with a married man.

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Instead of a marriage prenup, leave it to the ancestors of Solomon to figure out a divorce prenup. Yes indeedy. This week, Israel's Knesset (the country's Parliament) informed the High Court of Justice it would vote on a bill aimed at dividing assets of couples undergoing divorce procedures before the divorce was granted.

This concept is designed to prevent a spouse — usually the spurned one — from extorting a larger settlement in exchange for agreeing to the divorce.

According to the petitioners, the husband uses the power of the purse to get agreement from the wife in the majority of cases. In Israel, as in the U.S., more women launch divorce proceedings than do men.

The Haredi parties (religious leaders) strongly oppose the bill regarding it as an attempt to weaken the rabbinical courts' power. (In the Jewish faith, you have to get a get, a blessing/permission from a rabbi, before getting a divorce.)

A court can rule that you and your hubby split up, but until they get a get, the religious feel they can't remarry, and that the divorce is not accepted in the eyes of God.

The problem with the new law, others argue, is that it would make divorce so egalitarian that the person who suffers doesn't get a little extra for the hassle and pain. And they say, it may make divorce too easy.

However, let's face it. Few people are cavalier about divorce and most come to that decision with great difficulty.

The bill was approved last July, but it is up to the Knesset to make a final decision.

Being addicted to your wife is one thing, being addicted to drugs is another. Which is supposedly why Gretchen Bonaduce divorced her husband, Danny, after 16 years of marriage. Now Danny Bonaduce has agreed to pay $16,000 a month in child support and alimony.

According to People, he will also get joint custody of his two children, a 13-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. The way the settlement breaks down is that he will pay $6,000 to his kids and $10,000 for his wife. Gretchen Bonaduce filed for divorce in 2007 after the two appeared in the VH1 reality show Breaking Bonaduce.

The two will also split their accumulated assets. Obviously the couple tried to work it out but sometimes the strains and pains of dealing with a partner’s substance abuse creates such a breakdown of trust that it cannot be repaired.

The Bonaduces do plan on co-parenting their kids amicably and with affection.

Now a DJ, Danny Bonaduce was best known for playing the red-headed kid with the bass in the TV show The Partridge Family.

Gov. Sarah Palin just won an important vote. Despite Alaska's legislature finding that she abused her power by firing a public safety commissioner, the state personnel board issued its own report and said she didn't violate "Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with these matters."

Those matters were reportedly being annoyed that Walt Monegan, the public safety commissioner, wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, state trooper Mike Wooten, who she despised. 
As we reported, Palin denied the claim and said Monegan was fired in July because she wanted the department to head in a new direction. The case became known as Palin's Troopergate.

"The Governor is grateful that this investigation has provided a fair and impartial review of this matter and upholds the Governor's ability to take measures when necessary to ensure that Alaskans have the best possible team working to serve them," Palin’s attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said in a statement after the report was released Monday. 


However, Monegan is as confused as others by this new report.

Monegan told The Associated Press on Monday he was "perplexed and disappointed" by the latest report, which was prepared by Timothy Petumenos, an independent investigator for the Alaska Personnel Board.

"It conflicts with the first investigation and then casts doubts on both of them. So, it doesn't really resolve anything," Monegan said. "If it did, then I could walk away. It does seem to fly in the face of circumstantial evidence."

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This isn't a trick but a treat. Seems like Tea Leoni and David Duchnovy, who announced their separation in October, were able to put their marital battles aside and take their kids Madeleine and Kyd trick-or-treating on Halloween. Today Page Six in The New York Post quoted a source who said, "They were very cute and were holding hands."

The source said Leoni "looked very mellow and relaxed" while chatting with friends with their kids.

It's easy to understand why she may have been stressed this summer after Duchnovy was treated for sex addiction. That is awfully embarrassing for any family especially when it's also very public.

However, people can surrender their egos and hurts for the greater good.

Kids are often the connective tissue that reminds parents how much they share. It is that family time – especially holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas — that is often missed after a divorce. However as a friend once told me, "I loved spending holidays with my ex — just not any other day."

Either way, whether they stay together or separate, one can break up and still rebuild a new family structure where happy times are shared, just not 24/7.

Jo Wood, the soon to be ex-wife of The Rolling Stones rocker Ronnie Wood, gave it her all to try and reconcile, but to no avail. However, her husband is planning on being very generous in honoring their 23-year marriage.

Wood, who has moved on and hooked up with 20-year-old Ekaterina “Katia” Ivanova, is reportedly offering Jo a multi-million dollar sum as well as almost $5 million a year. When the affair was first reported, speculation was that Jo could get as much as $81 million of Ron Wood's $114 million fortune.

A source close to Wood told a British tabloid that "Ronnie feels the marriage is over but he wants to do the right thing by Jo — even though they have not talked for months."

Although Wood hired Joyce Smyth, the same attorney that his bandmate Sir Mick Jagger used to divorce Jerry Hall, he has instructed the barrister to work out an amicable deal for the good of the family.

Meanwhile, Jo (pictured) is showing that she is not wasting any more time pining for Ron. She has resolved to move on and find a new life and love.

As British tabloid News Of The World reported, Jo partied last week at an exclusive nightspot in London's Mayfair, with one onlooker saying: "She showed girls half her age how to have a good time."

But one also knows that there must be private moments where she needs to mourn the end of her marriage and find ways to fill the holes left by his absence.

Ron Wood has been romancing Katia since leaving rehab in September. Reports also say that he is planning to take her with him when he reunites with his band The Faces to go on tour next year.

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Logic tells you that if you are a stressed-out pregnant woman, somehow that anxiety will become your baby's norm, and even seep into his or her personality. But for a long time, no research confirmed that. Well, until now.

Professor Marta Weinstock-Rosin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Pharmacy has been fascinated with this subject her entire work life, and now her experimental work with rats has demonstrated the connection in a conclusive, laboratory-tested manner.

"There is an enormous advantage in working with rats," says Weinstock-Rosen. (No, she's not talking about cheating ex-husbands but the animal kind.)

Researchers were able to compare offspring of stressed rat mothers with offspring whose mothers were not stressed. They also were able to compare the results of administering various types of stress at different periods during gestation to see which period might produce which behavior.

And guess what they discovered?

Stress during pregnancy caused developmental and emotional problems for the rat pups, included impaired learning and memory, less capacity to cope with adversity and symptoms of anxiety and depressive-like behavior.

Weinstein-Rosin says that all these symptoms parallel impairments that occur in kids born to mothers who experience stress during pregnancy.

According to Science Daily, further experiments by Weinstock-Rosin and her students have shown that the culprit was the hormone cortisol, which is released by the adrenal gland during stress and may reach the fetal brain during critical stages of development.

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