Hilary Duff Files For Divorce from Mike Comrie: Report

Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie

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Hilary Duff has reportedly filed for divorce from her estranged husband Mike Comrie after nearly five years of marriage.

TMZ reports that the 27-year-old actress filed divorce papers shortly after rumors popped up about Comrie, 34, having a wild night out with friends at a restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. 

The pair announced their separation in January 2014, but TMZ reports that Duff lists their separation date as January 2013. 

The website also reports that Duff is seeking primary custody of their nearly 3-year-old son, Luca. 

Keep up with Hilary Duff in the pages of PEOPLE Magazine by subscribing now.

At the time of their split, Duff's rep maintained that she and her former NHL player husband would continue to co-parent their child. 

"They remain best friends and will continue to be in each other's lives," Duff's rep said in a statement to PEOPLE back in January 2014. "They are dedicated to loving and parenting their amazing son, and ask for privacy at this time." 

The former couple did stay true to their word about remaining close, even going on a Valentine's Day family vacation to Hawaii together with their son just a few weeks after announcing their split. 

As Duff and Comrie remained friendly, rumors continued to pop up that the pair had reconciled, and they were spotted holding hands while leaving a Halloween party together in LA last year. However, they never confirmed that they had gotten back together. 

Duff hasn't made any references to her official split from Comrie on her social media accounts. She did share a funny shot of Luca wearing a bag over his head on Valentine's Day, writing, "My Valentine is a weirdo."

Hilary Duff Hints She Lost Her Virginity to Joel Madden in Her Teens, Talks "Massive Friend Cleanse"

She’s been the girl next door since age 14, but Hilary Duff doesn’t have a problem shedding her good girl image from time to time. In the April issue of Cosmopolitan, the Younger star, now 27, opened up about the public’s perception, and her reality. 

PHOTOS: Hilary Duff through the years

“I don’t have to prove to people that I’m an adult now. I am an adult,” said Duff, who indeed is mom to son Luca, 2, with future ex-husband Mike Comrie. “It’s frustrating to be put in a box, but I never needed to wild out to show that I’m grown-up.”

PHOTOS: When stars lost their virginity

One naughty allowance she did make: a top secret friend with benefits! 

“I’ve enjoyed myself,” she said when the Cosmo reporter asked if she previously had an “eff buddy.” “I think everyone should have something where you know it’s not exactly what you’re looking for but you just have a wicked good time. That was freeing for me and a bit of an awakening. It’s fun to have a secret.”

Hilary Duff got candid in the April issue of Cosmopolitan.
Credit: Eric Ray Davidson

PHOTOS: Hilary's life with ex Mike Comrie

Many fans have been fixated on when (and with whom) the newly single mom first lost her virginity. 

“I had a 26-year-old boyfriend,” Duff said of Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden, whom she dated from ages 16 to 19. “So everyone can make their own assumptions about what I was doing.”

PHOTOS: Stars' sex confessions

Madden, 36, is currently married to Nicole Richie, whom he began dating a month after splitting from Duff in 2006, and the couple shares daughter Harlow, 7, and son Sparrow, 5. 

One way the former child star has been able to keep it classy is thanks to eliminating the negative people in her life. 

“At 19, I did a massive friend cleanse,” she revealed. “That was really hard, to sit down with people and say ‘We can’t be friends anymore.’ They were like ‘That’s f—ked up; you’re a bitch.’ But having a good reputation was important to me. That’s not to say I didn’t screw up and do little naughties here and there.”

I Know What Makes Me Happy: Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff wants to explain her outfit. The reason she has come to out interview in leggings, a battered t-shirt and a pair of golden goose sneakers? She's heading to dance rehearsal after lunch to prep for a video for her new album. it just happens to be the first album she has put out in seven years—and the kickoff single, "All About You," is already earning raves. But let's be honest. One quick peek at her Instagram shows what Hilary is really all about: enjoying ordinary moments with her son Luca, 2. Over the past two years, the singer and actress, 27, has scaled back on work to raise Luca—and also to navigate one of the most difficult times in her life. She and her husband, Mike Comrie, separated last January after 3 1/2 years of marriage. Now Hilary is in the midst of more change: She moved to New York City to film her new show, Younger, which debuts in January on TV Land.


As she scans the menu, I can't help noticing all her tiny tattoos, so she gives me the tattoo tour, which charts her life from her Texas childhood to her Lizzie McGuire days at Disney, through career highs (her first four albums, three novels, more than a dozen films) and family milestones. She has a wishbone on her arm because she and her older sister, Haylie, used to break them apart. A little anchor that reminds her to keep her feet on the ground. Her son's name. And an arrow that matches ones her mom and sister have, symbolizing "always moving forward and having a goal," she explains. "I believe in having good luck charms. I think if you focus on something good, then good things will come to you."

Your TV show, Younger, from Sex and the City's Darren Star, sounds like a must-watch. Do you remember the moment you were like, 'This is the one!'? Or was the timing just right?

No, the timing was terrible! And I think that's when everything works out: When the timing is terrible and it's going to totally screw your life up, sometimes you just go for it. I absolutely loved the script, but I was like, "I can't move to New York, so I'm going to have to turn it down." It was right after Christmas. Mike and I were just getting ready to separate, Luca was about 18 months old and I was halfway through making my record. But I get a call from Darren, and he's like, "Can you just come shoot the pilot? I will make your work schedule so easy." 

Cliff Watts

I'm a huge Darren Star fan—I fight for good roles on interesting shows like that, so for him to fight for me, it felt like it was going to be a good match.

You have an album coming out in the new year. Why was it important to return to your music career?

I really missed performing. And I missed writing and talking about what I'm going through, what I love. (She picks up a shrimp with her fingers.) By the way, I love to eat with my hands. I think my manners went downhill since I've had a child. He's in the high chair, and I'll be standing up eating with him. I'm like, "Hilary, get it together!"

So what's the worst thing you've eaten with your hands that has made you think, If anyone saw me doing this right now...?

Noodles. Do you know how disgusting it is to eat noodles with your hands? I'll get food on my face from eating some of Luca's food. We'll go upstairs to get in the bath together, and I'll look in the mirror, and I'm like, "Sweet. Food on my face. How long has that been here?" Thank God we're alone. 

It seems like you and Mike have a very good relationship while you co-parent your son.

We really didn't see it going any other way. We have a 2-year-old together. We love each other. Obviously it wasn't a rash decision that we made. We really are just trying to figure out how we are the most happy—whether together or apart—and we're doing it as lovingly as possible. We would hang out without Luca; we think it's important to keep a strong relationship no matter if we're married or not married. And we love our son. We both want to fight for happiness.

What has helped you stay centered during all these life changes?

I have found that since I had Luca and took a substantial time off, it really helped me. Before, I would make a record and be working on a movie and then do a tour, so I didn't have time to sit and breathe and just be comfortable with me. I got a broken heart during that time, and I had to do a lot of soul-searching. It was rough. It was an emotional two years.

Before Hollywood, you grew up in Texas. Do you think there is a little Texas still in you?

A lot of Texas in me! We grew up outdoors, going to the rodeo, running around barefoot and climbing trees. It was just very simple. And I think I was always scared of repercussions, like, how you would affect your family by doing this or that. That doesn't mean I haven't messed up. But my parents were the first to knock me down to earth when I bought my first house in L.A. and we were all living there. They were tough on me. I think it helped me hold on to my dignity.

What is your biggest health regret?

Constantly worrying that my body is not good enough. I work my butt off in the gym—and, yes, it's because I want to be fit, but it also puts me in a positive mind-set. If I don't have that for a week, I start to get more agitated and impatient; I get in a funk.

Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff became a household name and a worldwide phenomenon thanks to her starring role in the hit Disney series Lizzie McGuire. With her wholesome blonde looks and exuberant personality, Duff stepped into the part of the likable middle-schooler with ease, though she had very little professional experience before the show debuted in early 2001.

Duff was suddenly dubbed the new "tween queen" in the media, a superstar for a generation of pre-teens whose age group had now grown to include ten-year-olds. This new "tween" category was a marketing phenomenon that took off with Duff and her cohorts around 2002. But asNewsweek 's Kate Stroup noted, the Texas teen was a cut above. "Duff, who's got a giddy charm and unexpected vulnerability in person, has established herself as the best actress of her generation," Stroup asserted, "easily outclassing the Olsen twins and Nickelodeon's Amanda Bynes."

Duff was born on September 28, 1987, and grew up in Boerne, Texas, a part of the state known as Hill Country. She was close to her older sister, Haylie, who was two years her senior, and took gymnastics and ballet lessons from an early age. She eventually won a part in The Nutcrackerwith BalletMet Columbus in the Ohio company's tour of the Christmastime classic. Their mother, Susan, who had once worked as a makeup artist, decided to take the girls to Los Angeles, California, to try their luck in television commercials. Right away, they landed jobs. "We were like, 'This is so easy!'" Duff recalled when Taylor Hanson spoke with her for anInterview article. "Then we went back to Texas … and came back to L.A. for the next pilot season. We thought that would be easy, too, but you audition and audition, and you don't get anything."

Headed to Hollywood

On that second trip to Los Angeles in 1996, Duff's mother had decided to resettle there in order to be closer to the entertainment business. Their father, Bob, was a partner in a chain of convenience stores back in Texas, and agreed to the plan, with visits from him every three weeks. The Duff women headed to Hollywood in a car with all their belongings, which included a pair of goldfish, a hermit crab, gerbil, and rabbit. Both Duff and her sister won parts in a television miniseries, True Women, in 1997, and Duff also appeared in a movie that went straight to video, Casper Meets Wendy.

A rough patch followed, and Duff did not work for almost two years. "Some kids have success too quickly, and they take it for granted, but it definitely didn't come too fast for us," she reflected in an article that Texas Monthly invited her to write. She appeared in the pilot episode of an NBC sitcom, Daddio, but the show's producers replaced her when casting the regular series, which did not last anyway. After that, she won a guest role on a Chicago Hope episode that aired in March of 2000, but was beginning to feel disillusioned by the search for work. "I was, like, wanting to quit," she recalled in an interview with Entertainment Weekly journalist Tim Carvell, "and I had one audition left, and it was Lizzie McGuire."

Became Lizzie McGuire

Duff actually auditioned for the Disney show four separate times, as the network's entertainment-division president Rich Ross told Stroup in the Newsweek article. "She wasn't doing anything wrong," Ross said of the multiple auditions. "She just wore such great outfits, and we wanted to see what she'd come in with next." Clearly, Duff had a natural star quality, and Ross and his colleagues decided she was a perfect fit in the role of a normal middle-school student with an amusing animated alter ego. Lizzie McGuire debuted in January of 2001, and quickly garnered a huge following among younger viewers for its lighthearted look at the ups and downs in the life of a klutzy middle-schooler.

With plots revolving around Lizzie's adventures at home and at school, and helped out by her two best friends, Gordo and Miranda, the show was a hit with critics and even older viewers, too. Many of the storylines "typically prey upon Lizzie's insecurities, which are more about what she wants to do when she grows up than about the size of her tummy, or crushes on boys," the New York Times's Hillary Frey reflected. "In stark contrast to the contrivances of prime-time teenage dramas," Frey continued, "Lizzie's problems are plausible, her character believable. This is key: Lizzie is the luminous and loyal friend any kid would want to have at a stage of adolescence when the world just begins to seem very dark."

More than one television critic and celebrity confessed to being a fan of Lizzie McGuire. "Lizzie's fizzy middle-school misadventures, like buying a bra and scoring a first kiss, are always sweet, never syrupy—making the show palatable for parents and even twentysomethings," declared Stroup in Newsweek. Carvell, writing in Entertainment Weekly, noted that Duff's hit show "amounts to Ally McBeal with longer skirts and homework: Lizzie negotiates all the crises of middle school, while her cartoon alter ego supplies fantasy sequences and wry commentary." Duff herself explained Lizzie's particular appeal. "She doesn't exactly fit in at school," the actress reflected in an interview with Time 's Richard Corliss. "Even though she's cool, and she dresses cool, she doesn't know who she is yet."

Lizzie McGuire became the Disney Channel's highest-rated program, and also the highest-rated program on basic cable in its 7:30 p.m. time slot. The Disney marketing machine went into overdrive, merchandising tie-in material that included a series of Lizzie McGuire novels, a clothing line, and then a big-screen version. Duff's status as the new "Tween Queen" was cemented by a Vanity Fair cover for its annual Hollywood issue. Though The Lizzie McGuire Movie,released in 2003, was savaged by many critics, it took in $17.3 million on its opening weekend, a testament to the legions of Duff/McGuire fans. Its plot began with the end of her middle-school career for McGuire, and an exciting summer class trip to Rome, where Lizzie becomes involved with a handsome Italian teen pop star named Paolo (Yani Gellman).

For the Record . . .

Born Hilary Ann Lisa Duff on September 28, 1987, in Houston, TX; daughter of Bob (a retail executive) and Susan (a business manager) Duff.

Appeared in a BalletMet Columbus tour of The Nutcracker, c. 1993; film appearances include:Human Nature, 2001; Agent Cody Banks, 2003; The Lizzie McGuire Movie, 2003; A Cinderella Story,2004; Raise Your Voice, 2004; The Perfect Man, 2004; Outward Blonde, 2005. Launched singing career with "Santa Clause Lane," included on the soundtrack to The Santa Clause 2, 2002, and on her own Christmas album Santa Claus Lane, 2002; released Metamorphosis, 2003; released single "So Yesterday," 2003; released single "Come Clean," 2004; contributed to A Cinderella Storysoundtrack, 2004.

Awards: Young Hollywood Award, "Today's Superstar," 2004.

Addresses: Office—c/o Boo Management and Consulting, 10061 Riverside Dr., Ste. 1061, Toluca Lake, CA 91602. Website—Hilary Duff Official Website: http://www.hilaryduff.com.

Disney also owned the ABC network, and had planned to move Duff into prime-time on the broadcast network with a new series that would feature Lizzie as a high-schooler. There were, however, reportedly two other broadcast networks vying for a chance to give Duff her own prime-time sitcom, and Duff's mother, who served as her business manager, was reportedly unhappy with Disney's offer for a big-screen sequel. There was further rancor involving an alleged $500,000 bonus Disney had promised when The Lizzie McGuire Movie had earned $50 million at the box office. "Disney thought they'd be able to bully us into accepting whatever offer they wanted to make, and they couldn't," Susan Duff told Entertainment Weekly writer Allison Hope Weiner. "We walked away from a sequel. They walked away from a franchise."

Music Career Blossomed

Duff was already a feature-film veteran by then, with a role in another tween hit, Agent Cody Banks with Frankie Muniz, and signed to a $2 million paycheck for the lead in A Cinderella Story.She had also segued into a recording career, with a CD, Metamorphosis, on Buena Vista/Hollywood Records—also owned by Disney but part of a separate contract from her film and television work. Her debut record of pop tunes went platinum weeks after its release in August of 2003, yet further evidence of Duff's ongoing appeal to her vast Lizzie McGuireaudience. Her move to pop stardom was somewhat unexpected, she told Billboard writer Craig Rosen, but certainly not unwelcome. In 2001, she had taken part in a Radio Disney concert, and saw "all these pop acts backstage at the concert," Duff told Rosen. "They were all getting ready backstage and warming up, and I was like, 'I want to do this so bad.'"

Despite her thriving career in television and film, Duff's first actual singing appearance before a live audience was unnerving, she confessed. It came at the American Music Awards telecast in November of 2003, with several industry heavy-hitters, among them country superstar Faith Hill, sitting in the front row. "I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up," she wrote in the article for Texas Monthly. But Duff then embarked on a concert tour to promoteMetamorphosis, and the tour dates also served to boost her profile for her next project: her appearance in the Steve Martin family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, which hit theaters in time for the holiday 2003 season.

Duff's career in television seemed to end with the 65-episode run of Lizzie McGuire. She was the object of a bidding war between networks in the fall of 2003, and walked away with a sitcom development deal with CBS. A few months later, however, the network announced that there would not be a new Duff series, after writers and producers failed to come up with a suitable project for the teen star.

Her career in Hollywood and on stage, meanwhile, continued at an exciting pace: in June of 2004, she and her sister, Haylie, released a single, the remake of the early 1980s Go-Go's classic, "Our Lips Are Sealed," which was slated to appear on A Cinderella Story 's soundtrack. The movie was set in California's San Fernando Valley, and starred Duff as Sam, a high-schooler whose father dies and leaves his restaurant to Sam's brutish stepmother, played by Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde, American Pie). Sam is overworked at home and at the restaurant, and ignored at school, until she begins receiving mysterious text messages from the cute boy at school, played by Chad Michael Murray (Freaky Friday, The Gilmore Girls). Duff was also slated to appear in The Perfect Man, opposite Heather Locklear and Chris Noth, about a daughter determined to find a mate for her single mom.

Released Sophomore Album

Duff's second album, Hilary Duff, was released in September of 2004 on Hollywood Records. Keeping with the emerging pop themes and styles being established by artists such as Ashlee Simpson and Avril Lavigne, the album, as described on All Music Guide, "might take itself a little seriously, it might be a little uneven, but it feels like the soundtrack to the life of a smart, ambitious, popular teenager trying to sort things out." The album peaked on the AmericanBillboard 200 at number two. Duff is especially popular in Canada, and in 2004, Metamorphosiswas nominated for a Juno Award. For the second year in a row, Duff achieved number one status on the Top Canadian Albums chart.

As for herself, Duff has had a difficult time dating with such a high public profile. The press avidly chronicled the perceived ups and downs of her relationship with pop singer Aaron Carter for most of 2003. Despite the multimillion-dollar contracts and endless business meetings, she remains very much a teenager. She travels with a tutor, who assigns typical high-school homework for her to complete, and for months she told reporters that she could only think about turning 16 and being able to get her driver's license. Nor is she immune to standard bouts of freak-out. "I think I have about two really good cries a year about being so overwhelmed and having so much stress," she confessed to CosmoGirl! writer Lori Berger. "Sometimes you don't even know what you're crying about because you've held it inside for so long."

Duff's efforts to balance these "freak-outs" involve the "feel-good" charity, Kids With A Cause, a non-profit organization with the mission "to teach philanthropy to today's youth by interacting and sharing experiences with those less fortunate."

Selected discography

(Contributor) The Santa Clause 2 (soundtrack), Disney, 2002.

Santa Claus Lane, Disney, 2002.

Metamorphosis, Buena Vista, 2003.

"So Yesterday" (single), Festival, 2003.

"Come Clean" (single), Festival, 2004.

(Contributor) A Cinderella Story (soundtrack), Hollywood, 2004.

Hilary Duff, Hollywood, 2004.

Sources

Periodicals

Billboard, January 31, 2004, p. 10; June 5, 2004, p. 32.

Billboard Bulletin, September 11, 2003, p. 1.

CosmoGirl!, March 2004, p. 126.

Daily Variety, May 2, 2003, p. 8; March 22, 2004, p. 7.

DSN Retailing Today, January 5, 2004, p. 2.

Entertainment Weekly, May 9, 2003, pp. 34-36; June 13, 2003, pp. 14-15.

Film Journal International, April 2003, p. 57.

Girls' Life, August-September 2003, p. 46.

Interview, February 2004, p. 122.

New Statesman, September 8, 2003, p. 46.

Newsweek, March 17, 2003, pp. 56-57.

New York Times, April 27, 2003, p. 13.

People, May 12, 2003, p. 37; May 19, 2003, pp. 83-84; April 5, 2004, p. 20.

Texas Monthly, April 2004, p. 80.

Time, April 14, 2003, pp. 76-79.

WWD, December 18, 2003, p. 2.

Online

"Sizzlin' 16, 2003: Hilary Duff," E! Online, http:www.eonline.com/Features/Features/Sizzlin2003/Girls/index2.html (January 3, 2004).

Hilary Duff Admits Her Biggest Musical Mistake and Why She Admires Miley Cyrus

Since 2007's Dignity, Hilary Duff has been focused on her personal life: She married former NHL player Mike Comrie in 2010, had a son and then divorced in 2014. She's now back to the professional grind with a new show, TV Land'sYounger, and a new album, Breathe In. Breathe Out., due June 16 on RCA. The former Lizzie McGuire star, 27, gives her musical point of view.

Hilary Duff Releases Second, Tinder-Free 'Sparks' Video

My favorite new-album track:
" 'One in a Million.' It's a 'f-- you' anthem about a guy who's not treating you right."

My biggest musical struggle:
"Finding my actual voice again. If you're not using your voice, you lose confidence in it."

My pop hero:
"Britney Spears. Growing up I was a huge fan -- along with every other girl."

Watch Hilary Duff Perform Acoustic Version of 'Tattoo'

My biggest mistake:
"A terrible song, 'The Math,' on my first album. I got forced into recording it. It's just super cheesy."

My most emotional new song:
" 'Tattoo,' co-written by Ed Sheeran. It's a beautiful song about a relationship ending and what it leaves behind."

Check Out Hilary Duff's 'Breathe In. Breathe Out.' Tracklist

My favorite fellow Disney alum:
"Miley Cyrus. I commend her for not giving a f--- what people think."

My reality check:
"I sang [2004 hit] 'Come Clean' on a radio show, and it made me feel old. I recorded that when I was 16. It means something totally different to me now than it did back then."