Secrets Of Matt Lauer's 'Separate Lives' Marriage Are Revealed
The shocking secrets of Matt Lauer's troubled marriage have been revealed.
Page Six has ripped the lid off the former Today titan's bizarre relationship with his beautiful wife Annette Roque, a former model.
Roque, who reportedly fled to her original hometown in Holland after news of Lauer's alleged sexual harassment of other women broke, had trouble with Matt throughout their marriage, sources told the publication.
As Lauer, 59, made megabucks at Today, Roque, 52, raised the couple's three kids and rode horses as a hobby, an insider said to Page Six.
The Lauers' owned a boutique 40-acre horse farm near their home and one local noted, "When I see her, she's always in riding clothes."
"My wife and daughter ride like crazy," Lauer told Newsday in 2014.
Other than that, Roque has been reclusive, with sources claiming for the past decade, she and Lauer have led separate lives.
Roque sticks to the couple's properties in ritzy Sag Harbor, Long Island, while Lauer remains in their Park Avenue apartment during the week, insiders told Page Six.
They apparently make it a point not to have dates alone together!
"If she goes out to dinner, it's always with Matt and one other couple," a source in the restaurant world commented to The Post. "I've seen her in Manhattan only once or twice."
Lauer and his ex-model love married in 1998, and even when they were newlyweds, Lauer's pal Elizabeth Vargas joked, "We'd say, 'This woman is a phantom. She doesn't exist.' "
Roque reportedly put her husband on a short leash soon after they wed, not wanting Lauer to go to Florida to cover a space shuttle launch for the Today show. Staffers got Roque a credential so she could come with him and watch.
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But was she actually watching for his wandering eye? Even before the scandal that ended his long Today show run, Lauer was known for his alleged cheating and bad behavior.
As RadarOnline.com readers know, last week, the media world was rocked when Lauer was fired from Today. The ouster occurred after an NBC employee accused him of sexual harassment; other women later came forward to complain about the newsman.
Lauer and Roque had previously faced scandal in 2006, when they briefly separated.
Insiders gossiped that Roque hit the roof over his alleged affair with Today show correspondent Natalie Morales, Page Six noted.
Both Lauer and Morales have vehemently denied an affair, but at the time, Roque, although she was seven months pregnant with their third child, filed for divorce.
Worse, the divorce papers were messy as Roque alleged "cruel and inhumane" treatment and claimed Lauer had "extremely controlling" behavior. She did not, however cite infidelity.
"Defendant has continuously and repeatedly given higher priority to … personal interests than his family obligations to plaintiff, causing plaintiff to feel abandoned, isolated and alone in raising the parties' children," Roque's 2006 court papers read.
But Roque withdrew her divorce suit three weeks later as they reconciled, reportedly for the birth of their son, Thijs.
According to a Page Six source, Lauer offered her up to a rumored $5 million deal to remain in the marriage because "Matt needed to stay in the marriage to keep his reputation as America's nicest dad. He is in fact a … very doting dad to his kids, but he is also a terrible husband."
The couple also fought in 2010, and started living separately, according to reports.
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