Inside Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli's Failed Marriage: 'Beverly Hills, 90210' Actress Turned to Alcohol and Pills Following Devastating Divorce Before She 'Forgave' Ex
Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli were married more than a decade before things fell apart.
May 21 2026, Published 9:00 p.m. ET
Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli's love story spanned nearly two decades before coming to an end, and RadarOnline.com can reveal everything that went wrong in their marriage.
Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli Wed in January 2001
Peter Facinelli filed for divorce from Jennie Garth in 2012.
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, California, ranch house, while Facinelli split his time commuting from Vancouver and New York City.
Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli Finalized Their Divorce in June 2013
Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli were married for 11 years.
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.
Jennie Garth Was 'Very Resistant' to the Divorce
They were together for approximately 17 years.
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."
Peter Facinelli Admitted That His Marriage to Jennie Garth Felt 'Arranged'
Jennie Garth married Dave Abrams in 2015.
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."
Peter Facinelli Said He and Jennie Garth Were 'Very Codependent' During Their Marriage
Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli share three children.
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.
Peter Facinelli Took Jennie Garth and Her Family In During the Los Angeles Fires
She revealed she found out Dave Abrams was filing for divorce after reading a news report.
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."
How Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli Stayed on Good Terms After the Divorce
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Peter Facinelli popped the question to Lily Anne Harrison in 2020.
In an interview with E! News, the What I Like About You actress divulged that she and Facinelli were not always on the best of 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.
Jennie Garth Felt Tormented After the Split
He was previously linked to Jaimie Alexander.
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.'"
