Courtney Ford Files for Divorce From ‘Superman Returns’ Star Brandon Routh After 17 Years Together

DC: Legends of Tomorrow alum Courtney Ford has called it quits with her husband and fellow DC Universe star, Brandon Routh.

Courtney, 46, filed for divorce on Wednesday, January 8, according to TMZ, and cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split. She and Brandon, 45, have one child together, Leo, who is 12 years old, and she’s requesting joint legal and physical custody of their son. The outlet reported that while she’s seeking spousal support, Courtney requested that none be granted to Brandon.

Courtney and Brandon first met in 2003 while the Superman Returns star was working at the Lucky Strike bowling alley in Los Angeles. She was there for her brother’s rehearsal dinner and the two were introduced.

Courtney and Brandon confirmed the news of their split in a joint Instagram post on January 9.

“To everyone who has loved and supported us, we have some personal news to share. After 21 years together and 17 years of marriage, we have decided to begin a new journey and enter this next chapter as friends and coparents,” the former couple wrote. “

“We are now and forever rooting for each other as we move through this wild adventure called life. Our son is, and will always be, our highest priority and we appreciate your understanding of this transition.”

“He met my whole family the day he met me,” Courtney joked during an interview with People published in May 2006.

Brandon and Courtney wed the following year at a small ceremony held at the El Capitan Ranch in Santa Barbara. The two went on to star in DC: Legends of Tomorrow together with Courtney taking on the role of Nora Darhk and Brandon as Ray Palmer, but they both left the series after season 5. He opened up about their time together ahead of the fifth season.

“We love these characters and we’ve worked together before in the past, but we’ve never really done comedy together,” Brandon told People in 2019. “[Courtney’s] really grown in her comfort with comedy. She was always funny, but because my character has a comedic background, getting to work together, the two of us, and do the comedy and play off each other has been really amazing and just keeps building and building into the episodes this season.”

He continued, “There are some really fantastic episodes this season. Just, you know, she’s killing it with comedy and we get to do it together.”

The Life Is Hot in Cracktown actor added that he was “always learning” new things from Courtney, and their characters on DC: Legends of Tomorrow helped him see new angles in their relationship.

“Our relationship kind of parallels Ray and Nora a little bit,” Brandon explained. “And that’s why we love these characters so much because learning the balance between light and dark, about kind of like drama and comedy, right? So, if you’re just having fun all the time and kind of escaping the real nitty gritty of life, you can have an imbalance. That’s me, and she’s more rooted in truth and honesty and letting life in, the hard times in life. So, we found a balance together and Ray represents a light and Nora kind of represents the dark.”

The former couple hadn’t shared any photos or pictures of one another on their social media accounts in over a year, with Courtney’s last post about Brandon being on Father’s Day in 2023. Similarly, Brandon had last shared a tribute to the former True Blood star on Mother’s Day the same year.

“She’s a ride-or-die friend, and a mom who’s all in,” Brandon wrote at the time. “I’m so grateful that Leo has @courtneyfordhere, who jumps feet first into living, giving him permission and unconditional love to be fully himself.”