Hong Kong actor Roger Kwok and actress Cindy Au shocked the territory’s entertainment industry on May 2 when they announced their split after 18 years of marriage.

The celebrity couple, long seen as a model couple in the industry, shared an almost identical message on their respective social media accounts on the night of May 2.

“I’m thankful for the wonderful times we had together,” they wrote, tagging each other in the post. “We have been living separately in the last two years, and the decision to divorce was made after careful consideration and communication between us.”

They continued: “It was a difficult decision with no other alternatives, and I am grateful for the efforts we had put in for each other and for the family.”

Kwok, 59, and Au, 44, met in 1999 while filming a travel show for Hong Kong broadcaster TVB. They dated for about seven years before holding a fairy-tale wedding at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2006. The couple have a 16-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter together.

Kwok rose to fame after starring in the TVB series At The Threshold Of An Era (1999 to 2000), and won Best Actor thrice at the TVB Anniversary Awards for Square Pegs (2002 to 2003), Life Made Simple (2005) and Black Heart White Soul (2014).

Au is known for performing the theme song of the Cantonese adaptation of Japanese anime series Chibi Maruko-chan in 1997. She then switched to acting, before taking a break from show business after marriage.

The pair have not appeared together in public in recent years and last posted photos of themselves together on social media in September 2019.

According to Hong Kong media, they were last spotted together attending as well as performing at the TVB music show Cantopop At 50 in 2020.