Newlyweds stars Jessica Simpson, 25, and Nick Lachey, 32, have split, Star has confirmed. "After three years of marriage, and careful thought and consideration, we have decided to part ways," the couple jointly said in a statement to Star. "This is the mutual decision of two people with an enormous amount of respect and admiration for each other. We hope that you respect our privacy during this difficult time."

The parting of ways comes after the couple for months had been denying rumors that their marriage was headed for a split.

In the midst of these rumors, sources have recently told Star that Jessica is pregnant. Despite the split, a source close to the couple tells Star, "They are not filing papers anytime soon. Who knows? Maybe they'll get back together." NICK LACHEY SEEMS RELIEVED THAT IT'S FINALLY OVER

While Jessica Simpson is spending the holidays with her family and putting a brave face on it seems that Nick Lachey is breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"Nick seems relieved that it's all finally out in the open," a source tells Star. "I think he feels he can now start getting on with his own life at last. He's really sad that things didn't work out between them but it hasn't been working for a very long time and its probably been torturous to keep things together for so long.

"As far as Nick is concerned he's going to keep things very clean and he's adamant that he's not going to get involved in any mud slinging and name calling. He just wants to be able to move on to living the rest of his life with as much dignity as he can.

"I think the announcement was made just before thanksgiving because they probably both decided that they couldn't go on pretending they were a couple when everything was so over.

"I bet they both knew that if they didn't pretend to be together it would just bring this avalanche of stories again about it being over so they decided to cut their losses.

"He's feeling pretty sad at the moment but totally relieved as well. Joe Simpson probably wanted the two of them to stay married but neither Nick nor Jessica wanted to anymore. In the end I hear Nick just told Jessica that 'enough is enough, I just can't do this anymore.'"