Lovebirds no more as Carrey tweets break-up

ACTORS Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy ended their five-year relationship by announcing the split on their Twitter pages.

The announcement surprised Hollywood insiders as the low-profile couple appeared to have a durable union, and Carrey passionately advocated a link between vaccines and autism, a neurological disease suffered by McCarthy’s seven-year- old son.

On Valentine’s Day, Carrey, 48, hired a plane to write “J (heart) J” above the home they shared in the upscale Los Angeles neighbourhood of Brentwood.

“Jenny my Love, you’ve stolen my heart, my soul and of course anything you find in my pants,” he cooed in a follow-up Twitter message.

But both were singing a different tune late on Tuesday night.

“Jenny and I have just ended our (five-year) relationship,” Carrey wrote. “I’m grateful [for] the many blessings we’ve shared and I wish her the very best!”

McCarthy, 37, was equally amicable, writing that she was grateful for their time together, and would “always keep Jim as a leading man in my heart”.

In the early days of their relationship, Carrey wooed McCarthy by taking her on a helicopter ride and to concerts by Radiohead and Fiona Apple, according to a People magazine report in 2006.

In recent years, Carrey and McCarthy entered the emotional debate about the causes of autism, strenuously defending medical researchers who believed the disease was caused by vaccines. McCarthy’s son Evan was diagnosed with the disease in 2005, a disclosure that strained her first marriage to actor/director John Asher.

Carrey, who has a daughter from the first of his two marriages, recently became a grandfather for the first time. His most recent on-screen appearance was in the 2008 comedy Yes Man, which earned $223 million worldwide. McCarthy, a former Playboy Playmate, is writing a book about relationships.

Meanwhile, comic couple Dawn French and Lenny Henry announced their 25-year marriage was over on Tuesday.

While both enjoyed success on stage and screen, away from the limelight the high-profile pairing was subject to intense pressure.

They were once forced to move house after being targeted by racists.

Vandals smeared excrement on their front door and posted messages saying “You have been visited by the Ku Klux Klan” through the letter box.

But the two appeared to overcome the strain and their relationship was considered rock-solid for the best part of 25 years.

In a statement, a spokes- man for the comedians said the couple made the decision six months ago but had continued to live together in “constant discussion”.

The couple’s split is “entirely amicable”, he said.