MEG RYAN & JOHN MELLENCAMP
The on-again, off-again couple have ended their engagement and are going their separate ways.
AFTER EIGHT YEARS OF ON-AGAIN, OFF-AGAIN ROMANCE, THE ENGAGED COUPLE HAVE SPLIT
“There are times when the page turns and you’re no longer this
or that.”
— Meg
Meg Ryan flashed a smile for the cameras at the Governors Awards on Oct. 27 in LA. The star looked elegant in a black column dress, hoop earrings and bracelets, but one bit of finery was conspicuously missing: her engagement ring from rocker John Mellencamp.
Almost a year after they announced their intention to marry, Meg, 57, has ended her on-again, off-again, eight-year romance with John, 68. “Meg agonized over this,” a friend says. “She loves John with all her heart — but her vision of how she wanted to live the rest of her life just didn’t match up with his.”
Meg, a homebody who is raising her daughter Daisy, 15, in New York, disliked following John on tour and found it difficult to live with his temper. “I throw fits,” John admitted during one of their previous breakups. “I gripe, I complain. I’m moody.” At times, it became exhausting. “Meg always felt like she had to be on guard — I think she’s looking for a more Zen existence than that,” says the friend.
The musician, who is a respected painter, also never found his groove in New York. “The noise, the hustle and bustle grates on him,” says the friend. “He found it hard to create his art in the city — just too many distractions.”
FACING FACTS
Meg felt a “deep and profound love” with John, adds the friend, but she put off setting a wedding date. “For now, this engagement thing is a state of grace,” Meg said in August. Eventually, she realized that by ending their relationship now, she was avoiding putting them through an even greater hurt in the future. “She will always love John,” says the friend, “but she feels it is best they go their separate ways.”
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