Real reason Jessica Simpson finally split from Eric Johnson and the desperate attempts she made to save their marriage

Jessica Simpson turned to counselling, spiritual healing and tantric exercises in a desperate bid to save her marriage, but ultimately, she needed to walk away after concerned friends raised fears that the strain could break her sobriety.

The actress, 44, announced she had split from Eric Johnson, 45, her husband of 10 years, on Monday, after ‘navigating a painful situation in our marriage.’

DailyMail.com previously reported that the now-estranged pair had tried to reignite their 'spark' after getting 'stuck in a lull period,' with neither party wanting to file for divorce.

But the Dukes of Hazzard star, who was forced to flee her Hidden Hills mansion this week, grew tired of making the effort as Johnson became progressively more ‘absent’ in recent years.

‘Jessica has grown, and Eric has not,’ an insider told DailyMail.com exclusively. ‘For her, staying for the kids was not enough.

‘Eric likes to take the credit for Jessica getting sober and turning her life around and, while he was supportive of her and her journey, she did this herself. He didn’t baby sit her.

‘He has been extremely absent for the past couple years. The spark was completely gone, and she tried her best to avoid a divorce.

‘They did counselling. It didn’t work. They did spiritual healing, tantric exercises, everything. It didn’t work.’

The final straw came when friends started to voice their fears that Simpson, who recently celebrated being alcohol-free for seven years, could relapse.

‘She has been sober for seven years now and their fighting and the stress was causing her friends to fear she would relapse,' the source added. 'She needed to walk away from this.

‘She is fragile, but she is not broken.’

The singer wed former NFL star Johnson in 2014. They share Maxwell, 12, Ace, 11, and Birdie Mae, five.

She has talked openly about her journey to sobriety which began in 2017 after she realised how much she was missing out on with her children.

'I was at a place where I was literally spiralling with the alcohol and I was missing out on moments with my children, and then they were seeing me and they were very confused,' she told the Kelly Clarkson Show in March 2020. 

Simpson announced their split this week in a statement to People, which read: 'Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage.

'Our children come first, and we are focusing on what is best for them. We are grateful for all of the love and support that has been coming our way, and appreciate privacy right now as we work through this as a family.'

The news came just days after she listed her Hidden Hills mansion for $17.9 million, knocking nearly $5million off of the asking price since they first put it on the market in September 2023. 

Speculation that her relationship was on the rocks had been growing in recent months, with Simpson fuelling the talk when she shared pictures without her wedding rings and cryptically told fans her musical comeback will address how she has put up 'with everything I did not deserve.'

'Interviews in my Nashville music room where I unearthed my singular magic,' she wrote on Instagram in November.

'This comeback is personal, it’s an apology to myself for putting up with everything I did not deserve.'

A source at the time told DailyMail.com: 'They are both aware that things need to change to make it work and not get into a situation where divorce is the only outcome.

'They are stuck in a lull period and are both trying to figure out what could spark things to bring it back and whether that is counselling or anything else. They don't want to make any rash decisions over the holidays.'

It followed reports that the pair were no longer living together in their Hidden Hills, California mansion.

A source at the time told Life & Style: 'Eric has had it with her crazy mood swings. And Jessica feels like their marriage has lost its romance. 

'Everyone's wondering how long they can go on like this…

'Eric has been doing his own thing for longer than anyone seems to know. He's been very vocal about how difficult it is to live with someone so obsessed with surgery and so detached from reality most of the time.'

They were last pictured in June when they attended their daughter Birdie's graduation from kindergarten.

He hasn't appeared on her social media since April and she failed to mark his 45th birthday on September 10.

It was a stark contrast to her effusive tribute the previous year when she shared photos from their family celebration and wrote: 'My heart is so taken with this Man, I could hardly call it my own.... 

'We love youuuu.’

Johnson has not been pictured wearing his wedding ring on recent outings.

Simpson was previously married to 98 Degrees boy band singer Nick Lachey from 2002 to 2006.

Their relationship was documented in the reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, which ran from 2003 to 2005 and gave fans a peek into their lives.

She went on to have a passionate but turbulent romance with John Mayer, who famously referred to Simpson as 'sexual napalm' in a now-infamous 2010 Playboy interview.

He also claimed she was ‘like crack cocaine to me.’