Zooey Deschanel has split from Jacob Pechenik

In a joint statement, they said: "After much discussion and a long period of contemplation we have decided we are better off as friends, business partners and co-parents rather than life partners. We remain committed to our business, our values and most of all our children. Thank you for respecting our privacy at this time."

Zooey and Jacob - who share Elsie Otter, four, and Charlie Wolf, two, together - have kept their relationship largely out of the spotlight but announced the arrival of their second child, Charlie, in a statement back in May 2017.

A spokesperson for the family said at the time: "Zooey, Jacob and their daughter Elsie are overjoyed to welcome the newest member of their family."

Zooey chose to have otter as the middle name of her first child.

Explaining her choice at the time, she said: "In a sense that we're all mammals. We thought Elsie is a classic name - a lot of people have grandmas and aunts named Elsie. And then we were like the middle name can be a little bit like wild. We both found that we had a mutual love for otters. There were some more normal middle names ... but I saw that nobody else likely had the middle name 'Otter.'"