Imran Khan, the Pakistani cricket star turned politician, has announced his divorce from his second wife after 10 months of marriage.
News of his split from Reham Khan, a 42-year-old broadcast journalist who once worked for the BBC, was announced on Friday by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party he founded.
In a series of tweets, the 62-year-old appealed for privacy, saying:
The couple’s wedding in January at his hilltop villa near Islamabad caused widespread surprise in Pakistan, where a close interest is taken in Imran Khan’s private life, which included an earlier marriage to Jemima Goldsmith, with whom he had two sons.
Khan was criticised for his decision to remarry just weeks after the Taliban massacre of more than 130 schoolboys in Peshawar which horrified the country.
Some conservatives also objected to archive video of Reham Khan’s career presenting BBC South Today which featured her cooking pork sausages at a country fair.
Members of his family made clear their disapproval by staying away from his marriage ceremony. There was also unease within the PTI about Reham’s involvement in politics after she helped campaign in a byelection the party lost.
The controversy prompted Imran Khan to publicly announce his wife would be given no role within the PTI, would not be allowed to attend party functions, “nor will [she] be given any official protocol”.
