We remember it like it was yesterday:
At first, fans thought the announcement of the Kaley Cuoco-Karl Cook relationship was part of some elaborate April Fools’ Day prank.
The couple went public in late March of 2016, and from the very beginning, something just seemed a bit off.
Kaley was fresh out of a serious relationship; Karl was five years younger than her, and her name means “cook” in Italian.
We’re not sure what sort of punchline people thought these two were building up to, but it’s not hard to see why their romance was initially regarded with a great deal of skepticism.
But in the end, it turned out that these two were the real deal.
Cuoco and Cook got married in 2018, and fans hoped that Kaley would finally get to start creating the family she’d dreamed of for so long.
Alas, that wasn’t meant to be.
Kaley and Karl announced their separation last week, and apparently, this wasn’t the sort of situation in which they just gradually drifted apart.
No, by all appearances, this was a messy split that would be making daily tabloid headlines if Kaley were still at the height of her fame.
(No shade there. She’s still got a great career going, but she’s no longer one of the world’s highest-paid, most heavily-scrutinized actresses, as she was toward the end of her Big Bang Theory days.)
As is customary in cases such as these, Kaley and Karl issued a statement confirming that they’re going their separate ways, but they did not offer any details with regard to what led them to that decision.
And of course, neither party pointed the finger at the other in the couple’s joint statement.
“Despite a deep love and respect for one another, we have realized that our current paths have taken us in opposite directions,” they said.
“We have both shared so much of our journey publicly so while we would prefer to keep this aspect of our personal life private, we wanted to be forthcoming in our truth together,” the former couple continued.
“There is no anger or animosity, quite the contrary.”
But is it really the case that these two just civilly decided to call it quits?
Spurring the reports that something went horribly awry here is the fact that Kaley filed for divorce just hours after news of the separation went public.
Not only was she in a rush to end this thing, she likely knew what sort of message the hasty filing would send, and she did it anyway.
All of this comes three months after Kaley and Karl joyously celebrated their wedding anniversary with gushy Instagram posts.
“June 2016 is the year we met,” Cuoco wrote.
“2 years to the day before we got married and now 3 years married! Why have you stayed married to me for so long?! I’m sincerely impressed,” she continued.
“I love you oh so much you have no idea…happy anniversary!!!”
“I agree [Kaley Cuoco] I am just as amazed it’s been three years, feel like just a flash. I love you so much and I can’t wait for a million more years!!” Cook added.
Kaley’s timeline doesn’t totally check out, as she and Karl were posting pics together back in March of 2016, but whatever.
The point is, it looks as though some sort of precipitous event transpired in the past three months that led Kaley to very abruptly decide to end her marriage.
We may never know exactly what happened — unless one of these two decides to publish a memoir one day.
Of course, Kaley’s prenup and divorce filing likely contained clauses that will keep a muzzle on Karl for several years to come.