Just over a year after revealing her desire to have more children, Sarah Harris has shocked fans around the country by announcing she has split from her husband Tom Ward.
The Studio 10 host, 39, said she was “taking time apart” from her IT specialist husband of seven years, saying in a statement last week that they remained “good friends” and were “deeply committed to co-parenting our two beautiful boys”.
However, a source close to the couple tells Woman’s Day there was much more going on behind the scenes than the public knows.
“The truth is, they’re on completely different life paths,” says the insider.
“Sarah’s star has never shone so bright! Her career is going gangbusters, she’s lost a lot of weight and looking amazing, she’s gracing the covers of newspapers and magazines, and every TV executive has her in their sights.
Sarah and Tom have not been pictured in a family snap together for more than a year
(Instagram)“She’s got her confidence back again and loving it.”
While Tom has stood by his wife throughout her amazing transformation, our source says it was Sarah who began to have second thoughts on their marriage.
“I think she began to wonder if they were actually compatible as the years rolled by,” says the insider.
The couple are “taking time apart” after five years of dating and seven years of marriage
(Instagram)“Sarah has never been one to be in the limelight but I think she’s enjoying the compliments from colleagues and friends with her newfound footing in the industry.
“She’s a very different person to who she was all those years ago when she first started out in Australian TV.”
And according to sources, Sarah’s fondness for being in the public eye was a sticking point for camera-shy Tom.
“I think Tom would be wondering at what point did their goals and aspirations become quite different,” explains the source.
Sarah enjoys the limelight far more than camera-shy Tom
(Instagram)“Sarah was always very much by his side, but now it feels like he’s missed the chance to be on the same ride.
“I think he would’ve loved nothing more than to have more kids and settle into a slow-paced family life away from the razzamatazz of television.”
Despite them being on two different paths, the insider says the couple – who share sons Paul, five, and Harry, two – will never let the separation turn bitter.
The couple will co-parent sons Harry and Paul
(Instagram)“They’re not those sorts of people, and they will never air their dirty laundry – they’ve got way too much class for that,” the source says.
It was only in late 2019 that Sarah spoke of possibly expanding their family, saying, “I’m waiting to feel like I’m done, and I don’t think that’s quite the case yet.”
Tellingly, Tom hasn’t appeared on the presenter’s very active Instagram page since January 2020.
