Matt Lauer and Wife Annette Roque Have ‘Started the Divorce Process’

In the aftermath of Matt Lauer’s sexual misconduct scandal, he and wife Annette Roque, 51, are quietly navigating the end of their marriage.

“They’ve started the divorce process,” a source reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly of the pair, who share children Jack, 16, Romy, 14, and Thijs, 11. As his almost 20-year union with the former model comes to a close, the disgraced Today show anchor, 60, is looking forward. “He thinks he can start fresh,” says the insider, “in both his personal and professional life.”

While Lauer was seen wearing his wedding ring in the days immediately following his firing from NBC News, he was spotted in early December without the band while buying breakfast in Sag Harbor, New York.

As previously reported, Lauer was fired by the network in November following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Lauer responded to the allegations in astatement to Us Weekly shortly after. “There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions,” Lauer he said at the time. “To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC. Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly.”

While Lauer also called “repairing the damage” from the allegations his new “full-time job,” in the statement, he’s already considering his return to the small screen. Notes the source: “He thinks he’ll be back on TV at some point.”