3year

Actor Todd Bridges and Bettijo B. Hirschi are headed separate ways after three years of marriage.

“After much prayer and reflection, my spouse and I have made the difficult decision to separate,” Bridges told The Times in a statement Thursday. “This was not an easy choice, and it comes with a heavy heart, but also with love and gratitude for the life we shared.”

Bridges, 60, and Hirschi met in January 2022 and married nine months later, after a brief engagement. It was a second marriage for both. Hirschi told Tamron Hall last year that a friend who wrote a new dating profile for her showed it to Bridges as “market research.” The friend then told Hirschi that he wanted to get in touch.

“She’s a lot like my mom,” Bridges told Hall.

“I thank God for the time we’ve had together, the lessons we’ve learned, and the family we’ve built,” Bridges continued. “Even in this season of change, I trust He is guiding us both toward healing, peace, and new beginnings. I ask for privacy as we navigate this transition and continue to lift my former partner up in prayer, wishing them joy and fulfillment in the chapters ahead.”

The couple’s September 2022 wedding ceremony at Greystone Mansion & Gardens in Beverly Hills was attended by about 70 friends and family, according to People. Bridges was previously married to Dori Smith from 1998 to 2012.

The marriage brought together both spouses’ children from their previous marriages. Hirschi has four younger children with her first husband while Bridges has two adult offspring: daughter Bo is from a previous relationship with Amanda Rushing and he shares son Spencir, 27, with his first wife. Spencir Bridges was, like his dad, a child actor, with roles in the 2007 movie “Daddy Day Camp” and, in 2005, the TV series “ER.” His most recent acting credits were in 2009, when he had roles on the series “iCarly” and the TV movie “The Three Gifts.”

Todd Bridges is the last surviving original cast member of the hit sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes,” which ran for eight seasons from 1978 to 1986. Conrad Bain played Phillip Drummond, the wealthy father of Kimberly (Dana Plato) who adopted sons Arnold (Gary Coleman) and Willis (Bridges). Housekeeper Edna Garrett, played by Charlotte Rae, spun off into the series “Facts of Life.”

Dana Plato, who played Bain’s daughter Kimberly, died in 1999 from an overdose when she was 34. Bain died of natural causes in January 2013, at age 89, while Rae died in August 2018 at 92.

Gary Coleman died in May 2010 at age 42 after suffering a brain hemorrhage in an accidental fall at his home in Utah.

TMZ first reported the divorce news Wednesday afternoon.

Meredith Shay, a former flight attendant from Florida, sold her flat so she could go on a three-year cruise that was cancelled at the last minute. But she has not been deterred

What would you do if you’d sold your home to buy a holiday that was cancelled at the last minute?

For most of us, the answer probably wouldn’t be to book a near-identical but slightly longer holiday just two years later. Meredith Shay, however, has done just that. “I’ve just signed on for five years,” the Floridian retiree told the Mirror.

Back in 2023, Meredith was preparing to embark on the Life at Sea cruise, widely touted as the longest sailing in commercial cruise history, when she received terrible news. The company told passengers that it had no working ship, so the upcoming sailing was cancelled. That meant no sailing for hundreds of customers who poured their life savings into the venture and had prepared to leave their lives on land behind.

“I did sell my house. I put everything into storage, moved out of my apartment. I was about to sell my car. But I am not a ‘woe is me’ person. There is a song over here, ‘dust yourself off and try again’. That is what I’ve done,” she explained. “I had a 12-hour pity party, then said, ‘okay, you’re free. Do something’. No encumbrances at all.”

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The former flight attendant has been renting in Florida since then. Come next June, her flat will become “the world’s most expensive storage container”, and Meredith will fly to Manila to start sailing the world. For five years straight.

She will do so on the Villa Vie Odyssey, which is run by some of the same people behind Life at Sea and has been sailing since earlier this year. Signing up is a leap of faith for Meredith for multiple reasons.

She counts herself lucky to have received a full refund of close to $500,000 following the first cruise. Others didn’t pay on credit cards and haven’t been able to recover all their money. The Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship has also had problems. It was due to depart from Northern Ireland last May, but issues with its rudder stocks meant its guests were marooned in the city for more than four months. It was there for so long that shipmates Angela Harsanyi and Gian Perroni had time to meet, fall in love and then marry on the banks of Belfast’s River Lagan.

This time around, Meredith’s room, a fancy eighth-floor suite for five years, cost her $159,000, with $7,999 a month homeowner fees bringing the total to around $630,000 (£469,000). When she first booked, the total was $520,000 for three years, all in.

Meredith admits that booking again hasn’t been worry-free.

“Sure, I’m worried, but why not? I can’t live my life in fear. Nobody likes to lose money, but they’ve been out now for a good period of time; they’ve overcome earthquakes, typhoons, and the captains really know what they’re doing. I already have friends on Villa Vie.”

When asked if she intends to spend the rest of her life at sea, Meredith explained: “My life is full of regrets, and I don’t want this to be one of them. I will be five years older, and I’m very healthy now. But one never knows.”

The Mirror contacted Villa Vie, whose founder Mikael Petterson explained what happened to the Life at Sea cruise. He said: “Yes, some of the Villa Vie team were initially involved with Life at Sea. Some of us, including myself, helped build the brand and sales team, but realised after just two months of working with Miray (the parent company of Life at Sea) in Turkey, it would be impossible.

“The ship we saw in April was just not what they had portrayed to us. We had to make the difficult decision to leave the project in May of 2023, where we refunded all customers and announced the project was over. Miray, in turn, decided to take over, double down on the promises, but as we predicted, was not able to deliver the ship as promised in November 2024.”

He added: “We do feel terrible for the customers who lost their money in the pursuit of the dream life we are now able to deliver through Villa Vie Residences.”

Miray has been contacted for comment.

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