NEED TO KNOW
- Hugh Jackman’s childhood friend shared an update on how the actor is doing amid his divorce from ex Deborra-Lee Furness on Thursday, May 29
- Gus Worland, whom Jackman has known since their school days in the 1970s, was asked about Furness’ recent public comments about “betrayal” in their marriage during an appearance on a radio show in Australia
- “It’s not just that statement, but just the last couple of years have been difficult,” Worland said, later adding that Jackman is “moving on with his life”
Hugh Jackman’s childhood friend is opening up about the actor’s divorce following his ex-wife Deborra-Lee Furness’ recent comments about “betrayal” in their marriage.
While speaking on the Thursday, May 29 episode of Australia’s Ben Fordham Live breakfast radio show, Gus Worland — who said he’d known Jackman, 56, since kindergarten in 1973 — was asked about Furness’ statement, in which she reflected on the “breakdown of an almost three-decade marriage” and navigating the “traumatic journey of betrayal.”
The comments came after Furness filed for divorce on May 23, nearly two years after she and Jackman announced a seemingly amicable separation.
TV and radio personality Worland said, “It’s not just that statement, but just the last couple of years have been difficult.”
“No one wants anyone to go through what they’ve been through, and, of course, they go through everything publicly because of the type of people and the fame that they have,” he added.
Worland continued, “One thing that I’ve been really strict on, or disciplined on … is to let them do what they’ve had to do. I was over in New York with [Jackman] just last month and he’s fine. He is going along well. He’s moving on with his life and I hope that Deb does as well.”
He added that he and Jackman were godparents to each other’s first children. The Greatest Showman actor and Furness, 69, share two kids together: Oscar, 25, and Ava, 19.
Worland, who said it was “a long, long time” that the couple were together, continued on the radio show, “I just go to the kids and go, ‘What can we do to make sure that they’re going to get through this as well as possible?’ ”
Jackman and Furness wed in 1996 before announcing their separation in September 2023 after 27 years of marriage.
In the statement provided to PEOPLE and first shared with the Daily Mail on Tuesday, May 27, Furness called their breakup “a profound wound that cuts deep.”
“However, I believe in a higher power and that God/the universe, whatever you relate to as your guidance, is always working FOR us,” Furness said. “This belief has helped me navigate the breakdown of an almost three-decade marriage.”
According to the producer and philanthropist, the process has helped her as she “gained much knowledge and wisdom.”
“Even when we are presented with apparent adversity, it is leading us to our greatest good, our true purpose. It can hurt, but in the long run, returning to yourself and living within your own integrity, values and boundaries is liberation and freedom,” she said.
Furness shared that the “one thing” she’s learned is “that none of this is personal.”
“We are all on our individual journeys and I believe that the relationships in our lives are not random. We are drawn to people, we invite them in, in order to learn our lessons and to recognize and heal the broken parts of ourselves… I remain grateful,” she concluded.
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Jackman has been romantically linked to his former Music Man costar, Sutton Foster, 50, since January 2025, after the pair were snapped holding hands while stepping out for dinner in Santa Monica, Calif.
The outing came a few months after Foster filed for divorce in October 2024 from her husband, Ted Griffin, following 10 years of marriage.
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