The 49-year-old Broadway actor allegedly blindsided his now-estranged wife with the separation announcement which he posted on May 14 after striking a relationship with the Aussie actress.
- May 24, 2024
AceShowbiz - Orfeh might have been as shocked as everyone else when Andy Karl revealed their split earlier this month. According to a new report, the actor/singer blindsided his now-estranged wife with the separation announcement which he posted on May 14 after striking a relationship with his "Groundhog Day" co-star Elise McCann.
Andy had been starring in the revival of the musical adaptation of "Groundhog Day" with Elise in Australia. Great White Way insiders tell Page Six that Orfeh went Down Under in February to visit Andy having no idea of her husband's alleged affair with the Australian actress.
Andy allegedly "paraded [Orfeh] around Melbourne as if everything was fine." Only shortly before she was due to return to the U.S. that he told her he planned to leave Orfeh for Elise, according to the news outlet.
"He seems to be having a major midlife crisis," a source close to the estranged couple claims of the 49-year-old Tony nominee. "It's one thing to fall in love with someone when you're out of your normal reality in Australia and you're starring in a show. Let's see how this [new] relationship goes when it's their day-to-day reality."
Moreover, when Andy posted a statement online announcing their split on May 14, he signed Orfeh's name to it, but he didn't tell the "Legally Blonde" star about the post or get her approval in advance.
"After 23 years of a wonderful loving relationship, both onstage and off, we have made the decision to separate," the statement read. "Keeping a marriage strong can be challenging, especially when working on opposite sides of the world, but we remain committed to building a strong future, whether together or apart. We ask for respect and privacy at this time."
Andy and Orfeh have been living long distance over the past year as Andy reprised his Tony-nominated role in "Groundhog Day: The Musical". The revival premiered at the Old Vic in London, where it ran from May 2023 to August 2023. In January of this year, it transferred to the Princess Theathre in Melbourne, Australia, where it wrapped up its run on April 20.
The now-estranged couple first met when he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Fever". They eloped in South Beach six months later, in January 2001.
"I knew instantly," Orfeh recalled to Playbill in a joint interview with Andy published in May 2015. "I was like, 'Love at first sight really exists?' I thought that was a total cheesehead concept, but the minute I laid eyes on him, everything else faded from view... I said to a couple of my girlfriends in the show: 'Don't let me screw this up. I have to be with this guy.' "
"We were both very interested in each other, but I played it way cool. So cool that she didn't even notice," he chimed in. "I had just come into the show and she was this phenomenon that I'd never seen before. I can't compare my wife to anyone else, because she's so unique. I didn't think I had a chance, but I tried to strike up conversations. I think when it came down to it we were both obviously looking for the same thing. You can't stop that when it's in the air, so I feel like it happened mutually."
