Paula Patton announces she and Robin Thicke are splitting

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Actress Paula Patton announced today that she and singer Robin Thicke have decided to end their marriage.

The pair met twenty-two years ago at an underage LA club, and have been married for the past nine years. Their son, Julian Fuego Thicke, was born in April 2010.

Several rumors of Thicke's infidelity have surfaced during the marriage, despite Patton's outward show of solidarity and Thicke's claim that theirs is the "greatest love of the century."

Thicke has said he doesn't think he would "still be alive" without Patton, theirs is also the "most functional and dysfunctional marriage in Hollywood."

In her announcement to PEOPLE today, Patton said that she and Thicke "will always love each other and be best friends, however, we have mutually decided to separate at this time."

[PEOPLE] [Star]