Zach Gilford of Friday Night Lights Fame Seeks Divorce from Kiele Sanchez After a Decade of Marriage, Sources Reveal

Zach Gilford and his wife Kiele Sanchez are reportedly separating after 12 years of marriage.

The actor, best known for his role in Friday Night Lights, filed for divorce from the Lost actress on Friday, April 18, according to legal documents obtained by a news source.

In his filing, Gilford cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split, but did not specify a separation date.

The same source reported that Gilford is seeking joint legal and physical custody of their two children, Zeppelin, 7, and Revel, 4, and has indicated his willingness to provide spousal support to Sanchez.

Representatives for both Gilford and Sanchez did not respond to queries for comment following the divorce filing.

Sanchez and Gilford got engaged in December 2011 and married the following year. They appeared together in the 2014 film The Purge: Anarchy, and more recently, Sanchez played Gilford’s on-screen wife in a recurring role in 2022’s Criminal Minds: Evolution, where he portrayed serial killer Elias Voit.

While the actors are generally private about their personal lives, Gilford has occasionally shared insights into their time together both on and off-screen through Instagram posts. Conversely, Sanchez maintains a private Instagram account.

Gilford shared a playful caption alongside a selfie of the pair with the actors who played their on-screen children in 2022, saying, “Fun times with my fake family (real wife, fake kids).”

The couple marked their tenth wedding anniversary in 2022 with a special trip, which Gilford highlighted on Instagram, expressing gratitude to Sanchez for a decade filled with “sexy-tinis.”

Additionally, he posted a photo of the couple sharing a kiss in January 2023 to celebrate his milestone birthday.

Gilford and Sanchez welcomed their first child, daughter Zeppelin Adele Gilford, in November 2017. This joyous announcement followed their previous heartbreak in 2015, when they revealed the loss of a child resulting from a late-term miscarriage.

A representative for the couple conveyed their sorrow at that time, stating, “We regretfully confirm that Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez recently lost their child to a late-term miscarriage.”

After welcoming Zeppelin via surrogate, the couple expressed their joy, stating, “We have always wanted to be parents, and Zeppelin has made our dreams come true.”

Reflecting on parenthood and his appreciation for Sanchez, Gilford revealed in an interview that simply watching her as a new mother brings him to tears. “My wife isn’t like anyone I’ve ever met in my life,” he said. “When people meet her, they just fall in love with her. She’s taught me how to love. Seeing her with our baby, you know she’s a mama lion; nothing will ever happen to this kid. It’s really incredible.”