Vanilla Ice, real name Rob Van Winkle, has been officially married for nearly twenty years to Laura Van Winkle and share two daughters, ages 18 and 16. It sounds like time and history worth saving, but Laura Van Winkle said it’s been anything but idyllic. She said that the past five years have been nothing but a sham, and she hasn’t even spoken to her husband in 18 months. According to MSN, she decided to give herself a 46th birthday present – she filed for divorce from Rob on her birthday.
“I gave myself a birthday present. I wanted to file for divorce for a long time but I was scared to do it. We never really had a wedding or an engagement, so I figured I’d do it on my birthday. Besides, I was having a hard time sleeping at night.”
[Image by Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office/ Getty Images]
She said that although they were five months from their 20th marriage anniversary date, they had not officially been living together for the past five years and that things were becoming too hard for her. She says occasionally she’d be asked to accompany him on vacation, like a “boyfriend/girlfriend” thing, but she said it was hardly the loving situation a marriage should be.
“I was seeing him up to June 2015. We went to Curacao for one of our fake family vacations. Rob always wanted to appear to be a great family man, so we had these vacations…can’t live a lie any longer. I mean, either you’re my husband or you aren’t. If you’re not with me, then I don’t go on vacation. If you’re not my husband, you’re not my husband.”
[Image by Nurphoto/Getty Images]
She says their two daughters will have no problem with the split, as it sounds that they have unofficially been separated for a while. Laura Van Winkle is very concerned about material assets, as she says that many of them can be easily liquidated, and most things are in her soon-to-be ex-husband’s name anyway. Laura Van Winkle says the divorce may get nasty, and court documents she has filed says that many of her husband’s assets are “easily encumbered, sold, transferred or disposed of.”
Laura also claims that she believes that her husband still loves her, and that he may have never imagined she would take this step.
“He wants to keep me…but he is such a narcissist that he doesn’t think I’m serious.”
Rob Van Winkle declined any comment to the press, although he said he was aware of the divorce filing.
“This is a private matter, and I ask you to respect that.”
According to the Daily Mail, Robert Van Winkle has previously been arrested for domestic battery twice, the most recently being in 2008. It’s reported that the battery was against Laura, his estranged wife. The first incident occurred in 2001, four years after their marriage, when the couple was driving in Davie, Florida. Robert Van Winkle admitted to pulling hair from Laura’s head to prevent her from jumping out of his truck’s window during an argument. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, was sentenced to probation and then was ordered to attend counseling.
However, another incident occurred in 2008, in which Laura Van Winkle claimed that he hit and kicked her during an argument, but then later said he only pushed her, and a neighbor came forward to say it was merely a verbal argument. The case was dismissed in court, but Laura and Robert’s fractured marriage never appeared to recover.
The marriage occurred long after Robert Van Winkle’s fame as the “Ice Ice Baby” icon had subsided. He hit the top of the billboard chart in 1990, but never went much further with his musical career. He and Laura married in 1997.
[Featured Image by Robert Lachman/Getty Images]
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