Former N.Y.C. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Wife Separate, Will Date Other People While Living Together

Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray, who have been married for 29 years, said they don't plan on divorcing

Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray have separated.

The pair confirmed their breakup after 29 years of marriage in a prolific interview with The New York Times published on Wednesday, revealing that they would be undergoing a trial separation and dating other people but weren't planning to divorce.

In the interview, de Blasio, 62, and McCray, 68, said that while they were grateful for his experience as former mayor of New York City, it took a toll on their marriage.

“Everything was this overwhelming schedule, this sort of series of tasks," de Blasio told the outlet. "And that kind of took away a little bit of our soul."

He also recalled seeing a therapist right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and said of that time, “It made me emotionally very needy, and we were not as connected.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Related: Celebrity Couples Who Broke Up in 2023

De Blasio and McCray, a writer and activist, married in 1994. They share two children — daughter Chiara, 28, and son Dante, 25 — and are planning to still continue to live together in the townhouse where they raised their kids, located in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

McCray told the Times that she and her husband first broached the subject of a separation during an evening after binge-watching TV, when de Blasio asked her why she isn't "lovey-dovey anymore."

They made the decision to split that same evening after speaking about their relationship in detail, including what they needed and weren't getting out of it.

"You can feel when things are off, and you don’t want to live that way," de Blasio said, while McCray noted, "You can't fake it."

“I can look back now and say, ‘Here were these inflection points where we should have been saying something to each other,’ ” he said elsewhere in the interview. “And I think one of the things I should have said more is: ‘Are you happy? What will make you happy? What’s missing in your life?’ "

Related: Rhea Perlman Says She, Danny DeVito Are Still Married Despite Split Years Ago: We're 'Very Good Friends'

First elected as mayor of New York City in 2013, de Blasio left office on Jan. 1, 2022, making way for new Mayor Eric Adams, who was sworn in after the New Year's Eve midnight ball drop in Times Square in the first minutes of 2022.

As 2021 neared its end, de Blasio filed paperwork indicating he was interested in challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul (who took over in Albany after disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo stepped won), Politico reported at the end of October 2021.

"I want to continue in public service and there's a lot that needs to be fixed in Albany. There's a lot that needs to be changed in the State of New York," he said during a November 201 appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "I look forward to being part of the discussion of where our state needs to go in the future. I'll tell you more about the politics a little bit down the line, but I got to tell you I'm excited and I'm energized to get out there and continue to serve."

But later in January 2022, de Blasio announced that he was not running for governor of New York after all.

"This is the right place for me to share some news with you," he said in a video recorded on a block in Brooklyn where he lives. "No, I am not going to be running for governor in New York state. But I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fight inequality in the state of New York. We got a lot to do. Together."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.