Heavy metal band frontman and wife divorce after he comes out as ‘proudly gay man’

Caleb Shomo, frontman of heavy metal band Beartooth, is divorcing his wife of 14 years after publicly coming out as gay.

Back in May, Shomo took to Instagram to issue a statement on his sexuality following speculation around his personal life, describing himself as a 'proudly gay man'.

"This is something I've been unpacking and reckoning with in my life for quite some time now," he wrote, adding that it had been difficult for him to 'navigate the feelings surrounding the subject'.

Two months on from coming out, Page Six has revealed that Caleb and his wife Fleur Shomo had decided to jointly file for divorce.

The couple, who do not have children, had tied the knot in 2012, after two years of dating.

Fleur, a British-born actor and writer who appeared in The Pitt, also released a statement on her husband's sexuality at the time, saying that while the past couple of months had been 'disorientating and hurtful to navigate', she wanted to make it clear that she would always 'love, protect and support' Caleb.

"I have cared more about his wellbeing over the years than anything else in the world," she wrote.

"Our nearly 14 years of marriage was wonderful and full of so much fun, adventure and love. Nobody will know anything about our marriage like we do, and no one can ever truly know what depths of love exist between two people unless they are those people.

"I already miss it and my husband more than anything. Our story was a good one and now it's done."

Fans of the band have also shared their support for the former couple on social media. "It is never too late to come out as gay," wrote one person on X, adding: "His wife's mindset is truly respectable."

"I'm so proud of Caleb Shomo, and I'm sick of all the hate he's getting," penned another. "I don't think people understand how hard it can be to come to terms with being queer, especially if you were raised religious."

"A close friend of mine married young, and later had the self-realisation that he was a gay man. His wife, being his best friend, fully supported him and helped him navigate his journey. They are still best friends to this day," added a third person on Reddit.

"Let's not assume she feels like a victim or that 14 years of her life is 'down the drain'. We don't know their situation, nor is it any of our business."

While neither Fleur nor Caleb has spoken publicly about their decision to divorce, the 33-year-old addressed his decision to come out in a recent interview with Kerrang there had been 'many seismic life changes' for him in the past couple of months.

"It just blew up into this whole thing, with the mainstream press getting a hold of it, creating a narrative that created all these issues," he said. "That’s not what this is about – this is about me being able to freely express myself in my life, my art, and in my music."

Shomo also revealed that his heavily religious upbringing had been 'damaging' to his sexual identity in his younger years. The son of an evangelical pastor, he told Disrespectfully podcast hosts Katie Maloney and Dayna Kathan that he was raised to believe that being gay was 'a sickness you can cure with prayer'.

"[The] feeling that I had, which I now understand was my sexuality, I just viewed and compartmentalised as just self-hatred," he said.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]