The divorce will be Lopez's third and Anthony's second

Pop star and actress Jennifer Lopez and singer Marc Anthony are divorcing after seven years of marriage, the couple have announced.

"This was a very difficult decision," the pair said in a statement. "We have come to an amicable conclusion."

The couple, who have three-year-old twin children, said "we appreciate the respect of our privacy".

Lopez, 41, and Anthony, 42, toured together and starred together in the 2006 film El Cantante.

The film was a biopic of Puerto Rican singer Hector Lavoe.

The divorce will be Lopez's third and Anthony's second.

In January Lopez became a judge on American Idol. She and Anthony in April announced plans for a television show called Q'Viva! The Chosen with American Idol creator Simon Fuller. - BBC