Peter Facinelli
Peter Facinelli officially filed for divorce from his wife of 11 years, Jennie Garth, last week. On Wednesday, the "Twilight" star spoke on the split for the first time since announcing their divorce. REUTERS

One week after filing papers for his divorce from Jennie Garth, Peter Facinelli has spoken out for the first time on the split -- and it's not in the form of a statement.

She'll always be in my life. I love her, we're just going to have a different relationship . . . we're very dedicated to being great parents, Facinelli, 38, said Wednesday, when he co-hosted Live! With Kelly with Kelly Ripa.

It's very painful to break up with somebody, especially after you've been together for 17 years and have kids. I've tried to stay really quiet about it for the sake of my kids, he added.

On Mar. 28, Facinelli visited a Los Angeles County Superior Court to officially file for divorce from Garth, 40. The Twilight actor cited the Hollywood usual irreconcilable differences, along with a request to have joint custody of the couple's daughters Luca, 14, Lola, 9 and Fiona, 5.

That same day, Garth spoke on the split for the first time.

I was very resistant . . . I didn't want it to happen. It took me some time to come to peace with it, Garth told People.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum also revealed that Facinelli first brought up the divorce last fall, after 11 years of marriage. Since 2010, Facinelli had been commuting from the Vancouver set of his Twilight films to the couple's ranch home in California.

He would do everything he could to fly back every weekend . . . it took a real toll on our marriage, Garth said.

On Mar. 13, Garth and Facinelli surprised longtime fans of the couple by announcing their split.

While we have decided to end our marriage, we both share the same deep love and devotion to our children. We remain dedicated to raising our beautiful daughters together. We ask for privacy and respect during this time, the couple said in a joint statement.

Not long after, the couple released yet another statement, this time addressing rumor that Facinelli had cheated on Garth with a woman in Vancouver. The website Scallywag & Vagabond described the affair as torrid, adding that Garth played housewife for as long as she could.

There are rumors out there which are completely untrue and hurtful to our family. We just want to make it very clear -- there are no third parties involved, Garth and Facinelli said.

Garth and Facinelli first met on the set of a TV movie in 1996. They were married in 2001.