Multimillionaire Charles Saatchi informed his wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, that he’s divorcing her via a statement to the British newspaper the Daily Mail.

In a statement to the newspaper Sunday, he told Lawson that he made the "heartbreaking" decision because she failed to defend him against allegations of abuse.

As previously reported, Lawson was photographed being grabbed by the throat by her husband at a restaurant, sparking an uproar over what some said looked like an abusive incident. Lawson stars on the ABC cooking competition show "The Taste," while Saatchi made his fortune in advertising.

At one point Saatchi offered the bizarre explanation that what he had actually been doing when he was photographed was trying to remove "snot" from Lawson’s nose.

"I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced," Saatchi told the newspaper in a statement. "I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way."

Since the photographs of the incident were published, Lawson and Saatchi haven’t spoken with each other, with Lawson refusing to answer his calls or return his text messages, the piece notes. The couple have been married for 10 years.

There was no immediate response from Lawson or her representatives following the announcement, according to CNN.