The Associated Press

LEXINGTON - Former Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. is headed for his third divorce.

John Y. Brown Jr. and his wife, Jill, at their 1998 wedding. (File photo) | ZOOM |

Brown filed for divorce earlier this week. The former governor, 69, and Jill Louise Brown, 42, separated in December, according to the divorce petition filed in Fayette County Circuit Court.

"Jill and I have a very loving but somewhat unsettled relationship," Brown said in a statement. "For the time being, we both feel this is a step in the right direction."

The two were married Aug. 29, 1998, on the steps of his Cave Hill mansion in Lexington. It was Jill Brown's second marriage.

Brown, governor from 1979 to 1983, currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he has business interests.

He was married to Eleanor Bennett Durall from 1960 to 1977. He then married former Miss America Phyllis George in 1979. They separated in 1995 and were divorced in June 1998.