January 5, 2009: Another divorce for Lily?

Melrose Place and Gossip Girl star Kelly Rutherford files for divorce.

by Jeffrey Cottrill

Life imitates art once again. Actor Kelly Rutherford, who currently plays serially divorced mom Lily van der Woodsen on the CW teen drama Gossip Girl, is getting her second real-life divorce.

Rutherford, who is probably best known for her role as Megan Lewis on Melrose Place, filed for divorce on December 30 from her husband, 35-year-old German businessman Daniel Giersch. She cited irreconcilable differences in her petition with Los Angeles Superior Court, according to TMZ.com.

More information on children and divorce: How Do I Tell the Kids? How to Involve the Noncustodial Parent What Is the Best Time to Divorce? Reassuring Your Child Telling the Children

However, Rutherford is also pregnant with the couple's second child, which is due in June. As recently as a month ago, People quoted her discussing how Giersch was helping to prepare their two-year-old son, Hermés Gustaf, for the new family member. "My husband actually found some really cute books about explaining to your kid about the baby that's coming," she told the magazine, "and the mommy being pregnant, and what goes on with the mommy, and then what happens when you bring the baby home."

Rutherford, 40, married Giersch in August 2006. Her first marriage, to Carlos Tarajano, lasted only six months, from June 2001 to January 2002.

Kelly Rutherford began her career as troublemaking college student Sam Whitmore on the NBC soap opera Generations, which ran from 1989 to 1991. She joined Melrose Place in its fifth season in 1996 and stayed until the series finale, and she has played Serena and Eric van der Woodsen's socialite mother on Gossip Girl since the show began in 2007.

• How to Help Your Child through Your Divorce
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