“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to end my six-year marriage to Ashton. As a woman, a mother and a wife there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life,” the 49-year-old actress said in a statement.

“This is a trying time for me and my family, and so I would ask for the same compassion and privacy that you would give to anyone going through a similar situation,” she added.

News of the couple’s split comes just a few weeks after a 22-year-old woman claimed she had an affair with Ashton, 33, on his sixth wedding anniversary.

GALLERY LINKS
-At Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf October 11

The couple’s six-year marriage is now being put to the ultimate test in the wake of Kutcher’s one-night stand with 22-year-old Sara Leal in a San Diego hotel room on Sept. 24 — the sixth wedding anniversary of Kutcher, 33, and Moore, 48.

Whether Moore or Kutcher are actually moving out is yet to be determined. When approached by Us Weeky, a Wetzel and Sons rep explained: “We don’t give out any information on our clients.”

As revealed exclusively in the new issue of Us Weekly, Kutcher told Leal that he and Moore were separated; after making out on a balcony hot tub, the twosome eventually had unprotected sex twice in the wee hours at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego.

In an attempt to work things out, Kutcher and Moore took a camping trip together to Cachuma Lake near Santa Barbara last weekend, but “they seemed cold to one another,” one witness told Us Weekly.

GALLERY LINKS
-Driving to work October 13

GALLERY LINKS
-Leaving a building October 12

GALLERY LINKS
-Going to work October 10

But figures released this week show the rebooted CBS sitcom is almost half the show it started out to be – with just 17.71m switching on for this Monday’s episode.

Apparently the recent publicity Kutcher has garnered for allegedly cheating on wife Demi Moore with partygirl Sara Leal has not encouraged the viewing public.

Kutcher’s character, billionaire Walden Schmidt, was brought in to replace predecessor Charlie Sheen, who was sacked from the franchise after a bitter public fallout with creator Chuck Lorre.

A source close to Kutcher is reported as telling Radar that the 33-year-old actor is concerned about the slump.

The insider said: ‘Ashton is concerned that the ratings are dropping each week.’

The source added: ‘However, to be fair, the season premiere of Two and a Half Men last year when Charlie Sheen was still on the show, had around 16 million people tuning in.’

Two And A Half Men still remains the most popular comedy on American television despite the ratings fall.

Industry experts predicted viewing figures would stabilise following the much-hyped premiere.

This week the show had competition from the NFL match on Monday on NBC, which saw 22.05m tuning in and topped the charts.

CBS’s crime drama NCIS came in second place with 19.35m while Two And A Half Men took third place in the October 3-9 figures.

GALLERY LINKS
-At a studio in Hollywood October 05

GALLERY LINKS
-9×02 People Who Love Peepholes
-9×03 Big Girls Don’t Throw Food

GALLERY LINKS
-LA s Promise 2011 Gala Honoring Ryan Seacrest – Inside
-Arriving Warner Bros Studios September 29
-Leaving Motorcycle Store September 29
-Leaving the Kabbalah Center September 30
-Leaving Warner Bros Studios October 01