I know we are all here gossiping about them, but really, it's nobody's business why he stayed, why he didn't leave earlier, or even how he left. It angers me the way the FM's keep running with this ridiculous narrative that he shouldn't have left the way they think he did and that he needs to "man up" (I hate that freaking phrase!) and talk with AE. He tried to do it calmly and respectfully. She's the one who's turned it into a one sided war. It makes me even angrier that they want IG to talk with AE alone and face to face. Obviously her FM's don't believe she abused him, but God it makes me angry. Her FM's want to deny him any rights, including parental and even human rights, as much as AE does.
My parents were (and still are) to everyone in public the perfect couple (now 40 years married) and act all loved up, but they were completely done with their marriage already 20 years ago, but they stay together because in my mothers family it would be an embarrasement to get divorced, financial reasons and both wanted to keep the act going first for me and my sister when we were little (though both of us left as soon as we could), now with their grandchildren.
(Oddly enough despite being pretty done with everything my mom went completely insane about 10 years ago when she suspected my father to have an affair with my sisters best friend who is about 30 years younger than him, she tried to even force me to help her getting proof with the help of my IT skills LOL)
It's pretty likely that Ioan wanted to leave for a long time but tried to stick around another 5-10 years for the kids sake (perhaps hoping that things work out eventually), like my parents did, like Alice would (and she wrote in her DM column that she would try to convince him had he told her about Bianca, and her twitter comment the other day implied again the same), but just couldnt cope anymore, and left - too late.
It's absolutely insane that people say about any couple (especially one that actually has shown way before the divorce already signs that things are not going well, at the very latest in summer 2020 when she was ranting about him on twitter) that they are a great couple or whatever. Public appearance and pictures are often a lie, and circumstances too complicated to make the best decision.