The 62-year-old country musician John Schneider who came into the limelight for playing the role of “Bo” Duke in the American TV comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard, expressed deep concerns over his falling out with his children after his messy divorce from his ex-wife, Elly Castle while appearing in the season 28 of the reality dance show, Dancing with the Stars in 2018.
Schneider, who finished in 7th position in the competition, was accompanied by his business partner turned wife, Alicia Allain. The actor revealed his struggles with his family after scaling through the first week of the dance show and his hopes to work things out with his children. “I feel good. I’m so excited to be here; I’m hoping that I will do my family proud, I’ll do my love over there proud,” he said while gesturing towards Alicia Allain. “And maybe my children will speak to me again.”
John Schneider’s and Elly’s legal battle
During the heat of his legal battle with Elly, Schneider stated that he was saddened by how things turned out with his ex-wife but believed that a marriage dissolution was in the best interest of both parties. “The glue that held us together has weakened, and I feel it’s the only way to not only salvage our friendship but to remain a good example to our children,” Schneider revealed. “When you have children together, you are together until death do you part. That much is obvious.”
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The ex-lovers’ legal tussle was a long and hectic one that lasted for five years. At the time, Schneider was facing serious financial challenges and was ordered by the court to pay a sum of $18,911 to his ex-wife monthly.
John Schneider fails to pay alimony to his ex-wife
Sadly, the Dukes of Hazzard star was taken into custody recently over his failure to pay his estranged wife over $150,000 in alimony and thus was sentenced to three days in the LA county jail. However, luck shone on him he was released a few hours later due to California’s overcrowded prison system.
In addition to the initial verdict, he was mandated to serve an extra 120 hours for contempt which was considered to be dropped upon the fulfillment of certain conditions, which included payment of half of his earnings from Maven Entertainment to Elly.
John Schneider petitions the court to uphold his jail sentence
Instead of embracing his chance at freedom, Schneider pleaded with the court to allow him to serve his jail term, as he knew he could not keep to the terms of his freedom. He revealed that he would have loved to comply with the court directives, but his financial travails will not allow him to do so.
“I am leveraged to the max with various loans while trying to do what I believe is ‘right’ throughout this whole process. Schneider stated. I am willing and able to accept the punishment for my actions/inactions as to this matter, and I request this court to impose such sentence without further delay.”
Schneider talks about his divorce affected his relationship with his children
In an exclusive footage from a Monday episode of the season 28 DWTS, the star talked about how the divorce impacted his relationship with his children.
“I’ve been going through a divorce now for four years, and it’s awful. The worst part about it is that it’s wedged itself in between my three adult children and myself,” Schneider lamented. “Nothing I can do except hope one day one of my kids will call me up or show up. I look in the crowd every Monday thinking maybe tonight, maybe tonight.”