Hollywood glamour couple Chris Pratt and Anna Faris have announced their separation after eight years of marriage, sending social media into a melancholic meltdown.

Guardians of the Galaxy star Pratt announced the split on his Facebook page in a joint statement saying that the couple, who are parents to five-year-old son Jack, had tried to make it work.

“Anna and I are sad to announce we are legally separating. We tried hard for a long time, and we’re really disappointed,” he wrote.

“Our son has two parents who love him very much and for his sake we want to keep this situation as private as possible moving forward.

“We still have love for each other, will always cherish our time together and continue to have the deepest respect for one another.”

The pair met in 2007 playing love interests in the movie Take Me Home Tonight and married in Bali in 2009.

Faris is known for starring in the comedy movie franchise Scary Movie, while Pratt leapt from his TV role on Parks and Recreation to become a sought-after leading man in Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World.

People magazine reported rumours of tension between the couple and that Pratt had been recently spotted in public without his wedding ring.

Faris last year opened up in her podcast, Anna Faris Is Unqualified, about “feeling so hurt” by rumours about their marriage.

“I think it was a combination of things. I take pride in how great my relationship is with Chris, but having said that, of course in this crazy world where he’s off doing movies and I’m in L.A. raising our child, of course I’m going to feel vulnerable, like any normal human would,” she told friend and fellow actress Isla Fisher in the podcast.

With Pratt and Faris often idealised as a perfect couple, many fans did not handle the news well, with the couple trending on Twitter and some fans even using the hashtag #loveisdead.

not to be over dramatic but chris pratt and anna faris splitting up is the worst thing to happen to me this decade

— ☆ micah ☆ (@micahleigh13) August 7, 2017

me thinking Chris Pratt and Anna Faris separating is an April fool's prank and then realizing it's August and love is dead pic.twitter.com/Aqr6Lw303Q

— dani ✨🖖🇵🇸 (@boldlygaying) August 7, 2017

https://twitter.com/DeLaBreezus/status/894406275836104704

https://twitter.com/EmmaKitt/status/894400494160015360

I'm honestly more heartbroken over Chris Pratt and Anna Faris getting divorced than my actual parents

— Gina Marie Nicole (@GinaMarieNicole) August 7, 2017