The ACE Family’s Catherine and Austin announce divorce after 7 years. Here’s what to know

Austin McBroom and former Florida local Catherine Paiz, also known on social media as The ACE Family, announced this week that the couple is splitting.

The ACE Family has been uploading YouTube videos documenting the lives of their growing family since 2016 and were one of the first to start amassing millions of followers by posting family vlog content of them and their now three children online.

The couple have also been through their fair share of controversies, as most popular YouTubers have.

The family last posted on their channel on June 10 of 2023. According to the "Today" show, the pair said in a 2022 video that it would be their last year posting on the website because they wanted to focus on their family and traveling with their children.

That wasn't true, as they continued to post videos, just less frequently.

Now, they've announced an amicable divorce.

Here's a quick crash course on who the ACE Family is, their reason for separating and a list of some of the controversies they've been the center of in the last few years.

Who is Austin McBroom? Who is Catherine Paiz?

Austin McBroom is a content creator and former basketball player from Palmdale, California. According to National Today, he played for Central Michigan Chippewas, Campbell Hall, Saint Louis Billikens, and Eastern Washington Eagles.

Catherine McBroom, born Dolores Catherine Johnston Paiz, was born in Montreal, Canada. She initially lived with her father before moving to stay with her mother in Tampa.

“Tampa & Miami have a personal place in my heart, I've lived there for the majority of my life,” she tweeted in 2017.

At the age of 16, Paiz relocated to Los Angeles in search of modeling and acting opportunities. McBroom also has a diploma from St. Louis College.

How did Austin and Catherine meet? When did they get married?

In an interview with Power 106 Los Angeles, Austin McBroom said the two met at a dinner party, back in 2015. While he thought she was “head over heels” and confessed his love after a few dates, Catherine wasn’t there yet and started to ignore him.

"I just wasn't used to like, things happening so quick, and things being so real so quick," she admitted to the hosts.

However, Austin said he continued pursuing her and eventually, the two started a relationship. In a YouTube video, Catherine said she didn’t believe it would last.

"(I didn't think it would last) As long as it has," Paiz said. "Or that it's going to be. And this is the thing, this is the reason why. It's because when we met, every single relationship leading to that point has always ended. And so my initial thought was it's probably not going to last, just because every other time hasn't. And it was at the point of my life where I was like 'I think I'm going to be single forever.'"

Catherine and Austin got married privately in 2017 and didn't let fans know that they were married until January 2020, shortly after the couple announced their third pregnancy.

When did the ACE Family start their YouTube channel?

The ACE Family started their YouTube channel a couple of months after their first daughter, Elle, was born in 2016. Elle was born on May 28, 2016 and the couple's first video ever was posted on July 27, 2016.

What controversies have the ACE Family gotten into over the years?

There have been a flurry of scandals for the ACE family in the last four years or so. This isn’t an exhaustive list of all the online drama the family has been involved in, but here are some key moments:

• Austin McBroom was publicly accused by beauty blogger Cole Carrigan of cheating on his wife and sexually assaulting a young woman in Miami in 2020.

• Also in 2020, followers noticed strange behavior in the way he interacted with his oldest daughter on camera. During a livestream, he was seen patting her on the butt while muttering something most viewers perceived to be an inappropriate comment, as she tried to push his hand away.

• Keeping in theme with Austin’s behavior while making content with the couple’s daughter, there was an incident when he took her into Spencer’s, a store that’s inappropriate for a four-year-old girl, and bought a lollipop in the shape of genitalia. He filmed her licking it, saying he was joking that she should stay away from said genitalia.

• In 2022, the couple tried to throw a family festival that Austin described as “Disneyland meets Coachella,” but attendees said it flopped due to long wait lines in the heat and overpriced food.

Why did the ACE Family separate their divorce?

On Thursday. Jan. 11, the pair posted separate statements to their Instagram accounts to announce the divorce.

"Our paths as a couple have shifted and has created differences that are irreconcilable. This decision comes with a very heavy heart," Catherine wrote in her psot. "As heartbreaking as it is, I feel liberated."

“I have spent the past few years prioritizing my children and honoring my commitment to my family; all the while I seemed to be losing myself and my own personal happiness.”

As for Austin, he said “We created one of the greatest stories, almost a decade together, so many memories, so many accomplishments but every book comes to end. And now we will be writing a new book as separate authors.”

As for exactly the two are separating, they both shared they had "mutually agreed" to a divorce. However, fans were quick to bring up their past controversies as reasons for their sudden separation.

Austin ended his posted: "With that being said 2024 will be life changing for me. I will be dedicated to myself, my kids, my health, my body, my mind, my spirit and God."

How did social media react to the announcement of the ACE Family separating?

Following the news of their separation, fans jumped on X to share their thoughts on the YouTube power couple’s divorce. Despite the seemingly negative update, the users celebrated the end of the relationship and the fact that Catherine was “finally free.”

“ACE Family is finally getting a divorce! I prayed for times like this,” one user wrote. “Catherine is finally free from that man!”

Some longtime followers did share their heartbreak for the couple’s split, wondering how it would impact their three children or their YouTube channel.

Since releasing their statement, neither Austin nor Catherine have responded to fans or addressed any of speculations about the separations.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Austin, Catherine McBroom of 'ACE Family' announce their separation