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SPLIT’S THE PITTS – JEN & BRAD CALL IF OFF AFTER FOTO OP TO ‘PROVE’ LOVE

Hollywood glamour couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have decided to call it quits after nearly five years of marriage, their publicists confirmed yesterday.

“We would like to announce that after seven years together we have decided to formally separate,” Pitt and Aniston said yesterday in a joint statement reported by People Magazine on its Web site.

The couple had been vacationing at a remote villa on the Caribbean island of Anguilla – along with “Friends” co-star Courteney Cox and her husband, actor David Arquette – in an attempt to shoot down rumors their marriage was on the verge of collapse.

Pitt and Aniston, photographed this past week kissing and taking long strolls on the beach, said they will “remain committed and caring friends.”

“This decision is a result of much thoughtful consideration,” the statement said. “We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another. We ask in advance for your kindness and sensitivity in the coming months.”

The couple’s publicists declined further comment on the breakup.

Aniston, 35, was photographed last month in Los Angeles not wearing her diamond-studded wedding band, fueling rumors that her marriage was on the rocks.

But the couple tried to dupe the paparazzi and fans over the New Year’s weekend when the Golden Globe-winning actress was spotted canoodling on the beach with Pitt and wearing the rock.

Pitt, 41, met Aniston when they were set up on a blind date by their reps in 1998.

The couple kept their relationship a secret for months until publicly revealing they were an item.

The pair eventually tied the knot in a lavish, star-studded $1 million seaside ceremony overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, Calif., in July 2000.

The wedding – which featured 200 guests, 50,000 flowers, four music bands and a fireworks finale – closed off a section of the Pacific Coast Highway to accommodate the influx of guests, which included actress Cameron Diaz and Aniston’s “Friends” co-stars.

Pitt is currently starring in the big-screen crime caper “Ocean’s Twelve” and Aniston, who is working on a few movie projects, gained fame during her 10-year stint playing Rachel Green on the hit TV show “Friends,” one of the highest-rated sitcoms in television history.

Since their wedding, Pitt and Aniston have been touted not only as one of Hollywood’s most glamorous couples, but also one of the film industry’s most powerful.

The couple are co-owners of the Plan B production company with producer Brad Grey, who earlier this week was hired to replace Sherry Lansing as head of the Paramount studio.

Aniston, daughter of veteran TV soap star John Aniston, also has starred in various movies like “Along Came Polly,” “Bruce Almighty” and “The Good Girl.”

Pitt, one of Hollywood’s hunkiest actors, was in the hits “Seven” and “Fight Club.”

In 2002, Aniston said she and Pitt were looking forward to starting a family. There had been rumors over the last few months that Aniston was pregnant.

“Absolutely it will happen, but probably not for a while,” she said at the time.

Last May, Pitt described his marriage to Aniston as “an extraordinary friendship.”

“Jen and I always made a pact, that we’ll see where this relationship is going,” Pitt told Vanity Fair. “I’m not sure it really is in our nature to be with someone for the rest of our lives just because you made this pact.”

The couple moved into a $14 million French provincial-style mansion in Beverly Hills last year after spending two years renovating the 12,000-square-foot complex, which also featured a nursery.

Aniston called the home “just the greatest thing” and “our sanctuary.”