David Duchovny and Tea Leoni separate

Tea Leoni and husband David Duchovny attend the Los Angeles premiere of Columbia pictures' ''Fun with Dick and Jane'' at the Mann Village theatre in Los Angeles December 14, 2005.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor David Duchovny, who recently sought treatment for sex addiction, has separated from Tea Leoni, his wife of 11 years and mother of their two children, People magazine reported on Wednesday.

The former "X-Files" star and Leoni, an actress, separated some time ago.

"In light of continuous speculation over the lives and marriage of Tea Leoni and David Duchovny, the couple has confirmed that they have in fact been separated for several months," said a statement released by their publicists.

"The couple had hoped to keep this separation private for the sake of their children."

Duchovny, who plays a womanizing novelist on the U.S. television series "Californication," has left a rehabilitation centre for sex addiction after successfully completing a program, his attorney said last week.

Duchovny and Leoni, currently starring in the comedy "Ghost Town," married in May 1997 and have a 9-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son. It was a second marriage for Leoni and a first for Duchovny.

In January, Duchovny won a Golden Globe Award as best actor in a comedy for his role as Hank Moody, an oversexed single dad and novelist struggling with writer's block in "Californication."

He is expected to start work soon on a new movie called "The Joneses."

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by John O'Callaghan)