Brad Pitt was open to counselling to save marriage with Angelina Jolie

Brangelina's divorce news has surprised not just friends and family members of the celebrity couple, but reportedly came as a shock to Brad Pitt himself. Apparently, the Mr and Mrs Smith actor was not even aware that his actress wife was planning a legal separation until a couple of days before the news broke.

"Brad did not want the marriage to end," a source told E! News shedding light on the situation that led to the heart-breaking end of Hollywood's much-loved couple. "He was committed to doing what he needed to make it work. He was open to counseling."

According to reports, for Pitt and Jolie, who are parents of six children – Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and twins eight-year-old Knox and Vivienne – divorce was not an impulsive decision.

"Things built and built over time – it wasn't any one thing," stated a report by People magazine. "She's loved this man for several years, and [divorce] is not something you do impulsively,"

Another report quoted a source as saying, "[Brad] is emotionally torn. Right now, he is devastated. He still loved Angelina and would have preferred they fight to make the marriage work. He was willing to do whatever it took to save the marriage and didn't realize Angelina had already given up on it."

According to sources, the Fight Club actor is disappointed with the way their divorce has been publicised. An insider apparently said, "He [Pitt] has wanted to protect the children. He didn't want it to play out publicly."

After the news of the split, the couple's close-circle has expressed concern for the stars' children and their well-being. The Maleficent actress's estranged father Jon Voight too voiced his support and said, "I'll be seeing Angie and the children pretty soon. Obviously something serious must have happened. I don't know what it is and I know Angie loves the children dearly and they're her priority in life and hopefully they're OK. It's a tough thing for them to go through".