Chesney speaks over Renee split

The couple have asked for privacy

Country star Kenny Chesney has told his fans "I'll be OK" after splitting with his wife, actress Renee Zellweger.

The singer and the actress are seeking an annulment of their four-month marriage, with Zellweger listing "fraud" as the reason.

Chesney told Country Weekly magazine: "I'm all right. I'm good. There have been better times, but I'll be OK."

They married on a Caribbean beach in May, four months after meeting at a benefit for tsunami victims.

Chesney, 37, and the 36-year-old Bridget Jones star wed in a surprise ceremony on the US Virgin Island of St John, where Chesney lives.

Oscar

Chesney, one of the biggest country music stars in the US, was named entertainer of the year at the US Academy of Country Music awards in May.

Zellweger won a best supporting actress Oscar for Cold Mountain in 2004, and was also nominated for her roles in Chicago and Bridget Jones's Diary. It was the first marriage for both.

Chesney added: "I hit everything so hard this year.

"I had the biggest tour I've ever done, I had a record to finish that was real important to me, and, of course, I had something new in my personal life and I was trying to do that too.

"It really ended up being too much."

Invalid

He added: "I'm tired right now, but by next year, I'll be excited to get back to it. And it'll be about the music again, not about the sideshow."

In US law, an annulment is a decree that a marriage was invalid from its outset.

Anyone seeking an annulment on the grounds of "fraud" must prove that their partner misrepresented some matter that was vital to the marriage.

This may include the concealment of a fact such as an existing spouse, permanent impotence or a criminal history.

In a statement, Zellweger said it was "legal language and not a reflection of Kenny's character".