Todd Bridges is moving forward. The actor best known for his role on the long-running sitcom Diff’rent Strokes has filed paperwork in Arizona to formally dissolve his marriage to Bettijo Hirschi, following a separation announcement he made in January. The filing marks the second divorce for both parties and closes a chapter that began with a whirlwind courtship and a hopeful start.
Bridges had been candid about the emotional weight of the decision when he first went public with the news earlier this year. He described the separation as a difficult one, reached with genuine reflection and a sense of care for the life the two had shared. He expressed gratitude for their time together and spoke of a hope that both would find peace and renewal in whatever came next. It was a statement more measured and tender than most celebrity splits tend to produce.
How the relationship began
Bridges and Hirschi met in January 2022 through what could only be described as a modern love story with an old-fashioned twist. A mutual friend had written a new dating profile on Hirschi’s behalf and shared it with Bridges as a kind of informal test run. The friend then connected the two after Bridges expressed interest. The relationship moved quickly. They became engaged not long after meeting and were married nine months after their first introduction.
Bridges spoke warmly about Hirschi early in the relationship, describing qualities in her that reminded him of his mother. The marriage appeared, at least publicly, to be built on genuine affection and shared values.
A complicated backdrop
By 2025, a separate legal matter had begun to cast a shadow over the couple’s circumstances. Hirschi was involved in a spousal support dispute with her first husband, from whom she had divorced in 2020. The two share four children, two of whom were still minors at the time. When her first husband sought to reduce his support payments after she remarried, the resulting court proceedings brought aspects of Bridges and Hirschi’s financial life into public view in ways that neither had likely anticipated.
Documents filed as part of that case described Bridges as earning a modest income from acting work during 2024, with more substantial earnings dependent on securing contract work. The court ultimately revised the support arrangement, setting a new monthly child support figure and ordering a substantial back payment to settle arrears.
Bridges and his family
Despite the personal turbulence of recent years, Bridges has continued working. He has accumulated a steady number of acting credits since 2020 and has several projects in various stages of development. It is a quieter chapter of a career that began in childhood and has carried its share of public difficulty over the decades.
He has two adult children. His daughter was born from a prior relationship, and his son Spencir, now 27, was also a child actor with roles in television and film during the mid-2000s. Spencir appeared in a handful of productions before stepping back from acting, following a path not entirely unlike his father’s early years in the industry.
Moving forward
The filing in Arizona formalizes what Bridges had already acknowledged emotionally months earlier. Divorce proceedings of this kind tend to take time to resolve fully, but the paperwork signals a clear intention to close the chapter and move on. For an actor who has spoken openly over the years about faith, resilience and the importance of forward momentum, the step appears to reflect exactly that.
