Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton's marriage ended because he didn't want kids, according to one of his ex-wives.
Melissa deBin-Parish - who was married to the 56-year-old Bad Santa actor from 1978 to 1980 - claims it was Thornton's lack of desire for children that drove them apart.
She said: "I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he did not want to be around children back then. Look at the timeline: she adopted Maddox and then, [Billy] was gone."
The pair - who met in 1999 on the set of Pushing Tin and married after just two months of dating in 2000 - split just three months after adopting Maddox, now 10 - who has since been adopted by Jolie's current partner Brad Pitt.
But deBin-Parish admits she doesn't know why they were together in the first place.
She told Star magazine: "I always wondered why they were attracted to each other. Here she is, this stunning woman. The two of them are total opposites. I thought it was baffling.
"Maybe it was their creative minds or intelligence. He is very charismatic.
"I heard through the family that Angelina was a very kind person and a wonderful humanitarian.
"The family never said anything negative about her. I think the biggest bond in his life is theirs."
With Jolie, 36, set to pen the foreword for Billy Bob's autobiography, deBin-Parish admits her own relationship with her former husband isn't quite so friendly.
She claims he refuses to communicate with their 32-year-old daughter Amanda Brumfield, who is serving 20 years in a Florida prison for aggravated manslaughter of a child.
