"Having read recent articles about our relationship, we would like to speak for ourselves. The distance has been really tough on our relationship, because we haven't been able to see each other much. All relationships have their ups and downs, of course," the couple said in a statement provided exclusively to People. "People occasionally send out speculation, which has no basis in fact, without our knowledge, believing that that they have our best interests in mind. Sometimes, other agendas are at work. It can get a little weird… However, we would like to state directly that we have the utmost respect for one another, and it would be troubling if anyone had the impression that we thought otherwise."