Robin Thicke Steps Out Smiling Post-Split, Says He's "Trying to Get" Paula Patton Back 
 
 He wants to twerk it out! Robin Thicke has made it clear that he's not ready to throw in the towel on his marriage just yet. The R&B; crooner stepped out for the first time since announcing his split from Paula Patton in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Feb. 27 and said he wants his estranged wife back. 
 
 PHOTOS: Robin and Paula -- the way they were 
 
 "You know, just trying to get her back man," Thicke, 36, told TMZ cameras at a D.C. airport on Thursday. Bundled up in a peacoat, the "Blurred Lines" entertainer was all smiles while walking to his car outside. Whether he was wearing his wedding band is unknown, as he kept his hands hidden in his pockets during the duration of the quick chat. (On Feb. 26, actress Patton, 38, stepped out for the first time post-split without her ring in L.A.) 
 
 As previously reported, the high school sweethearts -- who are parents to 3-year-old son Julian -- announced their separation in a joint statement on Feb. 24. "Robin wanted to save their marriage, but it was Paula's choice and she ended it," an insider told Us of the twosome. "Robin does not want this divorce." 
 
 PHOTOS: 2013's biggest splits 
 
 Robin Thicke and Paula Patton 
 
 Credit: Larry Busacca/WireImage 
 
 "Robin was not blindsided -- he knew this was coming out," another source added. "But he was committed to saving their marriage. He didn't want this." 
 
 Thicke may have been vocal about his hope for reconciliation, but the singer kept tight-lipped when a cameraman asked if Miley Cyrus played a part in the split. On Feb. 25, Us exclusively reported that Thicke's VMAs performance with the "Wrecking Ball" songstress tested the couple's marriage. 
 
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 "The Miley Cyrus fiasco was a big test of their relationship," an insider told Us of Thicke and the Baggage Claim star. "He asked her to help him out as a friend and a wife, and defend him and the performance. He begged her to speak out for him and be there for him." 
 
 "She agreed to be the good wife after he begged and pleaded," the source further explained. "Then he asked her to stick with him through awards season, and she agreed. She attended the Grammys with him as a favor." ||||| On the surface, Robin Thicke and Paula Patton may have seemed like the perfect celebrity pair. After all, they met when Patton was just 14 and the two have been married since 2005. (That’s practically a lifetime in Hollywood years.) 
 
 But a slew of recent cheating rumors have plagued the couple since Thicke’s infamously handsy VMAs performance with Miley Cyrus, which some called disrespectful to Patton. After the show, the “Blurred Lines” singer was photographed with his arms wrapped around a beautiful blonde. In the image, an inconveniently placed mirror showed Thicke’s hand was grabbing the woman’s butt. 
 
 PHOTOS: Robin Thicke and Paula Patton through the years 
 
 The woman, Lana Scolaro, claimed to Life & Style that she and Thicke had hooked up and the words “open marriage” began to pop up when the famous couple was mentioned in the press. 
 
 It didn’t help when, according to the New York Post, Patton dished that before the couple wed she once hid in the bushes outside Thicke’s house to investigate if he was cheating. Yikes. 
 
 Now Scolaro is speaking up once again, telling TMZ she’d love to reunite with the award-winning singer. (No surprise there.) 
 
 "I'd love to grab a drink with him if he asked,” the 20 year old told the gossip site. 
 
 Then in January, photos surfaced of Thicke once again getting very close to a woman who wasn’t his wife in a busy nightclub. 
 
 Thicke and Patton announced their split on Monday, telling People magazine the breakup was mutual. 
 
 “We will always love each other and be best friends, however, we have mutually decided to separate at this time.” 
 
 They have one son together, 3-year-old Julian Fuego. ||||| Robin Thicke and wife Paula Patton announced their decision to split after years of marriage on Feb. 24, and multiple sources tell Us Weekly they had been discussing separating for a long time. Credit: Larry Busacca/WireImage.com 
 
 Not a surprising split? On Monday, Feb. 24, Robin Thicke and Paula Patton announced they had decided to separate after eight years of marriage. Though they recently defended their marriage following Thicke's raunchy performance with Miley Cyrus at the VMAs back in August, multiple sources tell Us Weekly that the couple have been discussing breaking up for a long time. 
 
 "It has been a long time coming," a source close to Thicke, 36, tells Us. Adds a second source close to Thicke: "It is not a shock to Robin or Paula, and it is something they have discussed for a long time." 
 
 PHOTOS: Robin Thicke and Paula Patton -- the way they were 
 
 The "Blurred Lines" singer and Baggage Claim actress, 37, are parents to son Julian, 3. In a joint statement on Monday, the estranged spouses told Us: "We will always love each other and be best friends. However, we have mutually decided to separate at this time." 
 
 "Their marriage was unraveling for a long time," an insider tells Us. 
 
 PHOTOS: Last year's biggest celebrity splits 
 
 Rumors swirled that Thicke and Patton's marriage was in trouble back in August following Thicke's controversial "Blurred Lines" performance with Cyrus at the VMAs. The singer also made headlines at the time for a report claiming he cheated on Patton during an Aug. 25 party. 
 
 In the wake of the scandals, the couple showed a united front during interviews and defended their relationship. In fact, Thicke bragged about their sex life in an October 2013 interview with Elle. "The spice is not our problem," he told the magazine of how they kept their relationship interesting. "We're overspiced. We could probably take a few spices off the shelf." 
 
 PHOTOS: Celebrity couples then and now 
 
 During a joint interview with Prestige Hong Kong Magazine last September, Patton gushed about how she and her husband were "best friends" and always there for each other. "I've been there for his down moments and he's been there for mine," she explained. "Life is full of peaks and valleys. Robin has always been a great person to remind me to celebrate now." 
 
 Tell Us: Were you surprised by Thicke and Patton's split?
– Robin Thicke is not messing around when it comes to winning estranged wife Paula Patton back: Asked about Patton in Washington, DC, yesterday, he told a TMZ photographer, "I'm just trying to get her back." He also denied that his raunchy VMA performance with Miley Cyrus had anything to do with the split, despite the fact that TMZ's sources say Patton felt "utterly disrespected" by it. Then, last night at his concert in Fairfax, Va., Thicke dedicated a song to Patton, TMZ reports. Thicke, who was wearing his wedding ring, told the audience, "For y'all that don't know, me and my wife separated, but I'm trying to get my girl back. She's a good woman." He said he wrote "Lost Without U" for her, and that it's her favorite song of his. He had to turn away from the audience at times and "even messed up on some of the words because he was crying," a concertgoer tells People. Also yesterday, someone sent a bunch of huge, pricey floral arrangements to Patton's home—TMZ has pictures, and assumes the flowers are from Thicke. But another source tells Us that whole Miley thing may have been a bigger deal than Thicke is letting on: "The Miley Cyrus fiasco was a big test of their relationship. He asked her to help him out as a friend and a wife, and defend him and the performance. He begged her to speak out for him and be there for him," the source says. "She agreed to be the good wife after he begged and pleaded. Then he asked her to stick with him through awards season, and she agreed. She attended the Grammys with him as a favor." Patton's 3-year-old son with Thicke was involved in a minor car accident yesterday while photographers were following Patton's car, which her mother and assistant were also in, ETOnline reports. No injuries were reported. (Patton, for what it's worth, hasn't been wearing her wedding ring.)