Reportedly gave up after former wife eclipsed (8)
I believe the answer is:
exceeded
'eclipsed' is the definition.
(eclipse can mean to exceed or surpass)
'reportedly gave up after former wife' is the wordplay.
'reportedly' shows a homophone (sound like).
'gave up' becomes 'ceded' ('cede' can be a synonym of 'give up').
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'former wife' becomes 'ex' (an ex-wife).
'ceded' is a homophone of 'ceeded'.
'ceeded' after 'ex' is 'EXCEEDED'.
(Other definitions for exceeded that I've seen before include "Went beyond (a limit)" , "Surpassed" , "Went beyond what was required" , "went over the top!" .)