It isn't easy navigating the dating scene as a celebrity. When somebody famous does find "the one," being under a public microscope can add stress to any relationship. Fame can make a couple's problems jet into the headlines, exposing their private lives to anyone who cares to indulge in the tabloids. As a result, there are some famous couples that have understandably managed to remain under the radar, even in the age of social media and trending topics.
On the contrary, there have always been those noteworthy dramatic duos that can't seem to get enough of the tabloids. Those that bask in the drama even use their fame to best each other in fights or to sell a staged reality. There are also those couples that seem to have a target on their back, whether they enjoy the publicity or not. Think of the "on again, off again" couples.
Below, we take a look at 10 particularly private celebrity couples and how they live away from the paparazzi-laden culture of Hollywood. We'll also analyze 10 "ultra diva" couples, what makes their relationship so chaotic and thus why they are perfect for each other. No judgments here. Some people are just crazy in love with fame (and each other).
19 #Humble: Katie Holmes And Jamie Foxx
This humble couple has more of a reason to be secretive than just to avoid public attention. Katie Holmes and Jamie Foxx have kept their relationship private mostly because of Tom Cruise, Holmes' ex-husband.
It's rumoured that Cruise placed a five-year ban on public dating for Holmes as part of their divorce contract, according to Radar Online.
Foxx has been seen leaving interviews without explanation at the mention of a potential relationship with Holmes. That is, until they were photographed together in 2017 for the first time as a couple...five years after Holmes and Cruise's divorce, according to Daily Mail.
Other than the fact that they're an item, possibly engaged and have an agreement not to discuss their relationship to the press, not much else is know about Holmes and Foxx's day-to-day lives. Remove Cruise from the equation, and you have a drama-free couple living their best lives. Good for them.
18 #Humble: Dave Franco And Alison Brie
Alison Brie and Dave Franco first met in 2011 at the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans. It wasn't long after that before this lovable couple began dating, reports People. However, aside from being spotted holding hands at a grocery store by a nosy paparazzo in 2012, the couple didn't make their first public appearance until 2015 at the Dior Homme show in Paris, France. Soon after, they announced their engagement and, in March of 2017, exchanged vows in a private ceremony among friends and family.
The couple certainly enjoys their privacy, and married life has been smooth sailing for them. "Something about being married made me feel so settled, almost more free, I guess, rather than like trapped,” Brie told People. “It’s great.”
Apparently, working together, not a walk in the park for every couple, is easy for Brie and Franco, who played a couple in The Disaster Artist. "It’s so nice to work with your person, to be on set with someone who is the person you feel the most comfortable with in the world,” Brie told HelloGiggles.
17 #Humble: Kerry Washington And Nnamdi Asomugha
Actor Kerry Washington and professional NFL player-turned-actor Nnamdi Asomugha are one of the most humble couples in Hollywood. The Scandal star and 49ers alumnus quietly met, fell in love and tied the knot without the public knowing, save for a few close friends, according to E! News. Even Washington's Scandal co-stars didn't know about her engagement. "I did know she was dating," Scandal actor Dan Bucatinsky told E! News. He added,
"I didn't know that they were going to get married, but all of us sort of hoped. We wish her the best always. She did it in the perfect way."
Since marriage, the couple has had a daughter named Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha and a son named Caleb Kelechi Asomugha, again, without the public knowing. Washington didn't even tell anybody that she was pregnant until her baby bumps showed. On social media, Washington is equally as secretive, never displaying pictures of Asomugha or her two children.
16 #Humble: Brie Larson And Alex Greenwald
Actor Brie Larson and musician Alex Greenwald may have just called off their engagement after two years on January 11, 2019, but they are technically still together in the eyes of the public. As with most humble couples, the timeline of their relationship is a bit spotty. According to Us Weekly, Larson and Greenwald have been dating since at least 2013, when Larson first publicly acknowledged Greenwald in her acceptance speech for Best Actress for her role in Short Term 12 at the Gotham Awards.
However, the couple could have been dating as early as 2010, when Larson co-starred with Greenwald's Phantom Planet bandmate Jason Schwartzman in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Maybe, just maybe, Schwartzman introduced them? That's pure speculation, of course.
Greenwald proposed to Larson during a vacation in Tokyo, but the public didn't find out until two months later, when Larson announced it on Saturday Night Live. What does Larson have to say about Greenwald? "He’s just a really good person." Though the two haven't appeared on each other's social media profiles in a while, let's hope this grounded couple pulls through.
15 #Humble: Natalie Portman And Benjamin Millepied
You might say that Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied had rehearsed their wedding dance long before they wed in 2012. The humble couple met on the set of Darren Aronofsky’s Oscar-winning film Black Swan in 2010. Millepied was a dancer, portraying David/The Prince in the play within the film. However, he also served as the ballet choreographer for Black Swan.
Although the couple keeps their personal lives super-private, rarely posting pictures of each other on social media, Portman thanked her "beautiful love, Benjamin Millepied," in an Oscar acceptance speech for Black Swan, adding that he gave her the "most important role" of her life.
The lovely couple has two children: Aleph (6) and Amalia (2). It's safe to assume that the couple's wedding dance was way above average. We're talking professional, given Millepied's expertise.
14 #Humble: Maya Rudolph And Paul Thomas Anderson
Now these two giants of the industry are the definition of a humble power couple. However, Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson don't flaunt the fact that they are icons in their respective crafts, or that they also happen to be married to each other. The eight-time Oscar nominated screenwriter and director Anderson likely first met Rudolph in 2000, when his then-girlfriend, musician Fiona Apple, performed for Saturday Night Live following the release of her new album "When The Pawn..."
Although the couple have had four kids over the course of 16 years, most people didn't even know that Anderson and Rudolph were together until Anderson cited Rudolph as part of the inspiration for the story behind his latest film, Phantom Thread. Anderson isn't on social media, and Rudolph doesn't post any pictures of her personal life. It seems to have worked out splendidly for the talented duo.
Now, let's take a look at some #UltraDiva couples, shall we?
13 #Humble: Miley Cyrus And Liam Hemsworth
It would be an understatement to say that this #Humble couple has had its ups and downs. Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth are the poster couple for the “are they, aren't they,” relationship; the casual millennial dating culture that has become so common in today's world.
Cyrus and Hemsworth met on the set of the Nicholas Sparks' romance film, The Last Song, as Cosmopolitan reports. They became best friends and started publicly dating in 2010. After that, they broke up and got back together at least four different times, including one failed engagement. The engagement was called off after Cyrus’s infamous twerking performance at the VMAs in 2013, one of the most cringeworthy meltdowns in recent memory.
They both surprised fans when they got married in a no-fuss secret ceremony in December, 2018. A source tells Entertainment Tonight that they talk about having kids all the time.
12 #UltraDivas: Kim Kardashian And Kanye West
One is the star of a reality show, in which every week she or a member of her family has a meltdown, and one is a rapper-turned-MAGA enthusiast, also with a penchant for drama. Yeah...Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are #UltraDivas and perfect for each other. Us Weekly has the scoop on their whirlwind-of-a-relationship timeline. They met in 2003, when Kanye was recording a song with Brandy, a friend of Kim's. They then worked on a pilot together in 2008 entitled Alligator Boots.
However, it wasn't until Kim dramatically ended her marriage with professional basketball player Kris Humphries in 2011 that she realized her feelings for Kanye. They made their relationship public in 2012, when Kanye immediately started a public feud with Humphries, referencing him in his song "Cold:"
"And I'll admit, I had fell in love with Kim / Around the same time she had fell in love with him / Well that's cool, baby girl, do ya thang / Lucky I ain't had Jay drop him from the team."
It isn't exactly the classiest way to start dating somebody so soon after a divorce, but anyway.
Kimye got married in 2014. They have three kids and a fourth is on the way. They somehow seem to make their marriage work, even with Kanye's bizarre tweets and diva antics, like how they got into a fight over a Band-Aid. Apparently, Kim had bought Kanye the wrong color, as Consequence Of Sound reports.
11 #UltraDivas: Jay-Z And Beyoncé
Perhaps equally as dramatic are musicians Jay-Z and Beyoncé. These #UltraDivas met when Beyoncé was 18, reports People. Never ones to shy away from the public eye, the two appeared together for the first time on the cover of Vanity Fair in November 2001.
Then came the honeymoon phase. Jay-Z put Beyoncé on his track "03 Bonnie & Clyde" in 2002, after which they starred in the music video together. Then, in 2003, Beyoncé put Jay-Z on her Grammy-winning track "Crazy in Love."
They married in 2008 and had their first child, Blue Ivy Carter, in 2012. In May of 2014, the couple and Solange, Beyoncé's sister, attended the Met Gala, after which a video surfaced of Solange attacking Jay-Z in an elevator. It was later speculated that Solange was upset with Jay-Z over cheating rumours. That summer followed with rumours that Jay-Z and Beyoncé's marriage was headed toward divorce.
In true Jay-Bey style, they always seem to use their music to express what they're going through in their private lives. Beyoncé's "Lemonade" track referenced a rocky relationship and home life.
An insight into their marriage? Maybe. But, in 2017, the couple had twins and Jay-Z dropped "4:44," in which he apologizes for his infidelity on the title track.
We can't wait to see (or hear) what happens next.
10 #UltraDivas: Kylie Jenner And Travis Scott
Let's make one thing clear: Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott's relationship is lightyears more stable than Jenner's four-year relationship with rapper Tyga. Nonetheless, when you date a reality star, the details of your relationship are going to be common knowledge to the public. In the grand scheme of #UltraDiva couples, Jenner and Scott are likely some of the most low-key among them.
As The Daily Mail reports, it all started at Coachella, as these things do. It was just weeks after Jenner split from Tyga. But hey, who's to say what's an appropriate amount of time to get over one's ex? It's all subjective. Since then, their relationship has been unabashedly public, with the couple frequenting NBA games, music festivals and the Met Gala. They've posed together on magazine covers, collaborated on music and incessantly document their lives on social media.
Showcasing their relationship to the public seems to fit with their lifestyles and personalities, so more power to them!
9 #Humble: Leighton Meester And Adam Brody
Let's be real, it's not easy keeping your relationship private in the age of social media, particularly when that relationship is shrouded in celebrity. Humble actors Leighton Meester and Adam Brody first met on the set of The Oranges in 2011. The couple is so private, however, that how or when they first started dating is a mystery. It is rumoured that they first made things official in the beginning of 2013, according to Bustle.
Meester and Brody married in a private ceremony in 2014, welcomed their first child, daughter Arlo Day, in 2015, and have kept their distance from the paparazzi since. Despite both occupying iconic characters in two of the most popular and enduring teen drama shows of the 2000s, Meester as Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl and Brody as Seth Cohen in The O.C., ironically both produced by Josh Schwartz, the actors don't like being pigeonholed into certain characters.
"I don’t talk about Arlo very much,” Meeton told Yahoo! Lifestyle. “I am very proud of that area of my life. But I’m also really proud of the show, and of the work I do. I think the perception is: You’re an ingenue, or you’re an icon, or you’re a mom. There’s no in between."
8 #Humble: Margot Robbie And Tom Ackerley
In a rare interview with E! News, Margot Robbie provided some details about her humble marriage with assistant director and producer Tom Ackerley. The two met on the set of the 2014 film Suite Française, in which Robbie co-starred, and on which Ackerley served as the third assistant director. Prior to their introduction, Robbie wasn't sure she wanted to get married. That all changed once she met Ackerley. Today, the two have cofounded a production company called LuckyChap Entertainment.
"If I'm looking into my future 30 years from now, I want to see a big Christmas dinner with tons of kids there." Robbie says. "But definitely not at the moment. That's 100 percent certain."
Right now, Robbie and Ackerley seem to be enjoying each other plenty, never spending more than three weeks apart at a time, even during long-distance film shoots, as the media outlet reports. The inseparable, drama-free couple knows exactly what they want, and it's working splendidly for them.
7 #UltraDivas: Evan Peters And Emma Roberts
Domestic turmoil. Breaking up and getting back together. Over and over. Evan Peters and Emma Roberts have had quite the relationship. The two crazy in love #UltraDiva actors met on the set of the 2012 film Adult World. Since then, PopSugar reports that they've broken up at least twice before getting back together again, gotten into a domestic violence dispute, during which Roberts is rumoured to have hit Peters, deleted each other's social media existence and broken off an engagement, all while consistently starring together on Ryan Murphy's hit series, American Horror Story.
The couple ended their engagement amicably in June 2015 and remained friends. Roberts got over the breakup by buying herself jewelry as a reminder of self love. They got back together three months later, broke up again after nine months, after which Roberts briefly dated Christopher Hines, and got back together again four months later. Phew! They have been together ever since.
6 #UltraDivas: Justin Bieber And Hailey Baldwin
As a solo act, Justin Bieber hasn't had the best relationship with the press. However, the pop star has matured over the years. A lot of that has to do with him falling in love with Hailey Baldwin. The two #UltraDivas met in 2009, after Baldwin's father, actor Stephen Baldwin, introduced them, according to Cosmopolitan.
However, Bieber was dating Selena Gomez at the time. It wasn't until 2014 that rumours began circling that the two friends were romantically involved. In January 2015, they brought in the New Year together, they got matching tattoos in July 2015, and Baldwin posted a picture of herself on Instagram wearing Bieber's sweatpants in December 2015 after rumours of Bieber getting back together with Gomez began circulating. Drama!
In January 2016, they brought in the New Year again, this time kissing for a photo on Instagram, making it official. But wait, Bieber unfollowed Baldwin in August 2016 and began dating Sofia Richie, also posing for a cozy picture on Instagram with her, making Gomez jealous. More drama! Bieber and Gomez dated again between 2016 and 2018.
Finally, Bieber and Baldwin got back together in May 2018. They then got engaged. But that's not the end of the drama. They keep delaying their wedding and have been seen crying together, as Harper's Bazaar reports.
5 #UltraDivas: Grimes And Elon Musk
Perhaps one of the most unexpected relationships to develop in 2018, musician Grimes and former CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk first bonded over an AI joke on Twitter, according to Insider.
They then showed the world their #UltraDiva relationship at, you guessed it: the Met Gala, where Grimes wore a Tesla choker. What followed was a series of bizarre online and offline behaviour. Grimes tweeted that she was legally changing her name to c, the symbol for the speed of light, which was supposedly Musk's idea. They ended up having a public clash over Musk's unionizing policies, as Insider reports.
Then came Azealia Banks, who spent a weekend at Musk's home on August 12, 2018 with the intention of recording a song with Grimes. The couple reportedly strung her along, but the visit sparked debate because it was so mysterious - and soon afterwards, Musk and Grimes unfollowed each other on social media. What happened? Whatever it was, it caused major drama.
4 #UltraDivas: Megan Fox And Brian Austin Green
As of today, this #UltraDiva couple seems to be happy together. However, given Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green's rocky past, that can change at any moment. People reports that Fox and Green first got engaged in 2006 after dating for two years, but called it off nearly three years later. They married in 2010, but Fox filed for divorce in 2015 after five years of marriage and two children together, explaining that her reason for divorcing Green was due to irreconcilable differences. They reportedly couldn't find a work-life balance that worked for the both of them. However, a few months later, Fox became pregnant, and in 2016, the couple got back together again.
"Marriage is hard,” Green said, as People reports. “It’s work, I think for anyone. I think when you get to the point like we have, where you have kids and you’ve been married for a while and we’ve been together for a long time, it’s – you just take it day by day."
Their relationship has survived rumours of an affair between Fox and her Transformers co-star Shia LeBouf and a custody battle. Green's ex, Vanessa Marcil, whom he met on the set of Beverly Hills 90210, fought and won custody of their son when Fox and Green tried to obtain full custody of him, as The Daily Mail reports.
3 #UltraDivas: Zayn Malik And Gigi Hadid
Another case of an "on again, off again" relationship, Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid were first spotted at Justin Bieber’s American Music Awards after-party in L.A. in November of 2015, according to Cosmopolitan. The #UltraDivas made it official on November 29, 2015. Not long after, Joe Jonas, Hadid's ex, unfollowed her and deleted a picture he posted on Instagram with Malik. Drama!
After finding out about the Jonas unfollow, Hadid posted and deleted four tweets, obviously directed at him, one of which read, "Sometimes life just happens. For whatever reason in whatever timing. And sometimes it doesn’t make sense 'til it does. That’s it."
Things started to heat up when Malik and Hadid starred in Malik's "Pillowtalk" music video in Naples, all while Jonas complained to the media that Hadid moved on too quickly from him, as Cosmopolitan reports.
Fast-forward two years through some consistent oversharing of their personal lives on social media and to the press, Malik got a tattoo of Hadid's eyes on his torso in January 2018. Only two months later, Hadid and Malik announced their spit on Twitter. Three months later they got back together. Having a tough time keeping up? I don't blame you.
2 #Humble: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson
Talk about humble. This consistent staple of Hollywood couples has been together for 34 years and married for more than 30. Hanks met Wilson on the set of Volunteers in 1985, according to E! News. However, Hanks admits he recalls thinking Wilson was cute as early as 1972, when she appeared as a cheerleader on The Brady Bunch. They're one of the least showy, most down-to-earth celebrity couples.
So, what's the secret to a long-lasting relationship in the limelight? Honesty, devotion, privacy, laughter and massages.
Hanks and Wilson have always protected their children's privacy while also managing to avoid the tabloids over the decades. Aside from Wilson sharing her struggle with breast cancer in order to help other women who are also battling the disease, they don't share much about their private lives.
"I'm in public because of the nature of what I do," Wilson told The New York Times, "but I don't feel it necessary to let the world know what I'm thinking, where I'm eating. I've always liked being on the periphery of things."
1 #Humble: Ron And Cheryl Howard
Step aside Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, because Ron Howard and Cheryl Alley have been married for nearly 44 years. The humble couple met when they were only teenagers, Howard, who's a Hollywood director, told Huffington Post. He offered some insight into what makes a relationship last in Hollywood: luck, compatibility and good patience. He added,
"I felt really lucky when we met. It's crazy. We were teenagers. It shouldn't have worked. We got married young. That shouldn't have worked either, and yet it really and truly has."
Young Ron and Cheryl met when they were placed in the same English class in high school, and married just four years later. A writer and actor, Cheryl has appeared in 11 films directed by Howard. The couple has four children, the oldest of which is actor Bryce Dallas Howard. Aside from Ron portraying an unlikable version of himself in Arrested Development and spoofing his Hollywood family dynamics and career, Ron and Cheryl, like Hanks and Wilson, remain decidedly quiet and tabloid-free under the spotlight.
References: E! News, New York Times, Huffington Post, Yahoo, Radar Online
