THERE’S no denying there are certain celeb couples fans would be desperate to see back together – think Brad and Jen or Justin and Britney.
But when they do make our dreams come true and reunite, it often ends in disaster.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have become the latest casualty, having called it quits after less than two years of marriage.
The A-listers were first linked together in 2002 and became engaged later that year. They called off the wedding just two years later but rekindled their romance in 2021.
J-Lo and Ben – nicknamed Bennifer – eventually tied the knot in a July 2022 Las Vegas ceremony and had a more extravagant celebration the following month in Georgia.
But, sadly, it wasn’t to be.
Relationship expert Jo Hemmings tells us: “Couples sometimes have unrealistic expectations of what might happen the second time around.
“There’s this sense that maybe they were the right person at the wrong time and so their lifestyles have changed, so they kind of put everything into it, expecting it to be bigger and better and lovelier than before.
“But if those expectations are really high, sometimes it’s too much of a pressure, too much of a burden on people.
“Those ongoing, unresolved issues that caused the initial breakup so easily resurface, especially if they’re not fully dealt with and processed.”
Ben and Jen aren’t the only celeb couple who’ve tried to give a relationship another go, before failing again.
Jo adds: “All these couples really love each other still, and they really want to make a go of it, but it’s just, so often, so messy and very rarely works.”
Maya Jama and Stormzy both got together in 2014, before either of them were as famous as they are now.
They were together for five years before they first split – and in the meantime, as Stormzy became the biggest rapper in the UK and Maya became the millionaire host of Love Island, fans became insistent on them getting back together.
They did eventually reunite last August, much to the delight of the public, but they announced they’d split again last month, in a joint statement.
A source told The Sun “they are at totally different places in their lives”.
We think we know them, and we think they make a great couple, so that leeches into them, and they think, ‘Well, everyone else is thinking we’d be great back together. Maybe we should give it a go.’
Jo Hemmings
Jo believes part of the reason Maya and Stormzy got back together was due to the “parasocial relationship” their fans have with them.
She adds: “We think we know them, and we think they make a great couple, so that leeches into them, and they think, ‘Well, everyone else is thinking we’d be great back together. Maybe we should give it a go.’
“Maya and Stormzy, particularly, just feel so right together. I really thought this time around it was going to work.
“But the things that get in the way of celebrity relationships, particularly theirs, is that he’s already had – and still has – a great career but she’s on the up with hers.
“It could just be the distance and the fact she’s prioritising her work over her relationship is causing conflict in a different way the second time around.”
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth’s relationship was rocky right from the start.
They first met on the set of The Last Song in 2009, and soon started dating.
However, by August 2010 they’d already split.
Just a month later, they were back together, but that lasted just two months before they were “off again”.
It’s a naive belief that marriage will ever change things.
Jo Hemmings
Despite that, they gave things yet another go and Liam proposed to Miley in Cyprus in 2012.
But, by September 2013, they’d called off their engagement, unfollowed each other on social media, and both moved on with other people.
In January 2016, the couple got engaged again, but it wasn’t until the end of 2018 they got married, after the house they shared burned down in the devastating California fires.
It wasn’t to be, however, as they eventually split for good in August 2019, and have been officially divorced since February 2020.
Jo comments: “There’s a belief, a slightly naive belief, that if a couple makes that full commitment of marriage the second time around, that will enable the relationship to work better, because they have made the biggest commitment you can make to somebody else.
“I don’t know, or can’t think off-hand, of any situations where that has actually worked because it’s not the piece of paper and it’s not the promise of the commitment. It’s the relationship within it that matters, whether you’re just living together or whether you’re married.”
Another “naive” decision people make in order to make things work, says Jo, is to have a baby.
One couple who tried that is Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik.
The stunning model and former One Direction star first started dating in 2015, eventually splitting in 2018, with Gigi moving on briefly with Bachelorette star Tyler Cameron.
They got back together at the end of 2019, going Instagram official with a Valentine’s Day post in 2020, and spending lockdown together.
By April 2020, Gigi was pregnant, eventually giving birth to their daughter Khai that September.
But in October 2021, when Khai was only one year old, the couple ended things yet again, with multiple sources claiming Zayn had “struck” Gigi’s mum Yolanda Hadid – something he denies.
Jo says: “Like when couples get married, it’s naive when people have children second time around in order to make it work, as it’s the individuals concerned, and not their life circumstances, that made a difference.”
Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green tried both marriage and kids multiple times in order to make it work.
They first got together in 2004, when they met on the set of Hope and Faith, and got engaged two years later.
By February 2009, they’d called the wedding off, insisting they remained “friends”.
However, they reconciled in June 2010, and got married in Hawaii that month, with just Brian’s son Kassius the only person in attendance.
Ojani Noa
Lopez was briefly married to Cuban waiter Ojani Noa. The pair wed on February 22, 1997, but split less than a year later.
Since then, Lopez has endured legal challenges regarding her relationship with Noa, including in 2006 when she sued to prevent him from publishing a book about their marriage.
Sean Combs
While working on her debut album On The 6, Lopez began dating record producer and rapper Sean Combs.
They dated for two years from 1999 to 2001.
Cris Judd
After splitting with Combs, Lopez began to date former backup dancer Cris Judd. They wed on September 29, 2001.
But this too was a brief marriage, as they divorced less than a year later in June 2002, citing irreconcilable differences.
Ben Affleck
Just months after divorcing Judd, Lopez became engaged to actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck in November 2002.
The pair were due to get married in September 2003 but postponed the wedding indefinitely just a day before the ceremony and then split January 2004.
Nearly 20 years later, the pair made headlines after rekindling their romance in July 2021.
Marc Anthony
Following her heartbreak with Ben Affleck, Lopez started a relationship with her longtime friend, singer Marc Anthony.
She married Anthony in June 2004, and on November 7, 2007, during the final night of their co-headlining tour, the couple announced they were expecting their first child.
Lopez gave birth to twins Emme and Maximilian in February 2008.
But three years later, in July 2011, the couple announced their split and filed for divorce in April 2012. Their divorce was finalized in 2014.
Casper Smart
Between October 2011 and August 2016, Lopez had an on-off relationship with her former backup dancer, Casper Smart.
She then found love with former New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez the following year.
In March 2019, the couple announced their engagement.
Alex Rodriguez
Rodriguez met Lopez 20 years ago when the baseball star asked for the pop star’s autograph and again at New York Yankees game.
It was first announced the couple was dating in March 2017.
On April 14, 2021, the couple released a statement to Today saying that they have ended their two-year engagement.
Things seemed to be going very smoothly for the couple, with Megan calling him her “soulmate”.
They also welcomed two children together, Noah, 11, and Bodhi, 10.
But, in August 2015, Megan filed for divorce.
Eight months later, however, the couple revealed they were expecting their third child together, Journey, now eight, and by July 2016, they were officially back on.
Four years later, Brian confirmed he and Megan had split, and their divorce was officially finalised in February 2022.
Elon Musk and British actress Talulah Riley first met at a bar in London. She didn’t know who he was at the time.
Just six weeks after he filed for divorce from his first wife Justine Musk, he proposed to Talulah and she moved to Los Angeles, marrying in 2010.
Two years later they got divorced but that wasn’t the end of their relationship as, in July 2013, the couple tied the knot for the second time.
Elon filed for a divorce again the next year, but withdrew the petition seven months later.
However, in March 2016, Talulah filed for divorce again, and it was finalised that November of that year.
In 2022, Talulah – who is now married to Love Actually star Thomas Brodie-Sangster – told The Independent: “I suppose the reason to get remarried was just because it felt silly to be together unmarried after having been married. You know, it’s like a habit.
“We were saying, ‘This is my husband.’ ‘This is my wife.’ ‘Oh, wait, no, we’re not that anymore. We better be that again.’ “
Eminem and Kim Scott met as teenagers at a house party in 1988, and quickly started dating, welcoming their daughter Hailie, now 28, on Christmas Day 1995.
The couple got married the first time in 1999, before rapper Eminem went on his first tour but they called it quits just two years later.
They tried to make it work again, remarrying on 14th January 2006, in a “small, private ceremony” but Eminem filed for divorce only three months later.
The following year, on an episode of Dr. Keith Ablow’s talk show, Kim confessed the reason she married Eminem was to keep him “faithful and grounded” when he went on tour, but it didn’t work out.
Rick Salomon was Pamela Anderson’s third and fourth husband.
Having been friends for a long time, the couple first got married at a Las Vegas hotel in October 2007, with sources telling People “they are head over heels in love”.
However, Pammy filed for divorce two months later, and the pair were granted an annulment in March 2008.
Pamela got back with her first husband and father of her kids Tommy Lee in the meantime.
But, in January 2014, news broke that she and Rick had tied the knot again.
At the time, Pamela told E! News: “We’re very happy. Our families are very happy and that’s all that matters.”
Six months later, however, Pamela filed for divorce again, citing irreconcilable differences.
While most couples haven’t made it work after splitting up the first time, one who has managed to is Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The royal couple first began dating in September 2001, after meeting at the University of St Andrews, and seemed solid for years.
But in April 2007, they called it quits, getting back together just two months later, and the rest is history.
Speaking of the brief split in their engagement interview with Tom Bradby, William said: “We were both very young.
“We were both finding ourselves and such and being different characters and such.”
Jo adds: “It can work if you are willing to put the effort into being brutally candid about what went wrong the last time.
“You’ve got to say, ‘What are our differences? Why didn’t it work? What can we now put in place, and keep to, that will try and ensure our relationship works this time?’
“Quality time is often lacking in celebrity relationships, so it’s easy to let that slip, and I think just work hard on those issues and identify, recognise and put the effort into them. Then you’ll have a better chance of working next time round.”
