10 FORMER CELEBRITY COUPLES YOU FORGOT WERE EVER TOGETHER
Fame and fortune can take its toll on even the tightest of couples. Thanks to our constant news cycle, we might be up on the latest “conscious uncoupling” of the moment, but our collective memories can be short thanks to what seems like an endless Hollywood conveyor belt of couples. Going back even a decade can jolt your memory, so let’s take a quick look back to the red carpets of the recent past and see how many of these pairs you remember being together in the first place.
- Michelle Pfeiffer and Fisher Stevens. It’s a classic Drama Nerd dream scenario: you get to romance the knockout gorgeous lead actress in the play you’re both in. Usually, she falls for the hero. But when Michelle Pfeiffer and Fisher Stevens met in 1989 while performing in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at New York Shakespeare Festival, she fell for him and they stayed together for four years. Pfeiffer has been married to writer/producer/director David E. Kelley for 31 years, with two grown children. Stevens has been married to producer Alexis Bloom since 2017; they also have two kids.
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2. Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey, Jr. The classic Good Girl/Bad Boy romance took place during Downey’s years of struggling with drugs and alcohol. Parker was quoted as saying she was “angry and embarrassed” after trying to give him “stability” during their seven-year-relationship. Downey is now famously clean and sober, and is married to his producing partner, Susan Downey. Parker has been married to fellow actor Matthew Broderick since 1997.

3. Alanis Morissette and Ryan Reynolds. Isn’t it ironic that you’ve completely forgotten these two Canadian stars were once a thing? They met-cute, Hollywood style, at Drew Barrymore’s birthday party in 2002 and got engaged two years later, only to break up for good in 2008. Reynolds is now married to Blake Lively, with whom he has four children. Morissette is married to hip-hop artist Souleye, and they share three kids.

4. Mandy Moore and Zach Braff. The two telegenic cuties dated from 2004 to 2006, with one of their last public appearances as a couple taking place at the 2006 MTV VMA’s. Moore, who starred in the critically acclaimed TV series “This Is Us,” is now married to Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith after divorcing musician Ryan Adams in 2015. Braff has remained a bachelor after a four-year relationship with actor Florence Pugh ended in 2022.

5. Kirsten Dunst and Jake Gyllenhaal. You don’t remember this one all too well, do you? Dunst never wrote an album’s worth of songs about a pre-Swift Gyllenhaal, whom she dated from 2002 to 2004. They met while Dunst was filming the movie “Mona Lisa Smile” with his sister, Maggie. No word on whether or not any scarves were involved, but there was an infamous lunch date where Dunst was photographed eating some of her salad with her fingers, which caused quite a scandal a mere twenty years ago.
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6. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Gosling. The two glaringly beautiful actors met while filming the movie “Murder By Numbers” in 2001 and dated for about two years. Bullock was 37 and Gosling was 21, which was controversial at the time. They split in 2003 and each went on to have various high-profile relationships. Gosling is now married to actor Eva Mendes, who has mostly retired from acting to raise their two daughters. Bullock is the mother of two children she adopted and is reportedly single.

7. Kim Kardashian and Nick Cannon. If he won’t let anyone forget about it, why should we? They had a moment in 2006 and then went their separate ways in early 2007. Cannon has fathered a dozen kids with various partners, while I’m pretty sure I don’t need to tell anyone what Kim’s been up to since this was taken.

8. Ashanti and Nelly. They dated for a decade, then split in 2013. Some things are just too beautiful to last.

9. Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake. If I asked you about JT dating someone in the 2000s, you’d immediately go to Britney. But for this list, it’s the three-year-relationship with Diaz that ended in early 2007 that we’re going to focus on. They met at the 2003 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards when Diaz presented Timberlake with the award for “Best Burp,” setting the tone for their romance. Diaz is now semi-retired from acting and is raising two kids with her husband, Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden, whom she’s been with since 2014. Timberlake has two kids with his wife, actor Jessica Biel.
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10. Janet Jackson and Matthew McConaughey. If you remember this blink-and-everyone-missed-it relationship from 2002, you get major points for having a better memory than most. It didn’t last very long, and I imagine they spent most of their time together counting each other’s abs.
