10 Celebrity Relationships That Fell Apart Because of a Co-Star

10 Celebrity Relationships That Fell Apart Because of a Co-Star

Hollywood has always been a place where intense emotions run high, especially on movie sets.

When actors spend long hours together creating on-screen chemistry, sometimes those sparks become all too real.

Unfortunately, some of the most talked-about celebrity breakups happened because a co-star came between an established couple, turning fiction into messy reality.

1. Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston (Angelina Jolie)

America’s sweetheart couple seemed unbreakable until Brad Pitt filmed Mr. & Mrs. Smith alongside Angelina Jolie in 2004.

The on-screen assassin duo developed undeniable chemistry that clearly extended beyond the cameras.

Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston when rumors started swirling about his connection with Jolie.

The marriage crumbled publicly, with tabloids capturing every painful moment.

Aniston filed for divorce in early 2005, citing irreconcilable differences.

Within months, Pitt and Jolie were photographed together with her adopted son, confirming what everyone suspected.

This became one of Hollywood’s most infamous love triangles, dominating headlines for years.

Fans took sides passionately, with Team Aniston merchandise appearing everywhere.

The fallout changed how audiences viewed all three stars forever.

2. Ariana Grande & Dalton Gomez (Ethan Slater)

Pop superstar Ariana Grande married real estate agent Dalton Gomez in an intimate 2021 ceremony, but their union wouldn’t last long.

When Grande began filming the movie adaptation of Wicked in 2022, she grew close to co-star Ethan Slater, who played Boq.

Both were married to other people at the time.

Their connection became public knowledge in summer 2023, shocking fans worldwide.

Grande filed for divorce from Gomez that September after two years of marriage.

Slater also separated from his high school sweetheart, with whom he shared a young child.

The timing raised eyebrows across social media, with critics questioning the timeline.

Grande faced intense backlash, though she remained mostly silent about the situation.

The relationship with Slater continued despite the controversy surrounding its beginning.

3. JoJo Siwa & Kath Ebbs (Chris Hughes)

Reality TV brought unexpected drama for YouTuber JoJo Siwa when she entered the Celebrity Big Brother UK house in 2025.

She was happily dating Kath Ebbs before the show started filming.

However, living in close quarters with fellow contestant Chris Hughes changed everything rapidly.

Cameras captured their growing emotional bond throughout the season.

Siwa and Hughes shared deep conversations and formed a connection that viewers couldn’t ignore.

The intensity of their friendship raised questions about whether it crossed relationship boundaries.

Shortly after leaving the Big Brother house, Siwa and Ebbs announced their breakup.

Fans who followed their relationship felt heartbroken by the sudden ending.

Siwa’s connection with Hughes during filming clearly played a major role in the relationship’s collapse.

4. Eddie Cibrian & Brandi Glanville (LeAnn Rimes)

Eddie Cibrian seemed to have it all—a successful acting career and marriage to Brandi Glanville, with whom he had two sons.

Everything changed when he co-starred with country singer LeAnn Rimes in the 2009 TV movie Northern Lights.

Their affair became public almost immediately, devastating both families involved.

Glanville discovered the relationship and fought publicly to save her marriage.

Rimes was also married at the time, making the scandal even messier.

Photos of Cibrian and Rimes together surfaced, leaving no room for denial.

The divorce finalized in 2010, launching years of bitter public feuds. Glanville became a reality TV star partly by sharing her side of the story.

Cibrian married Rimes in 2011, but the drama between the exes continues even today.

5. Billy Crudup & Mary-Louise Parker (Claire Danes)

Mary-Louise Parker and Billy Crudup were one of theater’s most respected couples, together for years.

Parker was seven months pregnant with their first child when everything fell apart in 2003.

Crudup had been filming Stage Beauty with young actress Claire Danes, and their professional relationship turned romantic.

He left Parker devastatingly close to her due date, shocking the entertainment industry.

The timing made the situation particularly cruel and generated widespread sympathy for Parker.

Danes faced severe criticism for her role in breaking up the family.

Parker handled the situation with remarkable grace, focusing on raising their son alone.

She rarely spoke publicly about the betrayal, maintaining her dignity throughout.

Crudup and Danes dated for four years before eventually breaking up themselves.

6. Johnny Depp & Vanessa Paradis (Amber Heard)

Johnny Depp and French singer Vanessa Paradis seemed like the rare Hollywood success story.

They’d been together since 1998 and raised two children together without ever marrying.

Their relationship appeared solid and private, away from the typical celebrity circus.

Everything shifted when Depp filmed The Rum Diary with Amber Heard in 2009.

The young actress caught his attention, and their connection grew during production.

Depp and Paradis announced their separation in 2012 after 14 years together.

Depp married Heard in 2015, but their union became one of Hollywood’s most toxic.

The relationship ended in a bitter, highly publicized legal battle with abuse allegations.

Many fans look back at his stable years with Paradis as his happiest time before everything unraveled.

7. Tori Spelling & Charlie Shanian (Dean McDermott)

Tori Spelling married screenwriter Charlie Shanian in a lavish 2004 wedding, but their marriage barely lasted a year.

While filming the TV movie Mind Over Murder in Canada, she met actor Dean McDermott.

Both were married to other people, yet the attraction proved impossible to ignore.

The affair moved quickly, with both stars leaving their spouses almost simultaneously.

Spelling’s marriage to Shanian ended abruptly, blindsiding him completely.

McDermott also left his wife, with whom he shared a young son.

Spelling and McDermott married in 2006 and built a reality TV empire together.

They had five children and documented their lives extensively on camera.

Their relationship became as public as the affair that started it, with constant media attention following them everywhere.

8. Ewan McGregor & Eve Mavrakis (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)

Before their relationship became public, Ewan McGregor had been married to French production designer Eve Mavrakis for more than two decades.

The couple shared four children together and were often viewed as one of Hollywood’s more stable long-term partnerships.

While filming the third season of Fargo in 2016, McGregor met actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, with whom he played a romantic interest on screen.

During production, McGregor and Winstead reportedly grew close behind the scenes.

In 2017, McGregor announced his separation from Mavrakis, and shortly afterward he was photographed publicly with Winstead.

The timing fueled speculation that the on-set connection contributed to the marriage’s collapse, though neither party publicly addressed the overlap.

McGregor and Mavrakis finalized their divorce in 2020 quietly.

9. Elizabeth Taylor & Eddie Fisher (Richard Burton)

Elizabeth Taylor’s marriage to singer Eddie Fisher was already controversial—she’d stolen him from Debbie Reynolds, her close friend.

Then came 1962’s Cleopatra, where Taylor met Welsh actor Richard Burton.

Their explosive chemistry became the most expensive gossip in film history, as production costs soared partly due to their affair.

The scandal dominated global headlines, with even the Vatican condemning their behavior.

Fisher was blindsided and heartbroken, watching his marriage dissolve publicly.

Taylor and Burton couldn’t resist each other despite both being married to other people.

They divorced their respective spouses and married in 1964, beginning Hollywood’s most turbulent romance.

Their relationship was passionate but volatile, leading to two marriages and two divorces.

The Cleopatra affair remains one of cinema’s most legendary scandals.

10. Billy Bob Thornton & Laura Dern (Angelina Jolie)

Laura Dern thought she was planning a wedding when Billy Bob Thornton left to film Pushing Tin in 1999.

The couple had been engaged and living together happily.

Then Thornton met Angelina Jolie on set, and everything changed overnight without warning.

Dern came home one day to find Thornton had moved out completely.

He married Jolie in Las Vegas just months later, stunning everyone who knew him.

Dern told reporters she left their home to work and returned to find her fiancé gone.

The betrayal was particularly cruel because of how suddenly it happened.

Dern handled the situation publicly with hurt but dignity, expressing her shock honestly.

Thornton and Jolie’s intense relationship lasted three years before they divorced, famous for wearing vials of each other’s blood.