38 Celebrity Couples You Forgot Started As Affairs
Georgia Davis Charlotte Chilton
Just as famous as those Hollywood pairings is their meet cutes—or in the case of these 43 couples, the affairs that turned into tabloid-worthy relationships.
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Women's Health
Country singer LeAnn Rimes and CSI: Miami star Eddie Cibrian met on the set of the 2008 Lifetime movie Northern Lights. LeAnn was married to former dancer and chef Dean Sheremet and Eddie was betrothed to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville. Despite being the center of one of the biggest controversies in the first half of the decade, LeAnn and Eddie live as a relatively normal couple—and LeAnn doesn’t regret the way things turned out. “I take responsibility for everything I’ve done. I hate that people got hurt,” Rimes told People. “But I don’t regret the outcome.”

Pop goddess Alicia Keys and producer Swizz Beatz met when they were teenagers, and Alicia wasn’t too fond of her future husband. “Honestly, I didn't really like him that much. I thought he was too ostentatious. Everything with him is really over the top. I used to see him and think, ‘He is so annoying.’” They started working together, then the relationship started heating up. The pair started dating when Swizz was still married to singer Mashonda, and they got married in 2010 in the midst of a brutal divorce. The couple is still together and have two children.

Country singers Blake Shelton and Miranada Lambert were all eyes for each other when they sang “You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma.” The Voice coach has said he was in love with Miranda from that moment, even though he was married to Kaynette Williams. Miranda knew he was off the market, but that didn’t stop her from pursuing Blake. “I knew he was married,” Lambert said. “I had seen their wedding pictures in Country Weekly. I knew better, like, ‘this is off-limits.’ My parents are private investigators, for God's sake. I've seen this my whole life—affairs, and of all people to know better, I know better than this.” The country music power couple got married in 2011 and divorced in 2015.

Blake and Miranda were still married when sparks started flying between him and No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani. The pair met on the set of The Voice, and it was visible there was some connection there. Blake and Gwen’s respective divorces (Gwen was married to Gavin Rossdale) happened in quick succession, and they started dating shortly after.

Actors Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott met on the set of the Lifetime movie Mind Over Murder when they were married to Charlie Shanian and Mary Jane Eustace, respectively. On Tori’s show True Tori, she revealed her and Dean had sex the night they met. She also said this: “It wasn't like, ‘oh, just get your rocks off, have sex with someone just to have sex,’ you know? It was a conscious decision, like, fell head over heels for you.”

Who could ever cheat on America’s sweetheart and overall badass woman Reese Witherspoon? Well, that’s what was suspected to happen when she filed for divorce from actor Ryan Phillippe, who was allegedly having an affair with Abbie Cornish. After his divorce was finalized, he and Abbie dated for three years before going their separate ways.

Before there was Princess Diana, there was Camilla Shand. Prince Charles and Camilla met at a polo match in 1970 and dated for less than a year. After remaining friends, the two started an affair while they were both in high-profile relationships. In an interview, Charles admitted to adultery, but said he fought for his marriage “until it became clear that the marriage had irretrievably broken down.” Prince Charles and Camilla have been married since 2005.

Meg Ryan was married to Dennis Quaid when her affair with Russell Crowe became public. That led to Meg and Dennis’ divorce in 2001—something Meg still discusses to this day. “I felt the effect, like I was the bad guy or whatever the story was,” Meg told New York Times Magazine. “But I remember letting go of needing to correct anybody. Divorce is hard. Love is hard. All those things were so personal. They weren’t for mass consumption.”

Frasier star Kelsey Grammer was still married to Camille Grammer when he started seeing Kayte Walsh. The drama unfolded on RHOBH, making the divorce uber-public. In an interview, Kayte said she’s “not proud” of how the couple started out, but they are still married eight years later.

Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith’s love affair started on the set of Two Much. "We tried as much as we could to be respectful,” Antonio said. “We just thought this may be one of those, you know, infatuation moments that we have when we shoot movies because we got to play together a couple, so let's just go home.” Antonio was married to Ana Lenz, and Melanie had married her ex-husband Don Johnson. The couple is now divorced, with Antonio paying $65,000 in spousal support to Melanie.

Imagine being in a love triangle with your best friend. That was the case with Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds, who was married to Eddie Fisher. Liz stole Debbie’s husband, then divorced him five years later in the center of another cheating scandal.

Kevin Federline was with partner Shar Jackson, who was pregnant with their second child, when he met Britney Spears. Months into the affair, Britney and Kevin were engaged. The pair was only married for two years, and it all ended in a very messy divorce and custody battle. You know, the one where Britney shaved her head.

The members of the Golden Couple of Hollywood were friends before starting their affair while filming The Long, Hot Summer in 1957. Paul Newman was married to his wife Jackie Witte, who agreed to a divorce in 1958. Almost immediately after, Paul married Joanne Woodward in Las Vegas. The duo celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary shortly before Paul’s death in 2008.

Almost Famous actor Billy Crudup left his pregnant then-wife, Mary Louise-Parker, to be with Homeland actress Claire Danes in 2003. The pair dated for four years before calling it quits. “I was just in love with him,” Claire said. “And needed to explore that and I was 24… I didn’t quite know what those consequences would be.”

Angelina Jolie and ex-husband Billy Bob Thornton met on the set of the 1999 movie Pushing Tin and married that same year. The only problem was that Billy was going steady with actress Laura Dern. “I left our home to work on a movie, and while I was away, my boyfriend got married, and I’ve never heard from him again,” Laura said at the time. Angelina and Billy divorced in 2003.

The story of Brangelina is one of the most iconic in Hollywood history. The pair met on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, while Brad was married to The Morning Show star Jennifer Aniston. In a 2008 interview with Rolling Stone, Brad admitted he “fell in love” on the set of the 2005 action film. Unfortunately, Brangelina came to an end when the couple filed for divorce in 2016.

There is about a month of overlap from when dating rumors started swirling around Jen and Justin and him ending his 14-year relationship with Heidi Bivens. Justin broke off the long-term relationship after he and Jen starred in Wanderlust. The Hollywood hotties married in 2015 and called it quits in February 2018. Don’t worry, though — they’re still friends.

Johnny and June make up one of the most famous couples in music history, but the love story started with infidelity. The “Walk The Line” singer was married to Vivian Liberto when he started his affair with June Carter. In an interview with People, Johnny’s daughter, Rosanne, talked about the affair: “It seemed inevitable, though it was so painful for my mom. I had two really good examples from women in my life. My mom gave me this powerful sense of discipline, family, mothering and detail orientation. And June gave me this sense of expansiveness and how to live life as a performer.”

Brace yourself for this one. Director Woody Allen was dating Mia Farrow when he met Soon-Yi Previn. The connection? Soon-Yi is Mia’s adopted daughter. “I wasn’t the one who went after Woody — where would I get the nerve? He pursued me,” Soon-Yi told Vulture. “That’s why the relationship has worked: I felt valued. It’s quite flattering for me. He’s usually a meek person, and he took a big leap.” The relationship caused many controversies, but the couple’s marriage is still going strong 22 years later.

Cameraman Daniel Moder was married to makeup artist Vera Steimberg when he met Julia Roberts on the set of The Mexican. Six months after meeting for the film, Daniel filed for divorce and he and Julia were seen out together more frequently. The couple celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary this year.