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Riverdale Couples as Modern Celebrity Couples (Part II) ⭐️.

#12. Fremione (Modern Celebrity Couple: Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston AKA “BRANNIFER”)

Brad Pitt + Jennifer Aniston ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: Brannifer • Full Birth Names: William Bradley “Brad” Pitt, Jennifer Joanna Aniston • Birthdays: Brad (Dec. 18th, 1963), Jennifer (Feb. 11th, 1969) • Current Ages as of 2019: Brad (55), Jennifer (50) • Zodiac Signs: Brad (Sagittarius), Jennifer (Aquarius) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 87% • When They Met: 1998 • How Long They Were Together: 7 years (1998–2005) • Current Relationship Status: Divorced

History of Brad and Jennifer’s Relationship: Brad Pitt has shocked everyone after allegedly crashing his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston's 50th birthday party. There have been rumours that both Brad and Jennifer came in contact after their separations from their respective partners, but this is for the first time when media has actually spotted something like this happening.Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were considered an epitome of love in the entertainment industry. Their love and subsequent courtship proved that to their fans that they are going to last forever. Here's a complete timeline of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, right from their first meeting to their ugly divorce. As per several earlier reports, Brad and Jennifer were reportedly went on their first date in 1998 after being set up by their respective agents — talk about some Hollywood rom-com movie! During those days, they both tried to maintain secrecy about their romance but since at that time, Brad has his own fan/media following, the entertainment industry soon got the wind of his alleged affair with Jennifer, who at that time, had already made a name of herself by starring as Rachel Green in hit sitcom, FRIENDS. Reflecting about their first date, Jennifer Aniston stated in 2004 that she and Brad both knew that their relationship is meant to be, and added, "That was a really easy evening. It was really fun." Soon after their romantic relationship got the flow, several fans and well-wishers were wondering when they will publicly get to see the couple. Brad and Jennifer fulfilled their wishes by making their first public debut as a couple on the red carpet for the Emmy Awards in 1999. A few months later, the alleged couple even crashed a live concert in New York City. What made the String's concert more memorable for Brad and Jen's ardent followers is the latter's engagement ring, which the actress flaunted with grace and dignity. Right after their engagement, there were talks about an extravagant wedding happening in the heart of Malibu. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston tied knots on July 29, 2000, at a lavish wedding.Brad Pitt frequently visited Jennifer Aniston at Warner Bros. studio where she worked for FRIENDS. He never did go onto the set for fear of distracting the audience, however, he had a brilliant cameo in the show.Brad Pitt was starred at FRIENDS' season 8 episode 9 as Will Colbert, who reveals that he and Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) were part of an "I hate Rachel" club. Due to their offscreen chemistry and media coverage, this episode of Friends titled "The One with the Rumor" fetched Brad a Primetime Emmy Awards nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Back in 2003, when during an interview, Brad Pitt was referred to as the love of Jennifer Aniston's life, the acclaimed actress responded by saying:"Is he the love of my life? I think you're always sort of wondering, 'Are you the love of my life?' I mean, I don't know, I've never been someone who says, 'He's the love of my life.' He's certainly a big love in my life...," via WMagazine. Things between Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston went south when the former met Angelina Jolie on the set of an action-comedy movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. During the filming, several reports surfaced that Brad and Angelina are reportedly dating, which Angelina denied later. However, she did recall the time when she filmed with Brad and stated that during the production of the movie, they both found a strange partnership which suddenly happened. Soon after the rumours of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made the headlines, Jennifer Aniston and Brad decided to end their marriage. In a joint statement, the couple reflected on their friendship and stated that they have taken this decision with "much thoughtful consideration."In October 2005, Brad and Jennifer finalized their divorce. After ending her marriage with Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston chose to stay single for a long time. But finally decided to settle down with writer Justin Theroux in August 2015. By then, Brad had already gotten married to Angelina Jolie and even had six wonderful children. Coming to present, Brad Pitt may have crashed Jennifer Aniston's 50th birthday party but that does not mean that they are now a couple. As per a report by People, Jennifer was very happy that Brad Pitt showed up for her birthday. (Source: https://www.ibtimes.co.in/brad-pitt-jennifer-aniston-complete-timeline-hollywoods-most-talked-about-affair-791727) It's been more than a decade since the breakup of Jennifer Aniston's marriage to Brad Pitt. Though both actors eventually moved on to relationships with other people, the public remains fixated on figuring out what went wrong for the one-time "it couple." Although observers are often willing to place the majority of the blame on interference by Angelina Jolie, it turns out there are multiple reasons as to why Aniston and Pitt called it quits.You may be surprised to know there was trouble in paradise before anyone ever heard of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. As much as we'd like to think Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston would still be together had it not been for an alleged affair with Angelina Jolie, statements by Pitt indicate he was probably already looking for an out before he found it in his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star. In Pitt's own words, he "got burnt out and felt that [he] was wasting [his] opportunity." We can only assume he meant he was "wasting his life" in an unhappy marriage instead of being honest about his own feelings.By contrast, Jennifer Aniston seemed ready to work on their decaying marriage. "Those moments where it looks like 'Uh-oh, this isn't working!' — those are the most important, transformative moments," said Aniston. "That's not Brad's view of it. We believe in different things, I guess. The "Sexiest Man Alive" married "America's Sweetheart," and the public fell in love. Expectations were high from the very beginning. New York Daily News reported that immediately after Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston married, they moved into a "a $1.7 million, 14,000 square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills, California." They were constantly in the public eye and there were very public hopes that Pitt and Aniston would eventually have a beautiful blond-haired child for everyone to fawn over. The couple may have felt an intense amount of pressure to keep up perfect appearances and always pretend to be more in love than what they felt at any given time. The need to live up to the high standards of millions of total strangers could have proven too much in the end. It's hard enough to be there for each other when one partner in a relationship is very busy. In the case of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, both actors were in high demand when they married. That meant that it was very hard for them to be together whenever they wanted. Aniston admitted there were times she really wanted Pitt to be there for her, but he couldn't be due to a busy schedule. As the International Business Times reports, the two were spending an ever increasing amount of time apart thanks to his working on films like Ocean's Twelve and Troy while she was at work on The Good Girl. Although they made an appearance together at the 2004 Primetime Emmy Awards, leading the public to believe everything was just fine — despite their conflicting schedules — the two would announce to the world that their marriage was over just a few short months later. In an interview with Esquire, Brad Pitt admitted he was on drugs at the time of their divorce. "For a long time I thought I did too much damage — drug damage." Pitt said that he was "burn out" from his lifestyle, and felt he needed a change. Unfortunately for Aniston, this out-with-the-old attitude meant that in addition to changing up his lifestyle, he also wanted to remove himself from their relationship. The Aniston-Pitt-Jolie situation is a tricky one. Allegedly, Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt were already in the midst of a divorce when the actor began his relationship with Angelina Jolie. When Vanity Fair writer Leslie Bennets asked about the "gracious, no-one-is-to-blame announcement of their separation," Aniston said as far as she knew, the statement was true. However, she was admittedly shocked when immediately afterward, Pitt was photographed with Jolie, "frolicking on the beach with Maddox at a romantic resort in Africa."Aniston, who by contrast kept a decidedly low profile following the separation, admitted to being "shocked," by how quickly her ex moved on. So quickly that it seemed to justify rumors of infidelity. As Us Weekly points out, Jolie and Pitt met and fell in love while filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Filming took place during January 2004. Pitt didn't officially separate from Aniston until about a year later. With this in mind, it seems like a situation where Aniston was duped into believing the problems in her marriage weren't related to infidelity when there are reports that seem to contradict this. In Jen Aniston's own words, there is no simple or singular explanation for why her marriage to Brad Pitt never worked out. "It's just complicated," says Aniston. "Relationships are complicated, whether they're friendships or business relationships or parent relationships. I don't think anybody in a marriage gets to a point where they feel like 'We've got it!' You're two people continually evolving." As for relationships falling apart, she adds, "There are all these levels of growth — and when you stop growing together, that's when the problems happen." Despite the decade-long examination of this failed celebrity relationship, the truth is…we may never really know the truth as to what went wrong for Pitt and Aniston. It makes sense. If the very people in the relationship don't both fully comprehend where things went wrong, it only stands to reason that eager outsiders will be just as confused, if not more so (Source: https://www.nickiswift.com/36586/real-reason-brad-pitt-jen-aniston-got-divorced/)

#13. Formione (Modern Celebrity Couple: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie AKA “BRANGELINA”)

Brad Pitt + Angelina Jolie ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: Brangelina • Full Birth Names: William Bradley “Brad” Pitt, Angelina Jolie Voight • Birthdays: Brad (Dec. 18th, 1963), Angelina (Jun. 04th, 1975) • Current Ages as of 2019: Brad (55), Angelina (43) • Zodiac Signs: Brad (Sagittarius), Angelina (Gemini) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 63% • When They Met: 2003 • How Long They Were Together: 12 years (2004–2016) • Current Relationship Status: Divorced

History of Brad and Angelina’s Relationship: It was an announcement that rocked the entertainment world when Angelina Jolie Pitt filed for divorce from husband of two years Brad Pitt in 2016.“I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids,” Pitt said in a statement to PEOPLE. “I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time.”Now as the couple engages in a custody battle, let’s take a look back at how Pitt and Jolie Pitt went from onscreen love interests to one of the biggest couples in Hollywood. The couple met on the set of their now-iconic spy thriller Mr. & Mrs. Smithin 2003, and though sparks flew between the pair, Jolie Pitt said that she never had any intention of breaking up Pitt’s marriage.. “I didn’t know much about exactly where Brad was in his personal life,” Jolie Pitt told Vogue in 2006. “But it was clear he was with his best friend, someone he loves and respects. And so we were both living, I suppose, very full lives … I think we were the last two people who were looking for a relationship. I certainly wasn’t. I was quite content to be a single mom.” Jolie maintained that they remained “very, very good friends” after the movie wrapped, although they realized at the end of the shoot in 2004 that “it might mean something more than we’d earlier allowed ourselves to believe.” Though reps for the couple continued to publicly deny a romance between them, the stars were spotted on vacation together in April 2005, and photographs featuring Pitt helping Maddox build sandcastles sent the press into a frenzy.Later, Jolie Pitt would reveal that it was Pitt’s relationship with Maddox that helped encourage them to take the leap and become a couple. According to the 2006 Vogue story, Maddox “just out of the blue called him Dad. It was amazing. We were playing with cars on the floor of a hotel room, and we both heard it and didn’t say anything and just looked at each other. So that was probably the most defining moment, when he decided that we would all be a family.” That June, the couple appeared in an extensive photo spread for Wmagazine entitled “Domestic Bliss,” which featured the stars posing as husband and wife – which caused even more controversy for the pair, since they were taken just a few months after Pitt’s first marriage ended. Still, Jolie Pitt took the negative attention in stride. “People will say what they want to say, and it’s okay,” she said to Today in 2005. “And my life will go on, and I need to focus on my life. So, do I need to defend that I’m a decent woman? I sure hope I don’t. I know I am.” n July 2005, Jolie Pitt finalized the adoption of her second child, Zahara, from Ethiopia – as a single parent, it was revealed to PEOPLE. However, Jolie Pitt and her children were often photographed out with Pitt.In January 2006, Jolie Pitt revealed that she was expecting her first childwith Pitt, and that the actor had recently taken steps to adopt Maddox and Zahara, and change their last names to Jolie-Pitt. Shiloh Jolie-Pitt joined the ever-expanding brood in May of 2006, after Jolie-Pitt gave birth in Namibia. Less than one year later, the couple announced yet another bundle of joy: Jolie Pitt adopted son Pax, then 3, from Vietnam in March 2007. A source told PEOPLE that the Jolie-Pitt family began the adoption process just a few months after Shiloh was born. In February 2008, the couple confirmed that they were expecting once again, and during an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in May of that year, Jolie Pitt shared that she was pregnant with twins. The family welcomed Knox and Vivienne in August 2008 in Nice, France. In an interview with W in October of that year, Jolie Pitt credited Pitt with changing her mind about having children of her own, in addition to adopting. “I suppose I just looked at him and loved him and just felt open to [getting pregnant],” she said. “I suddenly wanted to. It’s one of those things you can’t explain … It taught me a lot about life, just the process of it, and now we have three other beautiful children that wouldn’t otherwise be here.” After welcoming their fifth and sixth children, the couple became slightly more public about their relationship, and were frequently spotted packing on the PDA on red carpets and out at events. And naturally, rumors of an impending wedding began to swirls. n 2008, Pitt told Parade that they had no plans to get married until all couples could: “When someone asked me why Angie and I don’t get married, I replied, ‘Maybe we’ll get married when it’s legal for everyone else.’ I stand by that, although I took a lot of flak for saying it,” he said. However, in 2011, he revealed that the couple’s six children were pressuring them to make things official. “The kids are putting on the heat. They really are,” he revealed on Ellen in September. “How do you I get out of this one? Somebody help me. I don’t know what the future holds.”Still, Jolie Pitt revealed that the pair weren’t in a rush to tie the knot. “We will get married, and we’re not really in a rush, so we’re just waiting for it to be the right time with the kids, with work, when it feels right,” she told PEOPLE in May 2014. “We talk about it occasionally, and the kids talk about it with us … Which is verging on hysterical, how kids envision a wedding. They will in a way be the wedding planners. It’s going to be Disney or paintball – one or the other! We’ve got a lot of different personalities in the house. They’ve got some strong opinions. It will be fun. That’s the important thing. When we do it, it will feel like a great day for our family.” In May 2013, Jolie Pitt revealed that she had a preventative double mastectomy after genetic tests showed that she had a high risk of developing breast cancer. (Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died in 2007 after a long battle with cancer.) In a column for the New York Times, Jolie Pitt detailed the choice to have the procedure – which she explained “was not easy, but it is one I am very happy that I made” – and credited Pitt for backing her through everything. “I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive,” she wrote. “So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition.” She revealed that Pitt was with her “for every minute of the surgeries,” and even during the difficult times, “We managed to find moments to laugh together.”In November 2013, he was by her side once again, as she was honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Governors Awards. On Aug. 23, 2014, the stars quietly tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at Château Miraval, the family’s estate in Correns, France. “It was important to us that the day was relaxed and full of laughter,” the couple told PEOPLE. “It was such a special day to share with our children and a very happy time for our family.” Jolie Pitt wore an Atelier Versace gown and veil that featured dozens of designs from her children’s drawings embroidered onto the fabric. “The children wrote vows and asked us to make promises to each other,” she said of the family-oriented ceremony. “It was very sweet what they came up with.” In November 2014, the couple made their debut as Mr. and Mrs. Pitt at the world premiere of her film, Unbroken, in Sydney, Australia. They spent their “honeymoon” vacationing off the coast of Malta with their family, and filming By the Sea, which would mark their first on-screen collaboration since Mr. & Mrs. Smith. In the months after their wedding, the couple appeared to be happier than ever, even after another heath scare that resulted in Jolie Pitt opting to have her fallopian tubes and ovaries removed in March 2015 after tests indicated markers that could be a sign of early cancer. Again, Pitt was by her side throughout the ordeal. In November of 2015, Pitt opened up about what life with Jolie Pitt and their six children was like in an interview with The Telegraph. “[There’s] a lot of love, a lot of fighting, a lot of refereeing; a lot of teeth-brushing and spilling,” he said. “Chaos, total chaos. But so much fun.” He also revealed that the pair had intended to have even more children: “Listen, Angie and I were aiming for a dozen, but we crapped out after six.” In December, the couple released By the Sea, their first film together in 10 years. Though the movie followed the disintegration of a marriage, Jolie Pitt revealed that they were stronger than ever. “Brad and I have our issues, but if the characters were even remotely close to our problems we couldn’t have made the film,” she told The Telegraph in November 2015.”To be clear: we have fights and problems like any other couple. We have days when we drive each other absolutely mad and want space, but the problems in the movie aren’t our specific problems.” Though the couple was spotted enjoying a romantic getaway to Vietnam over the holidays, sightings of the family became increasingly few and far between. Over the past year, the stars were kept busy with various projects: Pitt was filming Allied and War Machine, while Jolie Pitt finished filming First They Killed My Father and kept up with her humanitarian efforts, speaking at a House of Lords committee in London, leading an honorary committee for this year’s Cambodian International Film Festival and advocating for victims of sexual assault in war zones. The Pitts were last seen together in public in July, when they stopped into a Jamba Juice store in L.A. with Shiloh. In September 2016, multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Jolie Pitt had filed for divorce. According to TMZ, she cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, and legal documents reveal that she is asking for physical custody of the couple’s six children. In the months following their split, the exes returned to their lives as normal. Jolie continued her advocacy work, directed an Oscar-nominated animated movie and resumed acting with Maleficent 2. Pitt starred in and produced numerous film projects and even started reportedly dating, being seen with MIT professor Neri Oxman in April.The divorce seemed to be proceeding as normal until June, when a judge presiding over the case ruled that Jolie could lose primary custody of their six children if she doesn’t allow them each to form a “healthy and strong relationship” with her father. Pitt was given a detailed visitation schedule of when he could spend time with each child in London, where Jolie was filming for the summer. A spokesperson for the actress responded to the papers, which also granted Pitt unsupervised cell phone contact with the kids, by calling the public’s awareness of the documents “deplorable.”“From the start, Angelina has been focused only on their health and needs,” the statement to PEOPLE continued, “which is why it was so important that this last court hearing be conducted privately.” (Source: https://people.com/movies/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-divorce-relationship-timeline/) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie broke hearts the world over when the Oscar-winning actress filed for divorce on Sept. 19, 2016. The powerful couple was together 12 years, though only married for two. They share six gorgeous children (Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne), and let's face it, these two were among the most beautiful pairings on the planet, right? So what happened?Jolie wasn't messing around with the split, initially hiring celebrity divorce lawyer Laura Wasser to rep her — the same lawyer who represented Johnny Depp in his ugly divorce from actress Amber Heard. That means it's serious. Sources told TMZ that Jolie's decision to end the marriage stemmed from disagreements with Pitt about parenting and his "interactions with the children," but it turns out this once-golden couple may have had a laundry list of reasons why it just didn't work. Let's take a closer look at the shocking downfall of Brangelina. 1. They were built on a faulty foundation: You know the story by now: In 2003, Brad Pitt, who was then married to Friends star Jennifer Aniston, signed on to star in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Originally, Nicole Kidman was set to play opposite the blond hunk, but Pitt reportedly didn't feel enough chemistry with her and dropped out of the film. Kidman moved on to Stepford Wives. According to News.com.au, Producer Arnon Milchan said "immediately after he cast [Jolie] as the female lead, Pitt called him back to say he was happy to play Mr. to her Mrs." Filming started in January 2004, and rumors soon began to swirl that the pair was hooking up.In May 2004, Pitt took then-wife Aniston to the Troy premiere, possibly to quiet the scandalous chatter. That August, paparazzi captured Pitt and Jolie looking cozy, which Mr. and Mrs. Smith insiders dismissed as being in character. In December 2004, Pitt vacationed with Aniston, and one month later, in January 2005, they announced their separation. That March, Aniston filed for divorce. In April 2005, Pitt and Jolie were photographed vacationing with Jolie's son, Maddox, and the rest is history. Any relationship that starts with either partner cheating (or even just having an emotional affair) is bound to have trust issues at some point, right? 2. They couldn't keep their stories straight: The Jolie-Aniston-Pitt love triangle made tabloids explode. Despite all parties denying that there was cheating involved, Pitt and Jolie had a hard time keeping their stories straight. They both initially claimed nothing happened until after Pitt and Aniston divorced, but in a 2007 Vogue cover story (via People), Jolie made it clear that a deep relationship had developed during filming (when Pitt was still married). "Because of the film, we ended up being brought together to do all these crazy things, and I think we found this strange friendship and partnership that kind of just suddenly happened," she said. "I think a few months in I realized, 'God, I can't wait to get to work.' … Anything we had to do with each other, we just found a lot of joy in it together and a lot of real teamwork. We just became kind of a pair."Media scrutiny makes any relationship harder, and for a long time, these two courted it — remember that infamous W magazine spread that starred Pitt and Jolie as a sexy married couple — the one that came out as Pitt and Aniston were falling apart? It looks like the press Brangelina loved so much in the beginning came back to bite them later. 3. They 'tested' their marriage by working together again: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie co-starred in 2015's By the Sea, which may have been a case of art imitating life. The film focused on a broken relationship between an unhappy couple. When asked about it, Brangelina was quick to deny any problems, leading a lot of us to think now that the lady (and gentleman) doth protested too much."We're actually very very stable and these aren't our issues," she told Tom Brokaw on Today in October 2015. Jolie later told the Daily Mail that making the film "was our way of testing ourselves. We knew that if we could get through this, we'd come out even stronger and happier. And we did. We've always liked putting ourselves through challenges, even though it was maybe a little more dangerous for us as a couple." She also added, "I don't think we want to go through it again though." 4. Their lifestyles are worlds apart: Page Six reported that Jolie and Pitt have very different priorities. She is said to be looking for fulfillment outside of Tinseltown while he supposedly loves being Hollywood's golden boy. "The older she gets, the more serious she becomes, and she is sick of the Hollywood thing," a source claimed. "He wants to make movies. She doesn't. It's a fundamental difference. It's how you live your life."Did Jolie's quest to serve the greater good of the world damage her own family? "Ultimately, she almost got too comfortable [acting as a role model]," an insider told Page Six. "She wasn't able to adapt to some of the realities of her marriage and her life. She just assumed that people would follow whatever she said, including her husband, and so when they had marital issues, she … believed she could just bully him into whatever she wanted."While Pitt has clearly supported and respected Jolie's extensive humanitarian efforts in the past, he may have grown skeptical over time. "Brad used to admire Angie's humanitarian work, but is now more suspicious of her true motivations," a source told Radar Online in June 2018, as the exes' custody battle continued. "Brad wasn't surprised that Angie went to Iraq over the weekend when he was with the kids for Father's Day."Sources also told Us Weekly that the couple argued over politics. During the 2016 election season, when their split was announced, those "heated political fights" may have intensified. 5. She didn't have a lot of friends ... and may have hated his: Jolie admitted to Marie Claire in 2012 (via the Daily Mail) that she relied predominantly on Pitt for any sort of adult interactions outside of work conversations. "I don't have a lot of friends I talk to. He is really the only person I talk to," she said. Perhaps she wanted Pitt to join her in a rather isolated bubble. Radar Online claimed Jolie resented his friendships with other stars, notably actor Edward Norton. "Angelina has always thought Ed's a shallow underachiever who brings out the immature side of Brad, and she's not impressed by his wife," a source alleged. An insider told Page Six that Jolie supposedly envies the attention showered on renowned human rights attorney Amal Clooney, who is the wife of Pitt's bestie, actor George Clooney — because apparently there can only be one gorgeous brunette humanitarian at a time.Meanwhile, the friends that Jolie does have include Lady Arminka Helic of the U.K. House of Lords and former Hague aide Chloe Dalton, who were suspected to have planted stories smearing Pitt in the press, reported Page Six. 6. He was dogged by cheating rumors: You know the old saying "If they'll cheat with you, they'll cheat on you?" Well, somewhere Aniston may be snickering and looking up quotes about karma because Page Six reported that Pitt allegedly hooked up with Allied co-star Marion Cotillard, and an insider claimed he was shacking up with "Russian hookers" as well. A source said, "He's in the throes of some insane midlife crisis, and Angie's fed up. She hired a private eye because she felt that he was fooling around with her on the set, and it turns out, he was. And that was the final straw."Cotillard vehemently denied having an affair with Pitt. She confronted the rumors on Instagram in September 2016: "Firstly, many years ago, I met the man of my life, father of our son and of the baby we are expecting. He is my love, my best friend, the only one that I need … Finally, I do very much wish that Angelina and Brad, both whom I deeply respect, will find peace in this very tumultuous moment."Nothing materialized from all that tabloid dirt, but the salacious headlines likely added more strain to an already tenuous time between Pitt and Jolie. 7. She has a history of unconventional relationships: When Angelina was married to actor Jonny Lee Miller, she reportedly cheated on him with model Jenny Shimizu, who she met on the set of 1996's Foxfire. Jolie talked about her torrid affair with Shimizu to Girlfriends magazine in 1997. "I would probably have married Jenny Shimizu if I hadn't married my husband," she said (via Popdust). "I fell in love with her the first second I saw her." Jolie reportedly had an on-again, off-again relationship with Shimizu, even when they were both dating other people.Jolie reportedly hooked up with second husband Billy Bob Thornton while he was in a live-in relationship with actress Laura Dern in 1999. Dern told Talk magazine (via ABC News,) "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. It's like a sudden death. For no one has there been any closure or clarity."Considering Jolie has also described doing drugs and cutting with former lovers, perhaps the relative stability and normalcy of a heterosexual marriage with Brad Pitt grew tiresome to her. 8. They disagreed on how to raise their six kids: Insiders claim the biggest issue Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt faced in their relationship was their conflicting views on parenting — and when you have a brood of six children, that's going to be a big problem. "Their parenting approach was always very different," a source told People. "Since their separation, it's been obvious that they weren't going to figure things out on their own when it comes to the kids." A source told the magazine, " Brad has always been stricter … Angelina always had a more relaxed attitude when it came to the kids."Pitt told GQ that his upbringing may have influenced his parenting style. "I grew up with a Father-knows-best/war mentality — the father is all-powerful, super strong — instead of really knowing the man and his own self-doubt and struggles," he said. The actor said the divorce made him realize he's "gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven't been great at it." To each of their credit, Jolie told Good Morning America that "of course" Pitt is a good father and that they'd always be a family. 9. That infamous in-flight incident: While it's unclear exactly how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie differ on parenting, it's clear that something happened on a private plane between Pitt and their son, Maddox, that prompted Jolie to file for divorce and instigated a Child Protective Services investigation into Pitt.TMZ reported that Pitt allegedly argued with Jolie during a private flight, at which point Maddox stepped between his parents to defend his mother. Pitt was accused of lunging at Maddox. The tab also claims Pitt was inebriated at some point during the incident, and sources said Jolie was concerned for the safety of her children. Us Weekly reported that the fight was sparked when a frustrated Jolie urged Pitt to "sober up." Whatever went down on that plane, Pitt was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing or abuse allegations in a Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services investigation. 10. He suffered from substance abuse issues: TMZ reported that Jolie was fed up with Pitt's alleged marijuana and alcohol use and its potential effects on their kids. Amid reports that Pitt was in treatment for addiction and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, he addressed his issues head-on, telling GQ in May 2017 that he had a problem. "I can't remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn't boozing or had a spliff, or something … I'm really, really happy to be done with all of that," he said. "I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year … I was boozing too much. It's just become a problem. And I'm really happy it's been half a year now, which is bittersweet."Jolie famously battled heroin addiction when she was younger and also allegedly used cocaine. Being around someone who even recreationally abuses substances can be a potential trigger, in addition to a danger to their kids, so that could very well be why she pulled the plug on their marriage. 11. Angelina may be out for blood: Jolie and Pitt initially agreed to keep their divorce proceedings as private as possible to protect their kids, but the custody negotiations got ugly in 2018. Jolie has maintained primary physical custody of the kids since she and Pitt separated, with Pitt having supervised visitation. In June 2018, The Blast reported that a judge ordered Jolie to allow their children to speak and text with Pitt without her monitoring the conversations, warning her that alienating their six kids from Pitt wasn't helping her case. Jolie hired "disso queen" Laura Wasser to represent her in her divorce in 2016, but TMZ reported in August 2018 that Wasser quit working for Jolie because the actress allegedly had frequent screaming fits. "She's fueled with anger and has gotten ridiculously unreasonable," a source claimed. Court documents obtained by NBC News revealed that Jolie slammed Pitt for allegedly not paying "any meaningful child support." Pitt's camp told Page Six that he'd given Jolie $9 million since their split, part of which was a loan, and accused Jolie and her attorneys of deliberately attempting to smear him publicly.(Source: https://www.nickiswift.com/25177/really-went-wrong-brad-angelina/)

#14. Hiramione (Modern Celebrity Couple: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian AKA “KIMYE”)

Kanye West + Kim Kardashian ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: Kimye • Full Birth Names: Kanye Omari West, Kimberly Noel “Kim” Kardashian • Birthdays: Kanye (Jun. 08th, 1977), Kim (Oct. 21st, 1980) • Current Ages as of 2019: Kanye (41), Kim (38) • Zodiac Signs: Kanye (Gemini), Kim (Libra) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 55% • When They Met: 2002/2003 • How Long They Were Together: 8 years (2011–Present) • Current Relationship Status: Married

History of Kanye and Kim’s Relationship: If you ask anyone who the most famous celeb couple is, you'll get your fair share of guesses. But honestly, there's really only one right answer here: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Kimye has been in the spotlight for some time now. Just how long? Well, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's relationship timeline will help you keep up with one of the world's most famous couples and their backstory. As of late, the always-open and honest Kardashian has discussed some very personal details about her marriage to West. In fact, during her appearance on The Alec Baldwin Show on Oct. 21, she commented on her relationship, per People, and definitely raised a few eyebrows in the process."I think being with a man like Kanye, you have to learn how to be a little bit not-so-independent," the reality star said, "I’ve always been so independent and working, and [had a] schedule, and when you get married and have a husband that has their career and then have kids, your independence … you have to let it go." She also added, "I had to learn that being with a man like Kanye." It's definitely an interesting way for the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star to describe how she's evolved since marriage. In case you're wondering just what Kimye's relationship journey (and, consequently, Kardashian's personal journey) has entailed, the following timeline has got you covered. It might sound wild, but long before Kimye was even a thing, the pair met way back in the early 2000s. During the 10th anniversary special for Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kardashian revealed how she met her husband around 2002 or 2003, per Teen Vogue. She also let it slip that he didn't exactly know how to pronounce her last name then."I met him I think in 2002 or 2003. He was recording a song with Brandy, and I was her friend. I vividly remember hanging out with him, and then they did a video together, so I’d see him a few times" she said, "He was asking his friends: 'Who is this Kim Kardajan?' He didn’t know what my name was." Well, they've certainly come a long way since then. Again, Kardashian's comments on the KUWTK 10th anniversary special highlight another major relationship milestone for Kimye. She said that after she split from her ex, Kris Humphries, in 2011, she sparked up a relationship with her now-husband. She said,"After my breakup, I was feeling really low and down and he said, 'Just come to Paris and see my fashion show.' He jokes that he put on this whole fashion show just to get a date with me. So I went there and I stayed with him, and that’s where we started dating." Shortly after it was confirmed that they were dating, it was reported in December 2012 that Kimye was set to become a family of three, per the Daily Mail. In 2013, they welcomed their first child together, a daughter named North. You can always count on West to make a grand gesture for his love. In late 2013, he pulled off the grandest of gestures in order to ask Kardashian to marry him. As seen on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the singer had many of his girlfriend's friends and family fly to San Francisco, where he then proposed. The whole romantic event left Kardashian and all of her family members completely surprised. Following their fabulous engagement, Kimye went down the aisle on May 24, 2014 in Florence, Italy, per E! News. The KKW Beauty mogul recently marked their fourth wedding anniversary on Instagram with an especially lovely message in which she said, in part, "4 years down and forever to go." In late 2015, Kimye welcomed the newest addition to the West family. As E! News reported, they welcomed their second child, a son named Saint on Dec. 5, 2015, with Kardashian announcing on her website and app at the time, "KANYE AND I WELCOME OUR BABY BOY!" After a little bit of a rough patch in their lives in 2016 that included Kardashian's terrifying robbery ordeal and West's hospitalization, Kimye revealed some happy news. In 2017, it was reported that the famous couple was set to welcome their third child via surrogate in 2018. Come January 2018, Kardashian and West's third child, Chicago West, entered the world.Kardashian and West have been through so much together. But by all accounts, it seems as though the couple is still going strong today.(Source: https://www.bustle.com/p/kim-kardashian-kanye-wests-relationship-timeline-sheds-light-on-kimyes-love-story-12994013) Though Kim Kardashian is standing by Kanye West in the midst of all his scandals, beefs, and rants, it doesn't mean she's doing it out of love. Despite their cute Instas and photo ops, the rumor mill suggests there is plenty of discord in Kim and Kanye's marriage. Let's break it down. 1. He's too dramatic: Kanye West's Twitter rants reportedly drive Kim Kardashian up the wall. The annoyance allegedly began with his hate-fueled tirade against his ex, Amber Rose, and her baby daddy, Wiz Khalifa. A source told Radar Online, "Kim told Kanye how totally inappropriate his comments were. She really let him have it. But he is still the one who rules the marriage. Kanye made Kim call Amber and meet with her. He wanted Kim to make up with Amber for him. He told her what she had to do, and she listened to him, of course."Insiders also told People that Kardashian is over her husband's social media insanity, which has included vague commentary about Bill Cosby and seriously asking Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for $1 billion. "What causes friction in the marriage…is Kanye's compulsive tweeting," a source told the mag. "Kim can't stand it. She is all for self-promotion, but doesn't approve of Twitter drama." 2. They're materialists...and he's 'broke': In February 2016, West took to Twitter (via Billboard) to moan and groan about his financial woes. "I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt… Please pray we overcome… This is my true heart," he tweeted. Of course, those figures aren't quite accurate. West's net worth is actually about $160 million on his own, while Kardashian adds a cool $175 million to their collective total. Talk about 1 percent problems! 3. Kanye is controlling: Remember when West threw out all of Kardashian's clothes on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, just to replace them with things he'd picked out himself? That was just the beginning. From her occasional blonde hair to her increasingly dramatic use of cosmetics (and alleged cosmetic surgeries), Kardashian seems to have shed any shred of her pre-West identity. Talk show host Wendy Williams told Radar Online, "I think that she likes the illusion of having a husband and children. He likes her because he likes a nice Barbie Doll. I don't think it's a real marriage. I believe that she's more like a muse—and he's molding and creating her, so they work well together."Sources also told Radar Online that West's influence over Kardashian goes beyond the superficial, claiming the rapper tries to control her every move. "Kim is feeling totally smothered by Kanye right now," an insider said. "It's like she no longer has a voice…Kim is kind of becoming his puppet and it seems she does not like it. But she almost asked for this, because in some ways this is all that she ever wanted." 4. Kanye may be unfaithful: Ex-girlfriend Rose has come out time and again saying that her relationship with West ended because he was cheating on her with Kardashian. As the old adage goes, "If they'll do it with you, they'll do it to you." There's speculation that West's eye is wandering again, at least if his phone records are any indication. The New York Daily News reported that porn star Lisa Ann (of, er, Nailin' Palin fame) claims to have a slew of nude photos sent to her from West during his marriage to Kardashian. 5. Kim's robbery put a strain on the marriage: Some insiders say Kimye's marriage hasn't been the same since Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint inside her hotel room in Paris in October 2016. A source told Page Six, "[They] have been arguing a lot since the Paris robbery. Kim has completely calmed down her life, but Kanye is stubbornly refusing to let fear get in the way of what he wants to do."A source concurred to People, "Kim has had a very rough time since the robbery. It hasn't helped that Kanye has been touring. Their lives have been quite chaotic. It's been very trying for them both and not a good recipe for a happy marriage." The source continued, "Kim [was] usually the more stable and strong person in the marriage [before the robbery]. Kanye is used to leaning on her. Since Kim has had her own issues to deal with, the roles have been reversed. Kanye has had to stay strong to support Kim, and it's like he can't handle it anymore. It's like Kanye is falling apart now, because Kim hasn't been able to give him her full attention." 6. Kanye's breakdown hurt their union: West's November 2016 breakdown was spawned by a lot of potential challenges: mental illness, exhaustion, paranoia, the anniversary of his mother's death, and, reportedly, marital strife. That strife didn't really get better once he was out of the hospital. A source told Us Weekly that Kardashian and West were living apart while he recovered, adding, "Kim is being very protective and doesn't want Kanye around the kids right now…it's a valid concern."A source told Radar Online in March 2017, "Kim is having a really, really difficult time holding it together right now. She seems absolutely miserable and would like nothing more than to turn this around, but at this point it seems like she is just hopeless…it is like Kanye has the mentality of a five-year-old and Kim is more like his mother than his wife. The two of them are constantly fighting behind closed doors and she just seems tired of playing this charade with him." 7. Kanye has anger issues: If you need proof beyond his November 2016 breakdown that West has some sort of issue, look no further than his meltdown when performing on Saturday Night Live in February of the same year. The rapper went on a huge tirade when he discovered that Lorne Michaels' crew had the nerve to rearrange his staging for the show, and it was all recorded on audio obtained by Page Six. "Look at that s**t they took my f**king stage off'a SNL without asking me," he gripes on the recording. "I am bummed…If I am going to do this, we are breaking the motherf**king Internet." In the same audio recording, he calls Taylor Swift a "fake a**" and compares himself to Stanley Kubrick, Pablo Escobar, and the apostle Paul. Seriously.A source told Life & Style that Kimye has pursued couples' therapy in an effort to salvage the marriage. "Their therapist comes to their home and talks with them," the insider said. "They were considering divorce, but decided to try to work it out. It's been an uphill battle, but they've come a long way. They're learning how to communicate and understand each other. They have learned to get along again. The therapy is helping, for now…They discuss his different triggers and how Kim can keep him from getting upset at home." 8. He lashes out at her loved ones: Kim Kardashian may have good reason to be upset with her husband due to all the smack he talks about her loved ones. He rapped about Blac Chyna helping Rob Kardashian lose weight through what the Daily Mail referred to as "sexercise," and he reportedly made the Jenners furious when he went on a rant against Kylie Jenner's endorsement deal with Puma. West tweeted, "1000% there will never be a Kylie Puma anything. That's on my family! 1000% Kylie is on Yeezy team!!! Puma we gone give you your measly million dollars back!!! Never try to divide the family!!!" Of course, that didn't work out the way Yeezy planned. Jenner kept her deal. He eventually told TMZ, "She already signed. I was mad for a little bit. I'm really happy for her, though."According to Radar Online, Kim was also upset when West referred to talk show pal Wendy Williams as a "dude in a wig." 9. They were rich, but homeless: Kim and Kanye are overflowing with cash, yet they lived with her mom, Kris Jenner, because they kept bickering over where to hang their designer hats.In 2013, the couple reportedly spent $11 million on a 10,000 square foot Bel-Air mansion, then gutted the property and built a 14,000 square foot home in its place. TMZ reported that the home housed a lot of animosities because Kardashian allegedly bankrolled the project while "Kanye couldn't make up his mind." According to People, the couple never even settled in there before putting it on the market for $20 million in 2015. TMZ reported that the couple purchased another property in August 2014, this time in the more secluded Hidden Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, and spent nearly three years renovating it. Throughout much of the work, they reportedly lived with Kris again. At one point, Kris actually moved out of her own home to let Kimye take over. At long last, the Daily Mail reported that the Wests were scheduled to move to their new palatial pad, boasting eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, and 20,000 square feet, in May 2017. 10. They're bad for one another's brands: While The Daily Show host Trevor Noah claimed in February 2016 that the Kardashians are hurting Kanye West's creativity, it appears that the family thinks the opposite may be true. Page Six reported that Kris is horrified at West's potential damage to the family brand. (Yes, the same family brand that's been built on the back of Kim's sex tape.) A source said, "His Twitter rants are out of control, and Kris fears that he's taking the family down. Kris wants Kanye to hire someone to handle all the noise and drama so he can focus on being an artist." Unfortunately, West is such a PR nightmare that publicists may not want to work with him. One told Page Six, "You couldn't pay us enough to represent Kanye. He's too much to handle."Yikes. Sounds like Kim and Kanye have a lot to deal with. (Source: https://www.nickiswift.com/10318/signs-kim-kanye-unhappy-marriage/)

#15. Fladys (Modern Celebrity Couple: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith AKA WILLADA)

Will Smith + Jada Pinkett-Smith ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: Willada • Full Birth Names: Willard Carroll “Will” Smith II, Jada Pinkett • Birthdays: Will (Sept. 25th, 1968), Jada (Sept. 18th, 1971) • Current Ages as of 2019: Will (50), Jada (47) • Zodiac Signs: Will (Libra), Jada (Virgo) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 82% • When They Met: 1994 • How Long They Were Together: 24 years (1995–Present) • Current Relationship Status: Married

History of Will and Jada’s Relationship: Now this is a story all about how…Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith fell in love.As one of Hollywood's most iconic power couples, the Smiths have celebrated multiple award wins, raised three kids, and jumped out of a plane—together. Smith and his wife walked down the aisle in 1997, and have been going strong ever since. Though the two have never shied away from discussing the ups and downs of their relationship, their 21-year marriage is a testament to how they've managed to weather every storm, despite being in the public eye. In addition to charming us both on- and off-screen, the Smiths are also incredible parents to their two kids, Jaden and Willow Smith, as well as Smith's oldest son, Trey, from his first marriage to Sheree Zampino Fletcher. There's a lot to admire about the pair, so let's start from the beginning with how the Smiths romance unfolded and their most defining moments as husband and wife. Though Smith, 50, and Pinkett Smith's relationship sounds like a story ripped straight from the plot of a romantic comedy, their meet-cute didn't have a traditional happy ending. They briefly met in 1997 when Jada, now 47, auditioned for a role as Smith's character's girlfriend on the '90s sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Unfortunately, the five-foot actress didn't get the part because she was too short. Instead, the role went to Nia Long. Still, despite their drastic height difference, Pinkett Smith would soon become Smith's leading lady off-screen a few years later. To this date, the pair have never appeared in a movie or on a TV show together. However, they do produce films through their joint production company, Overbrook Entertainment. During a 2018 Red Table Talk appearance, Smith expressed that he was attracted to Pinkett Smith when he later saw her on the college-themed TV series, A Different World. "I knew there was something in our energy that would be magic," he said. Unfortunately, Smith was married at the time to Fletcher and decided not to act on his attraction to Pinkett Smith. Smith later revealed on Red Table Talk that he knew Pinkett Smith was the one. An aha moment he had in a restaurant bathroom while he was on a dinner date with Fletcher. "I had a realization I wasn’t with the person I was supposed to be with," Smith said. "I was sitting in a stall and I was crying and laughing uncontrollably, and I knew [Jada] was the woman I was supposed to be with, but I was never getting divorced...I went back out, sat down with Sheree and started going back on with my life."It wasn't until Fletcher ended things with Smith that he tried to woo the actress. He asked Pinkett Smith if she was "seeing anyone," and her response was "no.""Cool, you’re seeing me now," Smith smoothly told her. From there, Pinkett Smith moved from Baltimore to California, and the two began dating. Smith and his ex-wife officially divorced in late 1995. Smith officially asked for his wife's hand in marriage in November 1997."One day we got engaged, and the next day we found out we were pregnant," Pinkett Smith told People. That's right, when Pinkett Smith walked down the aisle in a velvet, champagne-colored gown on December 31, 1997, she was three months pregnant with her first child. View image on Twitter The two married in a private ceremony at a hotel in Pinkett Smith's native city of Baltimore. There were no invitations sent, according to People, because the couple wanted to avoid any potential leaks to the media. Which explains why there are very few photos of their big day floating around the Interwebs, but Pinkett Smith posted the above Polaroid snap on Twitter of the pair sharing a New Year's Eve kiss shortly after saying their "I do's."On Red Table Talk, Pinkett Smith finally opened up about her wedding day, but it wasn't the fairy tale we all might've imagined."I was so upset that I had to have a wedding," she remembered. "I was so pissed. I went crying down the freakin' aisle getting married." First, came love. Then came marriage, and, well, you know the rest. Pinkett Smith welcomed her first son, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, on July 8, 1998 in a speedy delivery. "The doctor said it would take an hour-and-a-half to deliver him," she told Fit Pregnancy. "I said, 'Oh it’s not going to take that long. I’m too anxious to meet this baby.' It took me 20 minutes to push him out. My mother’s a nurse and she was in there with me and she was amazed!"Jaden quickly followed in his parents' superstar footsteps, catching the acting bug and inheriting the music gene from his rockstar mother and rapper/actor father. Unlike Pinkett Smith, their son has starred in two movies with his dad: After Earth (2013) and The Pursuit of Happyness (2003). He also released his debut studio album in 2017, Syre, which is taken from his middle name. Smith even remixed his son's hit song, "Icon" in a tribute video in May 2018. Nearly two years later, the Smiths welcomed their daughter, Willow Camille Reign Smith, on October 31, 2000. Smith confirmed his daughter's conception happened on a drunken trip in Mexico on VH1's "Dear Mama" special. "I’m not gonna be silly," Smith said during his opening monologue. "I’m here to honor you. Just watching the piece with the kids it takes me back to when we made them. Can’t help but think about that. It’s just amazing. It’s like you take Jada Pinkett Smith and an obscure town in Mexico and some tequila and you end up with great kids!"Like her big brother, Willow also became a fixture on the entertainment scene, appearing in the movie, I Am Legend, alongside her father. Her first song, "Whip My Hair" was released in 2010 and thrust her in the spotlight. Although these days she spends her time modeling and co-hosting the Red Table Talk series with her mother and grandmother, Adrienne Banfield-Jones, Willow still sings and performs at major music festivals. After an interview with HuffPost Live on April 3, 2013, Pinkett Smith's comments about her marriage raised a few eyebrows."I’ve always told Will, 'You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay,'" she said. "Because at the end of the day, Will is his own man. I’m here as his partner, but he is his own man. He has to decide who he wants to be and that's not for me to do for him. Or vice versa."This caused many people to believe she was admitting to being in an open relationship with Smith. Pinkett Smith would later clarify her statement on her personal Facebook account, opening up her intimate post with the question: Open marriage?"The statement I made in regard to, 'Will can do whatever he wants,' has illuminated the need to discuss the relationship between trust and love and how they co-exist," she wrote. In 2006, Smith made it plain to MTV News, as reported by Billboard, that "divorce can't be an option.""With Jada, I stood up in front of God and said, 'Til death do us part,' Smith said. "So there are two possible outcomes. One, we are going to be together till death, or two, I am dead." But that didn't stop rumors from swirling that the couple were headed for splitsville. Because in 2015, Smith was forced to state the obvious again on Facebook: "In the interest of redundant, repetitious, over & over-again-ness...Jada and I are...NOT GETTING A DIVORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!"Pinkett Smith echoed her husband's frustrated sentiments during a June 2018 interview on Sway in the Morning. "Here's the thing about Will and I, it's like, we are family, that's never going down," she said. "It doesn't matter, all that relationship and what people think, ideas of a husband and a partner and all that, man, whatever, at the end of the day, that's a man that can rely on me for the rest of his life, period." On the May 2018 premiere episode, "Motherhood," of Red Table Talk, Pinkett Smith extended an invitation to an unexpected guest: Smith's ex-wife, Fletcher. The two women were completely respectful towards each other during their frank discussion, speaking candidly about their rocky past, and how Fletcher's son with Smith, Trey, led to them becoming friends and a blended family. Now, having been together for more than two decades, the Smiths revealed that they're well beyond relationship labels and traditional unions, as proven by a recent conversation Smith had on TIDAL's Rap Radar podcast in 2018. "We don't even say we're married anymore," Smith explained on the music streaming service. "We refer to ourselves as 'life partners,' where you get into that space where you realize you are literally with somebody for the rest of your life. There's no deal breakers. There's nothing she could do—ever—nothing that would break our relationship. She has my support til death, and it feels so good to get to that space." As a promise to her husband to do whatever he wanted for his 50th birthday celebration, Pinkett Smith threw caution (and her fear of heights) to the wind and went skydiving in Dubai with her partner of 21 years. Smith documented the experience on his new Facebook Watch series, Will Smith's Bucket List. "Jada, you know, she's been the glue of our family, and a mother and a wife," Smith said during the desert excursion. "Our life can be wildly constricting for her. I think she was going to experience the greatest rush of freedom and exhilaration that she's ever had in her life." (Source: https://www.oprahmag.com/life/relationships-love/a26814630/will-and-jada-pinkett-smith-marriage/) Will Smith is a multi-faceted entertainer who's full of talent. Throughout his career, he has released some chart-topping musical hits, such as the catchy jam "Gettin' Jiggy With It," and he was also the star of the cult classic sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as well as several blockbuster movies. In 1997, he married Jada Pinkett — an actress who received critical acclaim for her roles in films, such as The Nutty Professor and Gotham. Since then, Smith and Pinkett have proven they have a bond that can't be broken. But their willingness to speak candidly about their relationship has revealed some questionable things about their unconventional union. Here are the weird things everyone ignores about their marriage. 1. She enjoys watching his sex scenes: At the premiere of Smith's film Focus, Pinkett was asked how she felt about watching her husband's steamy sex scenes he filmed with his co-star, Margot Robbie. Unsurprisingly, Pinkett was completely unbothered by it all, and she revealed that she actually enjoyed watching all the action! While speaking to Extra, Pinkett struggled to find the words to express her enjoyment of the sex scenes when Smith jumped in and stated, "She a little freaky like that." Pinkett confirmed his statement by bashfully saying, "Unfortunately, he's right. It's kind of a nice voyeuristic way to see your man, but I am kind of weird in that way. That's a whole other conversation."In fact, Pinkett practically served Smith to Robbie on a silver platter once she learned he would be starring alongside the "young and hot and in shape" Aussie actress. Smith told E! Online that Pinkett jokingly told him, "Boy don't embarrass me. Get in shape now.'" 2. She doesn't care if he's attracted to other women: Some wives may freak out over the mere thought of their spouse being attracted to someone else. But Pinkett is not your typical wife. During an interview with Howard Stern's SiriusXM radio show (via Hollywood Reporter), the actress revealed that she and Smith freely talk about their crushes in the industry. "I'm not the kind of woman that believes that a man is not gonna be attracted to other women. I'm just not that girl. It's just not realistic," she said. "Just because your man is attracted to another woman does not mean he doesn't love you."She went on to explain that if a man can't see the beauty in another woman, how would it be possible for him to see the beauty in the woman in his life? Kudos to Pinkett for being secure in her marriage and not feeling threatened by Smith's bevy of gorgeous co-stars! 3. They had a top secret wedding ceremony: Some celebs are all about having grandiose public weddings that later end up on the cover of tabloid magazines. But Pinkett and Smith took a different approach for their 1997 nuptials. After constantly telling her, "Let's get married," Pinkett finally agreed to Smith's proposal, and the two went into overdrive to plan their special day. Once they got engaged, the couple found out they were expecting their first child together, Jaden. The happy news about their bundle of joy, along with wedding planning, made things even more "hectic" for the couple, according to People magazine. However, they moved forward at lightning speed to make sure their wedding day went off without a hitch. To avoid the wedding being leaked to the media, the couple decided against sending out formal invitations. Instead, guests were told to fly to Baltimore, MD where they were holed up in posh hotel rooms at the Harbor Court and Tremont Plaza hotels. On the day of the ceremony, guests were handed envelopes with directions. They were told to give the envelopes to one of the 35 assigned limo drivers who then whisked them away to the secret wedding venue — The Cloisters, a gorgeous medieval-style castle near Baltimore. 4. They love talking about their sex life: In case you ever wondered what went down in Smith and Pinkett's bedroom… or the backseat of their limo, all you have to do is watch one of their interviews to get all the deets. These two are never too shy to lay it all out. No pun intended.In an interview with Shape magazine (via Huffington Post), Pinkett gushed about the time she and Smith hooked up in a limo on their way to the Academy Awards. "Will started looking at me in this way that drives me wild," she said. "We started kissing passionately, and the next thing I knew, well, let's just say we missed the red carpet and I ended up with almost no makeup on."Their frisky sex life was also the topic of discussion during a 2008 interview with Extra (via Huffington Post). When asked about her favorite beauty secret, Pinkett gleefully answered, "Lots of sex!" Well, that explains the eternal glow on her skin!When asked how things between her and Smith stay so hot, the actress revealed "nice outfits and high heels" were the key to a happy marriage when speaking to Redbook magazine. She also said that she and Smith spend a lot of time talking to one another and going for walks at night.Oh yeah, she also threw in going to "places outside that are comfortable to have sex" for good measure because it wouldn't be a Pinkett interview without some sex talk! 5. Did they have a trial separation?: They have dodged divorce rumors for several years, and in 2013, it seemed pretty certain that they were headed their separate ways. Radar Online (via Mirror) revealed the couple had allegedly begun a "trial separation." They hadn't been spotted together for months, and gossip rags also revealed the Hollywood power couple was living separate lives. Pinkett was reportedly staying at her brother's home, while Smith was living in New Orleans to be closer to the set of his movie, Focus.Thankfully, either the rumors of a separation were all bologna or the couple was able to pull through their rough times. Since those sad reports about them living part were leaked, their marriage now appears to be more solid than ever. 6. The have date night in their backyard: When you're big-time celebs like Smith and Pinkett, it's difficult to head out on the town without getting mauled by fans. So when these two want to have a quiet, romantic evening, they turn their home into the perfect date night setting. While speaking to Health magazine, Pinkett said their estate is designed with "different places" in their yard where they can create a memorable experience. The actress said she once pitched an "Arabian tent," covered it with pillows, broke out with the wine, cheese, and candlelight, and turned their backyard into a beautiful date night venue. Sounds pretty romantic to us, and Smith reportedly likes all of her "really thought-out productions." 7. They met on 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air': Not only was Smith the star of one of the most popular shows in the '90s, but the set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is where he met the love of his life, too.The year was 1990 when Pinkett moved from Baltimore to Hollywood and auditioned for the role of Smith's character's girlfriend. Sadly, she didn't get the part because producers thought her 5'0" frame was a bit too short for 6'2" Smith, according to an interview with People magazine.While leaving the audition, Smith greeted Pinkett, but she was reportedly too "ticked off" that she didn't land the gig. They later realized they had a bunch of mutual friends. Their friendship blossomed throughout the years, and we all know how this happy story ended. Soon enough, the good pals became husband and wife! 8. She helped him get through his first divorce: Two years after they met on the set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Smith tied the knot to his first wife, Sheree Fletcher. Smith and Fletcher's marriage was short-lived, but the former couple did have their son, Will III aka Trey, before parting ways.While dealing with the aftermath of his divorce, Smith and Pinkett became even closer. While speaking to People magazine, Pinkett said she "helped him understand what happened in his marriage," and soon thereafter, she realized Smith was her soulmate.She called him her "safety net," and no matter what they went through together, he never turned his back on her. "No matter what, he'd be willing to work things out," she said, and the feeling of intense love was mutual. Smith said Pinkett was the first person, outside of his mother, whom he could share his thoughts with "so freely." These two are clearly a perfect match! 9. They live in a 25,000-square-foot compound: In true superstar fashion, Pinkett and Smith are living it up "big Willie style" in their 25,000-square-foot compound. It took them seven years to have the compound built from the ground up, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and the entire building process was "done by hand," Will said in an interview with Architectural Digest. The actor was inspired to design the home after visiting his Enemy of the State co-star, Gene Hackman's, home in Santa Fe. He fell in love with the home's design so much, he hired the same architect, Stephen Samuelson, to build the Smith family's Calabasas compound.After purchasing a string of plots, workers began constructing the home on the 150-acres of land. To this day, they call it "a work in progress." As they grow and mature, the home "keeps on changing" to fit their needs.In 2013, there were rumors the family had listed the $42 million home for sale, but the reports turned out to be bogus, according to E! Online. After all the work they put into their labor of love, we doubt they'll be ditching it anytime soon. 10. She admits they never agree on anything: One of the reasons they've been going strong for so long is because they never agree on anything, according to Pinkett. The actress told Redbook magazine if she says "black," Smith says "white," but their disagreements are what make them work. "No matter what side of the scale one is on, the other will switch to keep the balance," she revealed. "We crack up about it all the time. We hardly ever agree on anything, and we've learned to really respect that in our relationship."They say opposites attract, and Smith and Pinkett's weird marriage is a true testament to that.

#16. Halelope (Modern Celebrity Couple: George Clooney and Amal Clooney AKA “GAMAL”)

George Clooney + Amal Clooney ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: Gamal • Full Birth Names: George Timothy Clooney, Amal Alamuddin • Birthdays: George (May 06th, 1961), Amal (Feb. 03rd 1978) • Current Ages as of 2019: George (57), Amal (41) • Zodiac Signs: George (Taurus), Amal (Aquarius) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 51% • When They Met: 2013 • How Long They Were Together: 6 years (2013–Present) • Current Relationship Status: Married

History of George and Amal’s Relationship: A Hollywood heartthrob and confirmed bachelor falls for a brilliant, humanitarian lawyer, and eventually, the two create the picture perfect family. It's the sort of love story you'd expect to see in a filmland fairytale, and yet somehow in just five short years it's become the real life romance of Amal and George Clooney. Here's the story of how the dedicated duo met, fell in love, and built a life together. People say that true love finds its way to you, but the adage is rarely as literal as it turned out to be for George and Amal. The couple met at the actor's Lake Como home in July of 2013, when a mutual friend stopped by while en route to Cannes with Amal in tow. In an equally fateful twist, the star's parents were also visiting him at the time, so Amal was introduced to the Clooney family on the same day she met her now husband.George, then 52, had cultivated a reputation as one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors with a dating history including celebs like Kelly Preston and Stacy Keibler, but there was clearly something special about his connection with the renowned human rights lawyer. “I got a call from my agent who said, 'I met this woman who is coming to your house, who you’re going to marry,'” George said during an appearance on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. “It really worked out that way.” The two hit it off immediately, corresponding for several weeks before the romance truly blossomed. “She sent some pictures from when she was here, and we were writing each other, emailing, talking, mostly about what was going on in each other’s lives,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “And over a period of time it became clear we were more than just friends.” The duo's first official date came in October 2013 when George invited Amal, who was living in London, to come visit him at the famed Abbey Road Studios (best known as a recording home for The Beatles) while he supervised the score for his 2014 film TheMonuments Men. "That was a good first date," he told The Hollywood Reporter, adding: "And pretty quickly, things escalated once I was in London." "She'd had a conversation with her parents, who were like, 'What are George's intentions?' And she was saying, 'Take it easy. We've been going out for six months,'" George explained. All the while he was preparing for the big moment. After months of planning—down to a playlist of music to accompany the proposal—George invited Amal to a homecooked dinner on April 28, 2014, hiding the 7-carat engagement ring inside of a lighter box that Amal used to light the candlelit table. "I did all the stuff, got down on my knee and did all the things you're supposed to do," the actor said. "I was waiting for this song, 'Why Shouldn't I?' 'Why shouldn't I take a chance when romance passes by? / Why shouldn't I know of love?' It's a really good song about why can't I be in love? And it played, and she's like, 'Holy shit!' And she just kept staring at the ring, going, 'Oh, my God.' It was 20 minutes of me on my knee, waiting for her to say yes, because she was so shocked." After a short engagement the couple tied the knot in September 2014, just shy of a year after their first date. "We didn't tell anybody else that we were going to do it," Clooney recalled to The Hollywood Reporter, "but eventually somebody figured it out. Oh, my God! Once people got wind of it, it became an event." Surrounded by family (and a few famous friends, including Clooney's long-time collaborator Matt Damon, Cindy Crawford, and fellow celebrity couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt) the couple wed in a private ceremony at the Aman Canal Grande luxury resort in Venice, Italy. “It had never been part of my DNA,” George said, explaining his stance on fatherhood. “We didn’t plan on it. We never talked about it until after we were married, which is funny. There was an assumption that we didn’t want them. And then, after the wedding, we just felt we’d gotten very lucky, both of us, and we should share whatever good luck we’ve got. It would seem self-centered to just have that belong to us.” When Amal became pregnant in 2016, the overjoyed couple got an additional surprise, in the form of twins. "[The doctor performing the ultrasound] goes, 'Well, there's one.' And I said, 'Great.' And then he goes, 'And there's the second one.' And I was like, 'What?'" Clooney told The Hollywood Reporter. "We just sat there, staring at that piece of paper they give you, and I kept thinking there was a mistake." But there was no mistake; in June of 2017, one month premature, Amal gave birth to twins Ella and Alexander. Returning to her work representing refugees in September of 2017, Amal has managed to excel at the office and as a mom. "She is sort of this remarkable human being and now mother which is something, I suppose, you should assume she would be wonderful at as well. But, when you see it in person, it makes you feel incredibly proud and also incredibly small," George told Letterman.Coupled with George's creative work and the 2017 sale of his Casamigos tequila brand, the duo remain very busy, but make the time to dedicate to their children, traveling with them to some of the family's favorite spots around the globe. (Source: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/a20241776/george-clooney-amal-clooney-love-marriage-story/)

#17. Halice (Modern Celebrity Couple: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes AKA “TOMKAT”)

Tom Cruise +Katie Holmes ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: TomKat • Full Birth Names: Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, Katie Noelle Holmes • Birthdays: Tom (Jul. 03rd, 1962), Katie (Dec. 18th, 1978) • Current Ages as of 2019: Tom (56), Katie (40) • Zodiac Signs: Tom (Cancer), Katie (Sagittarius) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 60% • When They Met: 2005 • How Long They Were Together: 7 years (2005–2012) • Current Relationship Status: Divorced

History of Tom and Katie’s Relationship: The divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes is either, depending on your perspective, something no one saw coming or something everyone saw coming back in 2005, when Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah Winfrey’s couch to declare his love for Joey Potter and cemented the impression — again, for some — that the whole relationship was just for show. Whether it was a show, a genuinely happy romance or something in between, it seems to be over. So cue up Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were” and let’s run through some of the highlights of this celebrity couple’s existence via a segment I’ll call “TomKat: In Memoriam.” April 29, 2005: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes very publicly declare that they are dating just months after Cruise ended his romance with Penelope Cruz and weeks following the end of Holmes’s engagement to Chris Klein. They visually confirm it by engaging in much PDA in Rome. May 23, 2005: On a day that would later inspire a significant exhibit at the Weird Celebrity Interview Hall of Fame, Cruise appears on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”and declares his love for Holmes while jumping on Oprah’s sofa like a crazed kid in the freakiest bouncy castle of all time. (Ironically, Cruise and Holmes would later marry in an actual, non-bouncy castle.) Bafflement — wait, they really are dating? — abounds among the celeb-watching community. Viral video spoofs of the incident are created. Twitter did not yet exist, but if it had it would have exploded in a manner so epic, it would have made the subsequent Chesapeake Bay Bridge scene in “Mission Impossible: III” look like the tiny pop-pop-pop of sparklers. The legend of TomKat is born. No one is sure what to believe. May 26, 2005: Tina Brown is sure what to believe. In her Style column for The Washington Post, she proclaims that the whole thing is an act, one that even her then-14-year-old daughter sees right through. “This would be sweet,” the young Brown tells her mother, “if it wasn’t so fake.” Oct. 5, 2005: In an obvious attempt to make every Cruise fan’s head spin around “Exorcist”-style, Cruise and Holmes announce they are expecting their first child together. Once the shock subsides, the celebrity conspiracy community gets to work on a thousand theories about Holmes’s pregnancy. December, 2005: Cruise and Holmes reportedly buy a sonogram machine for at-home use, giving Cruise critics — and at this point, they are legion — a new reason to say he’s being crazy. May 7, 2006: The Post’s Hank Stuever publicly breaks up with Tom Cruise. Sadly for Hank, there was no pre-nup. April 18, 2006: Suri Cruise arrives in the world via a silent birth, prompting responses of “Oh, I guess that’s nice,” and “How could there not have been noise while she was pushing a personout of her?” and “What the heck does Suri mean?” (For the record, People noted it was Hebrew for princess.) We get our first glimpse of the princess in a Vanity Fair spread in October of that year. She is indeed a beautiful child who clearly has no idea that in a few short years she’ll be the subject of a million blog posts about why she can’t give up her binky and why she’s wearing lip gloss at such a young age. Sept. 11, 2006: TomKat attend a Washington Redskins game with pal Dan Snyder. They both look super-cool and Hollywoody in sunglasses. Apparently no one told them it was a night game. Nov. 18, 2006: The wedding! It happens in a medieval castle in Rome, city of those initial smoochy photos, with Snyder and Jennifer Lopez and Will Smith and many other famous people in attendance. It also yields a wedding photo that looks like a Polaroid from an ‘80s prom (theme: “Take My Breath Away”), a touching poem by former Celebritology blogger Liz Kelly and a lively Celebritology discussion. August of 2008: Katie Holmes is spotted wearing her husband’s jeans, prompting Liz Kelly to write an angry blog-letter requesting that she stop. May 1, 2010: Holmes performs “Whatever Lola Wants” from “Damn Yankees” at a Motion Picture and Television Fund Benefit in L.A., and dance-seduces Cruise onstage. The video is a reminder that almost five years have passed since these two first got together, yet despite expectations that the marriage wouldn’t last, they are still together. June 23, 2010: Tom Cruise comes before the Court of Celebritology, with Liz Kelly acting as prosecutor and Jen Chaney representing the defense. The Celebritology jury sides with the prosecution, but 45% of the readers either agree with the defense, can’t decide or want to declare a mistrial until “Mission: Impossible IV” is released. Nov. 4, 2010: Katie Holmes runs the New York Marathon; Tom and Suri Cruise are there to offer moral support. Mr. Cruise is dressed in classic runner’s wear: a turtleneck and blazer. (Hey, he wasn’t running. He was cold!) Various dates, 2008-2012: Rumors that Holmes is pregnant with the couples’s second child appear in tabloids and celeb blogson numerous occasions but are never substantiated. Rumors that Holmes and Cruise are on the outs are also frequently floated in the tabloid/blogosphere and never substantiated. Feb. 26, 2012: Holmes and Cruise attend the Vanity Fair Oscar bash together and appear to still be quite happily married, at least based on the photos. June 29, 2012: Seven years and 12 days after Cruise proposed to the woman who made him jump on a couch, the TomKat divorce is announced. We are still processing. (Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/tomkat-in-memoriam-a-timeline-of-the-tom-cruise-and-katie-holmes-love-story/2012/06/29/gJQAfE9ACW_blog.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.41692814fb11) Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' romance was the definition of a whirlwind. A mere 18 months after they met, the Hollywood power couple was already married with a child. For just about any couple, that would be moving fast, let alone for two high-profile celebrities. During this fast-paced courtship, Cruise also had two viral gaffes with his bizarre Oprah appearance and tense on-air fight with Matt Lauer live on Today that sparked a renewed public interest in Cruise's involvement with Scientology. Of course, the tabloids intensely focused on Holmes and Cruise's relationship as well, reporting every public outing and scandalous rumor with the same level of breathless detail. As a result, some of the stranger aspects of this star-crossed pairing got lost in the shuffle. While it's apparent in hindsight that this marriage was challenged from the start (we'll get into Holmes' meticulously planned exit strategy a bit later), it only got weirder as it went on. Let's take a look back at some of the strangest moments in TomKat history that everyone just ignored. 1. Paging Dr. Cruise: Suri Cruise was born on April 18, 2006, seven months before Cruise and Holmes officially tied the knot, so this weird moment technically occurred before the marriage, but it counts, because it involves Cruise performing sonograms on his bride-to-be. That's right, in his interview with Barbara Walters for her Most Fascinating People of 2005 special, Tom revealed that he bought a sonogram machine, which he planned on donating to a hospital when they were done with it. Granted, as of this writing, fetal heartbeat monitors have become fairly commonplace for in-home use, but it's still not a normal part of any pregnancy to be conducting at-home sonograms or ultrasounds. Not to mention, the actor's ties with Scientology had everyone wondering what he was specifically looking for. Did he think he could tell if his child would be the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard? Who knows, but doctors weren't exactly fans of Cruise's ultrasound tech tourism, citing concerns over the misinterpretation of a problem as well as "that the fetus could be exposed to a greater intensity of sound waves than recommended." 2. Was this a magazine interview or a middle school dance?: In an odd interview with W, which read more like a passage about a crush from her teenage diary, Holmes passionately answered questions about her new relationship, insisting, "Tom and I will always be in our honeymoon phase." In hindsight, that statement carries significant irony, since the pair divorced, but perhaps even odder than Holmes' school-girl glee was in the presence of Jessica Rodriguez during the interview. Described by W as Holmes' "Scientology chaperone," Rodriguez sat quietly for most of the questioning, until reporter Robert Haskell finally got to the good stuff and asked Holmes about the public's skepticism of the couple's overt passion, as well as rumors that Scientology had been arranging matches for Cruise prior to their meeting. Rodriguez reportedly got out of her chair to deliver this stock response: "The truth is, we don't read that stuff because it's just rude," before steering the conversation right back to how very much and totally for real in love TomKat was. When pressed by Haskell about her apparent supervisory role, Rodriguez said, "Oh, no, we're just best friends…" The entire interview came off with the air of a politician politely spinning every topic back on message, and to top it off, ended with the delivery of a well-timed gift by Cruise — a Chanel diamond necklace for Holmes to open right in front of the reporter. Subtle, no? 3. The massive prenuptial agreement: With all the secrecy surrounding the Church of Scientology, it's no surprise that an epic prenuptial agreement would be put in place no matter who Cruise married. What is surprising is that Holmes father, who is a lawyer, put it together. Though that's pretty much all that's really known about the agreement, many outlets speculated on the specifics. Vanity Fair claimed that it "filled five bankers boxes." The Mirror reported that Holmes negotiated a sum of just over $50 million for herself and Suri. Meanwhile, TMZ said that "sources familiar with documents filed with the court," told them that the quickie settlement — which was arranged in just 11 days — didn't secure any kind of "lump sum" payment for the actress. Instead, Holmes reportedly received "$400,000 a year in child support," as well as coverage for all of "Suri's expenses, including medical, dental, insurance, education, college and extracurricular costs." Some allege Holmes' father knew the marriage wouldn't last, so instead of creating the potential for a nasty, protracted divorce battle, he offered terms so agreeable that Cruise would easily let Holmes walk away, while at the same time making sure his then-unborn granddaughter was taken care of. It's really not a bad deal when you think about it, because if TMZ was right, Holmes will essentially receive the same income as the president of the United States until Suri's 18th birthday. 4. Their big, fat, slightly creepy wedding: If you're the kind of guy who thinks a suitable first date is sushi on your private plane, and then a few weeks later you're jumping on Oprah's couch declaring your love, then when it comes time for a wedding, it's going to be ridiculous. The lavish affair was held in a 15th century Italian castle, because we guess all the fire halls were booked up, but that's just the beginning. According to People, on top of the event's three-day itinerary, the wedding also included a five-tiered cake the size of Cruise's entire body; Holmes donning a veil that reportedly took 70 hours to create; and a fireworks display that made a 4th of July celebration look like a wet sparkler.Of course, the illustrious nuptials were not without controversy. In actress Leah Remini's memoir (via E! News), which is essentially a scathing takedown of her time with Scientology, she described being a guest at TomKat's wedding, including one particularly strange anecdote about Suri's caretakers. Remini claimed that she walked into the bathroom and saw "three women, including Tom's sister and his assistant," looking at baby Suri, "who was lying on the tile floor." Unsure of what was going on, Remini was shocked to hear the women saying, 'Suri! Suri!' in a tone that sounded like they were telling an adult to get her s**t together." Geez, we get that being the flower girl is a big responsibility, but this seems like a bit much. 5. Their PDA was not okay: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were just a few months into their relationship, but already engaged, when they attended his War of the Worlds premiere in 2005. That meant two things. First, there would be worldwide red carpet exposure. Second, this was a prime opportunity to crank up the PDA. Tomkat did not disappoint. According to MTV News, the elated couple made sure to give the press great angles each time they kissed, even repeating their smooches so photographers could get better shots. The amorous duo reportedly saved its biggest move for the fans — the one in which Cruise dipped Holmes and planted one on her like he was a sailor returning from war instead of a 42-year-old actor making out with his 25-year-old fiancée — but the paparazzi certainly caught it too. Though their behavior was probably meant to prove to skeptics that their romance was the real deal, it looked more like watching your dad excitedly suck face with your new stepmom who was a few years ahead of you in high school. Genuine? Who knows. Awkward? Definitely. 6. Katie's creepy serenade: While we're on the topic of creepy displays of affection, we have to bring up Holmes' 2010 serenade of Cruise during a benefit show for the Motion Picture and Television Fund. Singing "Whatever Lola Wants," Holmes slinked around the stage while Cruise pretended to reject her advances. Not only was Holmes' vocal performance a little shaky, but the choreography screamed high school production. The awkward scene felt less like the actual play and more like watching the star of the show force her little brother to help her rehearse. Mercifully, this was the only time they publicly performed a song-and-dance routine, although now that we think about it, a remake of Dirty Dancing where they could have reversed the lift at the end so that Holmes would have hoisted little Cruise over her head would have been pretty spectacular. 7. Katie's Mission Impossible-style divorce: Before we get into Katie's almost cinematic exit from the marriage, we have to point out the strange coincidence that all three of Cruise's marriages fell apart when his wives were 33 years old. According to Perez Hilton (via the New York Daily News), that number is significant because the "Hubbard Association of Scientologists, was founded in Phoenix, Ariz., which lies on the 33rd parallel." We'll probably never know if there's any truth to that theory, unless we sign our own billion-year contract with the church. What we do know is that the way Holmes expertly slipped away from Xenu's star pupil was fascinating.When most couples get divorced, it doesn't involve burner phones or secret meetings with three law firms in three states, but Holmes split from Scientology's golden child, so it could have gone haywire in many ways. In a move presumably designed to skirt a landslide of misinformation that the notoriously litigious church could have leaked to the press during drawn-out divorce proceedings, Holmes allegedly made sure everything happened fast. The aforementioned prenup was in place, leaving no room for alimony or child support negotiations, and with Holmes making no public statements against Cruise or Scientology, there was nothing left to fight over. That's probably why it only took 11 days in 2012 to negotiate the settlement, which is unheard of in most normal divorce proceedings, let alone a Hollywood uncoupling. Seriously, if their divorce was a chess match, Holmes played it with the mechanical perfection of Deep Blue. 8. If Tom couldn't have her, no one could ... for five years: Of all of the weird things everyone just ignored about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' marriage, perhaps the strangest was a rigid restriction Holmes inexplicably agreed to. According a source speaking to Radar Online, "Katie signed a clause in her quickie divorce settlement that prevents her from embarrassing Tom in various ways, like talking about him or Scientology, or publicly dating another man for five years after the divorce." Wait, what was that last part? "She's allowed to date, but she cannot do so in a public fashion, and she's not supposed to let any boyfriend near [Suri]," the source elaborated. If that's true, it's an absolutely bonkers arrangement, and it really speaks to how desperate Holmes may have been to end the marriage.This supposed "dating ban" also led to a variety of shady situations in which Holmes and her boyfriend, Jamie Foxx, denied their relationship (which allegedly started in 2013) for years, despite getting caught in a variety of eyebrow-raising romantic situations, such as a particularly steamy canoodling session in a recording studio. As of this writing, neither Foxx nor Holmes have confirmed their relationship, although they did deny a tabloid report about their breakup and were photographed strolling hand-in-hand on the beach in Malibu. The good news? Those five years have come and gone, so we're presuming Holmes and Foxx can take their rumored relationship to the next level if they so choose. (Source: https://www.nickiswift.com/5817/strangest-moments-tom-cruise-katie-holmes-marriage/)

#18. Fralice (Modern Celebrity Couple: Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen AKA “BRADY BUNDCH”)

Tom Brady +Gisele Bundchen ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: Brady Bundsch • Full Birth Names: Thomas Edward Patrick “Tom” Brad Jr., Gisele Caroline Bundchen • Birthdays: Tom (Aug. 03rd, 1977), Gisele (Jul. 20th, 1980) • Current Ages as of 2019: Tom (41), Gisele (38) • Zodiac Signs: Tom (Leo), Gisele (Cancer) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 74% • When They Met: 2006 • How Long They Were Together: 12 years (2007–Present) • Current Relationship Status: Married

History of Tom and Gisele’s Relationship: Supermodel Gisele Bündchen and five-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady have become one of the world's most well-known couples.Their relationship spans over a decade and the pair have two children together. On their 10-year wedding anniversary, Brady shared an intimate photo of the pair on their wedding day and called Bündchen his "rock," but added that the marriage "has not been easy."We went back in time to give an overview of their love story. Although Brady was in a relationship when he first met Bündchen, both seemed to know their connection was something special. Shortly after meeting, Brady broke up with his then-girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynahan. Meanwhile, for Bündchen, she said she knew it was love at first sight."I knew right way — the first time I saw him," she told Vanity Fair. "We met through a friend. The moment I saw him, he smiled and I was like, 'That is the most beautiful, charismatic smile I've ever seen!' We sat and talked for three hours. I had to go home for Christmas, but I didn't want to leave. You know that feeling of, like, you can't get enough? From the first day we met, we've never spent one day without speaking to each other." While the couple had been dating for about a month, celebrity magazines didn't recognize the couple officially until January 2007. Moynahan announced she was pregnant with the quarterback's son in February 2007. At the time, Brady and Bündchen had been dating for two months, and the supermodel later said she considered breaking up with the football star after the pregnancy announcement."It was a challenging thing because here I am, you know, thinking, I'm dating this guy, we met, and we started dating and everything is great and then this happens," Bündchen told CBS This Morning, according to People magazine. "So, then I felt like I didn't know what to do. It was kind of one of those moments of like, 'Do I just run away?'" On August 22, 2007, the exes welcomed their son John Edward Thomas Moynahan into the world. After a little over two years together, Brady proposed to Bündchen. Although multiple publications claimed the footballer proposed on a private plane, Bündchen told Voguethat he had tricked her into thinking her house was flooded, so she rushed home to find a romantic scene set with candles and rose petals."When he proposed to me, he made up this whole story how my apartment was flooding, and I ran over to fix the situation," Bündchen told Vogue. "When I got there, the whole apartment had candles and rose petals everywhere, and then he went down on his knees to propose, and I'm like, 'get up!' because he just had surgery and had three staph infections. And I was like 'What are you doing?' He's like, 'I gotta go on my knees,' and I'm like, 'No, no, no! Get up, please!'" On February 26, 2009, Brady and Bündchen got married in a private ceremony in Santa Monica, California. Brady told GQ magazine later that year that the wedding took 10 days to plan and was an intimate occasion that included steak, champagne, and cake. One month after getting married in Los Angeles, Brady and Bündchen invited extended family to join them in Costa Ricafor another intimate ceremony, according to People magazine. On December 8, 2009, Bündchen gave birth to the couple's first child together, Benjamin Rein. Bündchen later revealed that she delivered her son in the bathtub of their penthouse apartment in Boston. On December 5, 2012, Brady and Bündchen welcomed their second child, a girl named Vivian Lake. Bündchen didn't announce her second pregnancy until after having the baby. In 2015, rumors swirled that the famous couple had been having marital issues and planned on divorcing. Brady quickly put the gossip to rest by addressing them in a radio interview with WEEI, stating, "We're in a great place. … There's no bigger supporter I have than her." After the "Deflategate" scandal of 2015, Brady was suspended for four games in the 2016 NFL season. Showing support for her husband, Bündchen Instagrammed a photo of her and her husband playing catch, with the caption "Don't worry guys. I will keep him ready." The Patriots were defeated in the 2018 Superbowl and Bündchen reportedly had to comfort their kids after the loss."Just this time. Daddy won five times. They never won before," she reportedly told their daughter, according to USA Today. "You have to let someone else win sometimes. We have to share. Sharing is caring.''Brady later confirmed that his kids were upset but said he used it as a way to teach them a life lesson. Though he made clear he wants to continue playing, Brady told Oprah Winfrey that Bündchen has asked him what "more" he wants from his NFL career."I talk about it with my wife all the time. You can ask her tonight," Brady said. "She'll tell you, like, 'I told him, you know, what more do you want?'" During the press tour for her book "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen revealed how hard she found being a mother at first, saying she felt guilty leaving her kids for work."When I became a mom, I kind of lost myself. It was like a part of me died," she told People magazine. "I'd been this very independent person. It was all about me. But now I had this little being, and I suddenly felt l couldn't do other things and that was very hard for me. All I ever wanted was to be a mom, but when you're actually experiencing that, it's a shock.""I thought what a terrible mother I was for leaving my child even for like a day," she added.She added that she was also felt guilty when she brought her kids along. "Like, 'Here we are on a plane and the baby is crying.'" The 41-year-old quarterback for the New England Patriots shared an intimate photo from the couple's wedding day on his Instagram. He expressed his love for Bündchen but also highlighted the fact that not everything about their relationship has been simple."Ten years ago, I didn't realize how much I could love you and the family we created together," he wrote. "My heart is so full and I am so blessed! I know our journey has not been easy, but the challenges we have overcome have made our bond stronger and our love grow deeper."Bündchen also shared a similar photo on her Instagram."I can't believe it's already been 10 years since we've chosen to walk this life together... and what incredible 10 years we've had," the supermodel wrote. "There is nothing that I love more in this world than you and our family. Thank you for being on this journey with me and for doing the work that it takes to make it so special. May we continue growing together, walking side by side supporting and loving one another for many many years to come." (Source: https://www.thisisinsider.com/gisele-bundchen-and-tom-brady-relationship-timeline-2018-11#february-26-2019-brady-shared-an-intimate-photo-from-their-wedding-and-talked-about-how-marriage-isnt-always-easy-15) They may be one of Hollywood's super couples, but according to the tabloids, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen's marriage may be a whole lot wackier than it appears on the surface. From an awkward beginning to rigid diets, here are some strange facts that will make you feel less mad about not being married to an NFL quarterback or a Brazilian model. 1. Their relationship got off to a very awkward start: In mid-December 2006, Brady and his girlfriend of three years, actress Bridget Moynahan, announced they had broken up. The following month, People magazine linked Brady to Victoria's Secret Angel Bündchen, with sources claiming they had "started dating right before Christmas."If that wasn't awkward-enough timing, People reported in February 2007 that Moynahan was pregnant with Brady's child. The news threw a wrench into Brady and Bündchen's hot-and-heavy new romance. "It was a challenging thing because here I am, thinking I'm dating this guy, you know we met, we started dating and everything was great, and this happens," Bündchen told CBS This Morning in 2015. "I felt like I did not know what to do. It was one of those moments of like, do I just run away?"Moynahan and Brady welcomed a son, Jack, in August 2007. Bündchen, obviously, stuck around, a decision for which she is now very grateful. "I couldn't have asked for a sweeter bonus child." 2. Brady was involved in Ben Affleck's nanny scandal: One of the most bizarre twists in the saga of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's divorce came in July 2015 when Us Weekly alleged that Affleck had been hooking up with the couple's nanny, Christine Ouzounian. Affleck quickly denied the reports, but that did little to stop the gossip rags from posting some salacious reports. Take, for example, the time Page Six reported that Ouzounian took a private jet to Las Vegas with Affleck and none other than the New England Patriots star player. To make matters worse, Page Six even obtained a photo of Ouzounian wearing Brady's Super Bowl rings on the plane.A subsequent report from Page Six downplayed the events on the plane, claiming they were on their way to a charity event with others. Still, need we say it again? Awkward! 3. 'Deflategate' affected their marriage: The nanny scandal reportedly happened during a trying time for Brady and Bündchen, who were in the midst of dealing with the fallout from Brady's "Deflategate" scandal. In fact, the year was allegedly so tumultuous for them, Bündchen threatened divorce. "Tom thinks it's only a threat," a source told Us Weekly. "But this is definitely a rough patch."Bündchen shot down the reports, telling a local Boston radio station that that they were in a "great place." She later discussed the toll the scandal took on their relationship with CBS This Morning, admitting, "I think we have been through a few tough times together. I think that's when you know who are your friends and who loves you." She added, "I think no matter how challenging it was we've always been supportive of one another and I think that's the most important thing you can have in life. You know, a support system and love." 4. Do they support Donald Trump?: Both during and after his successful bid for the White House, President Donald Trump boasted on numerous occasions about his alleged friendship with Brady. "Tom Brady, great guy, great friend of mine, great, great champion, unbelievable winner," Trump told a crowd in November 2016, according to Us Weekly. "He called today and he said, 'Donald, I support you, you're my friend, and I voted for you.'" The New York Times also quoted Trump calling Brady, "a really good friend of mine."Given that we now live in a world where "alternative facts" are a thing, many have been unable to figure out whether Trump's words are legit or just an exaggeration. Brady's silence on the matter certainly hasn't helped clear anything up.The truth to their alleged friendship may lie in Bündchen. Asked by a fan on Instagram if she and her husband support Trump, Bündchen emphatically replied, "NO!" Then, in January 2017, amid growing concerns over Trump's controversial executive order on immigration, she posted a message to Instagram about the importance of diversity in the world. "The beauty of the human race is in its diversity," she said. "We are all connected and we are stronger when we come together. Only ego, beliefs and fears separate us." Well, guess we know where she stands, at least. 5. Their diet is insane: The New York Post published a wild rundown of Brady and Bündchen's supposed diet. According to the report, Brady told Sports Illustrated that his diet is "80 percent alkaline and 20 percent acidic." More specifically, he eats "80 percent vegetables and whole grains, and 20 percent fish" and gets his fat intake from "extra virgin olive oil on raw foods, and coconut oil on cooked foods," according to a summary of a report from Boston.com. That report also claimed Brady avoids "sugar, white flour or nightshade fruits and vegetables," as well as coffee, MSG, and dairy. The Post goes on to claim that Brady "limits himself to the occasional banana, blended in a smoothie" and, quoting New York magazine, added that he has never touched a strawberry but loves cacao avocado ice cream for dessert. Bündchen reportedly follows the same diet.Although Brady claims his menu will help him play football longer, a number of health expert who spoke to the Post cast doubts on its validity, with one dietitian referring to parts of the meal plan as "sketchy." In other words: good luck to anyone who has to attend one of their dinner parties. 6. Gisele is strict about Halloween candy: If you thought Brady and Bündchen's aforementioned diet was a headache, just wait until you hear about her approach to Halloween candy. "We don't really have that a kind of sugar in our house," she told People in November 2016. "I let them try one [piece], but they really only had one bite and then they didn't want it anymore. So I told them if they didn't like it I was going to give it away to other kids and they actually let me give their candy away.""It's a little different kind of sweets, so they're not used to it," she added. "I said to them, 'You know, there are so many kids that don't get candy and you guys got so many, some kids don't even get one! And they're like, 'Oh mom, okay you can give it to them if they don't get any.'"Happy Halloween? 7. Brady will act like a kid to get Bündchen's attention: As a four-time Super Bowl champion, one would assume Brady is a consummate professional; a mature guy who knows how to adult. Well, think again. Speaking to Man of the World magazine in 2014, Brady admitted he can be quite needy and bratty when it comes to getting attention from his wife. "I like attention from her, so when I'm not getting it, I let her know in immature ways, like a young, immature child would," he said (via Page Six). "You throw fits…you pout and you whine until you get what you want.""She's on to me… " he added. "So now I have to learn new tricks." Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. 8. Bodyguards at their wedding fired gunshots at paparazzi: According to the New York Post, two bodyguards hired for Brady and Bündchen's 2009 wedding in Costa Rica got slapped with 5-year prison sentences after allegedly firing gunshots at paparazzi covering the nuptials. The report said the two photographers involved, who allegedly had clearance to take photos from the property's owner, were not hit by any of the bullets, which were fired from roughly 300 feet away. What did get hit were the front and rear windows of the photographers' SUV. In addition to the prison sentence, the bodyguards were each ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, according to the Post. (Source: https://www.nickiswift.com/40044/strange-things-gisele-toms-marriage/)

#19. Clinelope (Modern Celebrity Couple: Kurt Cobain & Courtney Love AKA “KURTNEY”)

Kurt Cobain + Courtney Love ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: Kurtney • Full Birth Names: Kurt Donald Cobain, Courtney Michelle Love • Birthdays: Kurt (Feb. 20th, 1967), Courtney (Jul. 09th, 1964) • Current Ages as of 2019: Kurt (52 if still alive), Courtney (54) • Zodiac Signs: Kurt (Pisces), Courtney (Cancer) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 70% • When They Met: 1990 • How Long They Were Together: 4 years (1990–1994) • Current Relationship Status: Married until Kurt’s death

History of Kurt and Courtney’s Relationship: It seems like there's a new Hollywood love story everyday. And although love is a beautiful thing, it rarely stays that way in the land of the stars. The celebrities in Hollywood just can't seem to get it together when it comes to love. Most relationships end in divorce, tragedy, drama or a combination of the three. As entertaining as it might be to some, every now and then celebrity relationships take an awful turn for the worst, like Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's not-so-happy ending. Let's go back to where it all started. Anyone who knows music will know who Kurt Cobain was; he was the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the legendary rock band, Nirvana. He met Courtney Love, a musician, actress and artist, in 1990, a year before Nirvana recorded the best album. Kurt, 23 at the time and Courtney, 26, kept bumping into each other until she gave him her number. He called her that night, pretending that all he wanted was to find out where she got the cough syrup- a popular intoxicant at the time- that she gave him earlier that day. Although Courtney was in a relationship with another rocker at the time, Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins, she still pursued things with Kurt. The two officially started dating in the fall of 1991 and were married a few months later in 1992. Courtney was already pregnant when they exchanged vows, and their only child was born six months later. The couple, already subject to media scrutiny, came under fire when Courtney was "misquoted" in a Vanity Fair article, saying that she used cocaine early on in her pregnancy, because she wasn't aware that she was expecting a child. After Frances Bean Cobain was born, she was removed from her parents custody for four weeks, a result of the fallout from the article. Courtney and Kurt were tested regularly for drug use until they regained custody of their daughter. In March 1994, Kurt was diagnosed with bronchitis and laryngitis while on tour in Germany. Going to Rome for treatment, he met up with Courtney the next day. The following morning, Courtney woke up to find Kurt passed out from an overdose on their bed. Courtney later said that that was Kurt's first suicide attempt. Their relationship became increasingly strained when Kurt began behaving strangely. After returning home, things got increasingly disturbing: 1. March 1994, Kurt locked himself into a room with a firearm which Courtney believed he was going to use to take his life. When the police arrived, Kurt stated that he was simply hiding from his wife. 2. April, 1994, After admitting himself into a rehab facility, because Courtney and his friends staged an intervention (where he seemed to be making progress) he broke out and flew to Seattle. 3. April, 1994, The following days, he was spotted around the Seattle area, but didn't try to contact his family. Courtney hired an investigator to locate him. Kurt's body was found on April 8th 1994 by his electrician who came to install a security system. A gun was found pointed at Kurt's chin, along with a suicide note. His body was filled with a combination of drugs, including heroin.After his death, Courtney said that a friend told her that Kurt would ruin her life. She said that she simply didn't care, she loved him with all her heart. (Source: https://groovyhistory.com/reliving-the-strange-love-mystery-of-kurt-cobain-and-courtney-love) “Courtney and Kurt are the nineties, much more talented version of Sid and Nancy,” a record executive once noted. “[Courtney's] going to be famous and [Kurt] already is, but unless something happens, they’re going to self-destruct. I know they’re both going to be big stars. I just don’t want to be a part of it.”That was a quote taken straight from the infamous 1992 Vanity Fair story on Courtney Love, written by Lynn Hirschberg, who would go on to depict the Hole frontwoman as an obnoxious, rabble-rousing, image-obsessed opportunist who reveled in being the newly anointed Mrs. Cobain. It was just a year before the bombshell article that Love and Cobain crossed paths (There are varying reports that they briefly met in 1989 and 1990, but were officially reacquainted in 1991). Nirvana was at its peak, and Cobain was confused and depressed with the meteoric fame that came with his music. When Love re-entered his sphere, she had allegedly pursued him with dogged determination and according to numerous sources, was the one who introduced him to heroin. It was just a year before the bombshell article that Love and Cobain crossed paths (There are varying reports that they briefly met in 1989 and 1990, but were officially reacquainted in 1991). Nirvana was at its peak, and Cobain was confused and depressed with the meteoric fame that came with his music. When Love re-entered his sphere, she had allegedly pursued him with dogged determination and according to numerous sources, was the one who introduced him to heroin. Mirroring Cobain's life, their courtship was intense and brief. After four months of dating, Love was already pregnant with their daughter when they decided to wed in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 24, 1992. The bride wore a dress previously owned by Hollywood actress Frances Farmer, while Cobain wore green flannel pajamas.After the wedding, Cobain went into a funk. Despite Nirvana's soaring popularity, the frontman had no desire to tour and further retreated into himself.“We went on a binge,” Love confessed to Vanity Fair in 1992. “We did a lot of drugs. We got pills and then we went down to Alphabet City and Kurt wore a hat, I wore a hat, and we copped some dope. Then we got high and went to SNL. After that, I did heroin for a couple of months.”In 2015 Love, who at the time was promoting Montage of Heck, a biopic of Cobain, would later add: "He wanted to stay in the apartment and do heroin and paint and play his guitar. That's what he wanted to do." But interlaced among the drug-fueled binges were moments of laughter and sincere affection. In never-before-seen video footage from Montage of Heck, Cobain is seen joking with Love in the bathroom, while another moment captures Love teasingly climbing on Cobain's back while singing a tune. The couple also made intermittent attempts at getting clean. In March 1992 they enrolled in separate detox programs but within days, they would check out and dive back into their addictions. (In Vanity Fair, friends told the publication that Love did heroin while pregnant.) By the time their daughter, Frances Bean, was born that August, Cobain had briefly considered quitting the band so he could focus on fatherhood. But he didn't. And despite his good intentions, he couldn't quit his drug habits, either.In additional footage revealed in the film, Cobain's descent into self-destruction becomes more evident. In one scene, he suddenly walks out of Frances' first birthday party. In another, he's nodding off while she's getting her first haircut. "Kurt, you don't want your daughter to see you behaving like this, on drugs," Love screams off camera. "I'm not on drugs!" Cobain claims. "I'm tired." Despite their love for their daughter, the couple's marriage was also unraveling, exacerbated by their drug use. Love would later admit that the reason Cobain attempted suicide in Rome in early March 1994 was because she was considering having an affair. "He must have been psychic or something," she told TVGuide.com. "I almost did one time, and he knew it. ... I have no idea how he knew it. The plan didn't ever go anywhere. Nothing happened, but... the response to it was he took 67 Rohypnols and ended up in a coma because I thought about cheating on him. I mean, f-ck."But Cobain's problems weren't just with Love – he was never able to quell the inner demons that stemmed from his lonely youth nor could he embrace his newfound celebrity, which he felt delegitimized his music. His world was caving in on him, and he couldn't take the pressure.Isolated and inconsolable and under the tight grip of addiction, Cobain killed himself by a gunshot wound to the head at his Seattle home on April 5, 1994. He was 27.“He is considered to be the rock star who didn’t want fame, the weak pathetic guy who was taken over by this controlling female, and yadda yadda," Love told Loudwire in 2015. "It kind of f--ked me up... He’s a hard act to follow. I love him and I always will.” (Source: https://www.biography.com/news/kurt-cobain-courtney-love-relationship)

#20. Fredary (Modern Celebrity Couple: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner AKA “GARFLECK”)

Ben Affleck + Jennifer Garner ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: Garfleck • Full Birth Names: Benjamin Geza “Ben” Affleck, Jennifer Anne Garner • Birthdays: Ben (Aug. 15th, 1972), Jennifer (Apr. 17th, 1972) • Current Ages as of 2019: Ben (46), Courtney (47) • Zodiac Signs: Ben (Leo), Jennifer (Aries) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 60% • When They Met: 2000 • How Long They Were Together: 4 years (2002–1994) • Current Relationship Status: Married until Kurt’s death

History of Ben and Jennifer’s Relationship: Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck - one of Hollywood's most famous couples - recently made headlines again when People reported they are calling off their divorce, first announced in June 2015. TMZ has since reported that Bennifer's divorce plans have not changed, but still, hope springs eternal. Below, a definitive timeline of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's perfectly imperfect relationship.Summer 2000: Ben Affleck meets Jennifer Garner on the set of Pearl Harbor. The movie flopped with critics but it created the foundation for a modern Hollywood romance. At the time, Jennifer was married to fellow actor Scott Foley. December 2001 to March 2002: Ben films the notoriously bad Gigli with Jennifer Lopez. The unlikely pair fall in love and begin dating.Summer 2002: Ben and Jennifer Garner develop a relationship on the set of Daredevil but stay with their partners. Ben later discusses the courtship in a Playboy interview. “We met on Pearl Harbor, which people hate, but we fell in love on Daredevil," he says. "By the way, she won most of the fights in the movie, which was a pretty good predictor of what would happen down the road - my wife, holding swords and beating the living shit out of me.” Fall 2002: Ben proposes to J.Lo with a 6.1-carat pink diamond from Harry Winston. J.Lo spilled on the proposal during an interview with Diane Sawyer, saying, "I had cried a lot over sadness over the years. And for the first time in my life, I cried incredible purging tears of happiness. January 2003: Ben and Jennifer Garner appear on Dinner for Five, and it’s clear she’s head-over-heels in love with him. Ben is still engaged to Jennifer Lopez, which explains why he doesn't really respond to Jennifer Garner's flirtation. March 2003: Jennifer Garner announces her separation from Scott Foley. Scott later says in an interview with TV Guide that “nobody else was involved” in their split and that stardom was to blame for the breakup. May 2003: Garner files for divorce from Scott Foley, citing irreconcilable differences. She keeps busy between filming Alias and fan favorite 13 Going on 30. January 2004: Ben and J.Lo call off their engagement. Jennifer Lopez later wrote about the breakup in her 2014 memoir True Love, saying, "It felt like my heart had been torn out of my chest."Oct. 23, 2004: Ben and Jennifer Garner make their first public appearance as a couple at game one of the World Series (featuring the Boston Red Sox, Ben's favorite team). To any outsider it was clear - the stars were in love. Oct. 24, 2004: The couple makes another appearance at game two of the World Series. April 17, 2005: Ben proposes to Jennifer Garner after her 33rd birthday party with a 4.5-carat ring from Harry Winston (the guy loves Harry Winston). June 29, 2005: The pair marry in a private ceremony in Turks and Caicos. Jennifer is four months pregnant with their first child. Oct. 1, 2005: The couple returns to Fenway Park for another Red Sox game, where Jennifer shows off her baby bump. Dec. 1, 2005: Jennifer gives birth to the couple's first daughter, Violet. May 24, 2006: Jennifer visits Ben on the set of Gone Baby Gone in Boston, and they appear in love as ever. Jan. 5, 2007: The power couple hits the red carpet for the Golden Globes. Ben is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Hollywoodland. Jan. 25, 2008: Jennifer jokes about Ben being a homebody in The Independent. "I'll promise you one thing: he is not boring," she says. "You can't get him to go out somewhere, but at least you can have a good conversation with him. Just as long as you're willing not to leave the couch."Aug. 2, 2008: The couple are caught leaving a Miami Beach restaurant as Jennifer shows off a second baby bump.Jan. 6, 2009: The couple’s second daughter, Seraphina Rose, is born. Fall 2009: Rumors circulate that Ben hit on Blake Lively while filming The Town. Blake never acknowledges the rumors but tells Just Jared that Ben was a "terrific director." January 2010: Jennifer tells Parade about her relationship with Ben. “Ben is sexy and kind, but he’s also a riot," she says. "We can be very goofy together.” She also says that they steal time together to be romantic: “You steal a date, you steal a kiss, you steal a whisper. You sit next to each other on the couch with computers on your laps. After the kids are asleep you … well, you know. Whatever it is. You slip away for a night, which we’ve only just now done for the first time.” October 2010: Ben talks about his family on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I have three women in the house. I get to be wrong three times a day,” he says, adding, “I am madly in love. I have the best family.” December 2011: Jennifer tells InStyle that she would do anything for Ben. “We both know we couldn’t do what we do without each other," she says. "Ben always says, ‘If you love it, we can make it happen.’ He knows when to swoop in with the gesture. He’s sweet that way. Honestly, I would do anything for that man, because I know it’s not taken for granted." Feb. 27, 2012: Jennifer gives birth to the duo's third child, a son named Samuel. September 2012: Ben tells the Toronto Sun that he’s daunted by Jennifer's kindness. “Believe me, i’m daunted by it every day,” he says. “She does have a fundamental kindness and empathy in her that I think is rare, and incredibly appealing and wonderful ... And it’s one of the things I really love about her.” October 2012: Ben again talks about how kind and wonderful his wife is for a cover story in The Hollywood Reporter. "She truly is kind," he says. "She means no one any harm. She doesn't have ill will for any person ... It's one of those things where it becomes almost aggravating at times. Every time I go, 'Fuck him!' I see in her face that she just thinks that's petty and small." December 2012: The famous couple is spotted at Build-a-Bear, celebrating Violet’s seventh birthday. January 2013: Ben accepts the Golden Globe for Best Director for his work on Argo. He gushes to a proud Jennifer in the audience, saying, “I adore you, I love you,” and, “You’re my everything.” March 2013: Argo wins Best Picture at the Oscars, and Ben again speaks about his marriage, thanking Jennifer for working on it with him. “It’s good,” he says. “It is work, but it’s the best kind of work.” May 2013: Ben hosts Saturday Night Live for the fifth time, and Jennifer joins him onstage for his monologue. The two joke about Ben’s awkward Oscars speech where he called their marriage “work,” and Jennifer says he should have called it a “gift” instead. August 2014: Ben and Jen do the ALS ice bucket challenge. He says she looks good in a wet T-shirt before pushing her into a pool. October 2014: Jennifer appears on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and jokes about Ben’s full-frontal nudity in Gone Girl. “I just try to consider myself a charitable person, and I wanted to give back,” she says about the entire world seeing her husband’s penis. “You give me so much, I wanted to give something back to all of you." October 2014: Jennifer talks about her husband’s hot bod again on Live With Kelly & Michael. Ben bulked up for his role in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Jen was a fan. “You know, he has put on 30 pounds of muscle and he's 8 percent body fat. He looks pretty good,” she says. “It feels like I'm having an affair. But I don't mind, I'm not complaining!” November 2014: Jennifer tells Elle that Ben has always encouraged her to pursue her career no matter what. "My husband is always the one saying to me, ‘You have to work, you have to work. This is part of who you are. We’ll figure it out,'" she says. “That's powerful, when your partner has that serious mantra." June 27, 2015: Christine Ouzounian, the couple's nanny, leaves with Ben from a family vacation in Bahamas to go to a charity poker event in Las Vegas with Ben and Tom Brady. She sends friends the now-infamous photo of herself wearing the Patriots quarterback's Super Bowl rings. June 30, 2015: The world is shocked when Jennifer and Ben announce their split after 10 years of marriage (basically an eternity in Hollywood). July 29, 2015: Rumors swirl that Ben cheated on Jennifer with Christine, who was fired sometime in the midst of their separation. July 30, 2015: News breaks that Christine purposefully tipped off the paparazzi, so she and Ben would be seen together. November 2015: Jen is spotted spending time with Ben’s mom and daughter Violet, despite her separation from Ben. March 1, 2016: Jennifer gets extremely candid about the demise of her relationship in an interview with Vanity Fair. She also dismisses the rumors of Ben's affair with Christine, saying, “We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny. She had nothing to do with our decision to divorce. She was not a part of the equation. Bad judgment? Yes. It’s not great for your kids for [a nanny] to disappear from their lives.” She also says, “It was a real marriage. It wasn’t for the cameras. And it was a huge priority for me to stay in it. And that did not work.” March 14, 2016: Ben addresses the comments Jen made in Vanity Fair in an interview with the New York Times. “Jen’s great," he says. "She’s a great person. We’re on great terms. I just saw her this morning, so that’s the reality that I live in. She felt like she wanted to discuss it and get it out there and get it over with, so she could say, ‘Look, I already talked about it - I don’t want to do it again.’" March 16, 2016: Jen appears on the TODAY show and assures fans they’re all doing fine. "We're doing really well," she says. "The kids are great. They'll be getting up in the morning and going to school soon, and Ben is there and he'll be taking them. We will make it work." March 16, 2016: That same day, Ben appears on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. When asked about the divorce, he responds, “We’re good friends and we’re doing our best and our kids are fabulous.” March 25, 2016: Ben appears on CBS This Morning, saying, “Life doesn't always turn out exactly the way you want. We're doing our very best and we're putting our kids first. That's how we're focusing on our day-to-day lives. And we don't know what the future's going to hold. Each step that we take is one where we prioritize our children and everything else comes second. She's just so good at doing that and sets such a good example. And that's a lead that I follow." May 5, 2016: Jennifer brings children Violet, Sera, and Sam to join Ben in London while he films Justice League. May 8, 2016: Ben tweets his appreciation for all the moms in the world on Mother’s Day - possibly a nod to his estranged wife. Nov. 19, 2016: Ben and Jen are spotted leaving couple's therapy together in L.A. Nov. 28, 2016: About a week later, the couple is again spotted together, this time at breakfast with son Sam in Brentwood, California. Dec. 12, 2016: Ben delivers a Times Talk at the NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts, calling Jen “the world's greatest mom.” Dec. 23, 2016: Despite their split, Jennifer, Ben, and their children spend the holidays together in Montana. Feb. 5, 2017: Ben and Jen are seen together before the 51st Super Bowl - their last photographed outing before the official announcement of their divorce. Feb. 17, 2017: Nearly two years following their separation, it’s reported that Jennifer is officially filing for divorce from Ben. Feb. 27, 2017: The entire family celebrates Samuel’s 5th birthday together and everyone “seems happy.” March 8, 2017: Jennifer and Ben reportedly call off their divorce and separation. A source tells People that Jennifer "really wants to work things out with Ben" and "they are giving things another try.” The same week, TMZ reports that the divorce is "very much on," and Jennifer is spotted without her ring. (Source: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ben-affleck-jennifer-garners-love-183244314.html) Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced they were officially divorcing after 10 years of marriage, three children, and years worth of tabloid rumors. What exactly caused the split? That's anyone's guess, and we're likely to hear a whole lot more rumors from those pesky tabloids in the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, we've put together 9 possible warning signs that might have signalled the end of Bennifer Part II — all purely speculative, of course. 1. Their Past Relationships Ended Badly: Both Affleck and Garner had rocky relationships in their respective pasts. Affleck was coming off of a high-profile engagement to singer-actress Jennifer Lopez by the time he met Garner, a relationship that temporarily destroyed his acting career. (He also dated Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow on and off for about three years.) Garner, meanwhile, was fresh off a divorce from her Felicity co-star, Scott Foley, from whom she split in May 2003, citing irreconcilable differences. She was also rumored to have dated her Alias co-star, Michael Vartan, before hooking up with Affleck on the set of Daredevil. 2. They Got Pregnant Before Marriage: Garner was pregnant with the couple's first child, Violet, by the time they got engaged in 2005. (The pregnancy was not officially confirmed by their reps until after they got married.) Some would argue, "Hey, that's just love"; others might be quick to conclude it was the makings of a shotgun wedding. And speaking of weddings… 3. They Also Got Married Pretty Quickly: Affleck and Garner were married on June 29, 2005, about a year or so after they started dating, and only about two months after they officially got engaged. Pretty fast, no? Their ceremony was also the antithesis of a big, Hollywood wedding (or, the $2 million wedding he had been planning with Lopez two years ago); according to reports, she wore no makeup, while he wore — wait for it — a t-shirt. In fact, the wedding was so small, neither one of their parents attended. Their biggest guest: Garner's Alias co-star, Victor Garber, who officiated the wedding. 4. Ben Kept In Touch With His Exes: Affleck raised more than a few eyebrows when he revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in 2012 that he still kept in touch with two of his famous exes, Paltrow and Lopez. "We don't have the kind of relationship where she relies on me for advice, but we do have the kind of relationship where there'll be an e-mail saying, 'Oh, your movie looks great,'" Affleck said of Lopez. "I remember when she got American Idol. I said: "This was really smart. Good luck." He continued: "I touch base. I respect her. I like her. She's put up with some stuff that was unfair in her life, and I'm really pleased to see her successful." Sure, that's nice of Ben — but ladies, what wife or girlfriend would be cool with that? 5. They Were In Therapy For Two Years: After the couple confirmed they are divorcing, sources told E! Online that Affleck and Garner had been in therapy for two years. According to the same article, Affleck and Garner had been on 10-month trial separation, during which Affleck had been staying in hotels. 6. Ben Referred To Marriage As "Work" In His Oscar Speech: Accepting the 2012 Best Picture Oscar for Argo, Affleck turned heads — and not in the good way — when he referred to their marriage as "work." He later tried to clarify his comment, telling Access Hollywood: "You know, all marriages, all relationships to a certain extent, require your work. They're not just work in the sense that it's like digging ditches, but they require work and investment. If you're willing to work and invest, you can be successful in a relationship with another person. If you're not, you might as well just walk out the door because it's not gonna work. We work on it together, we try our best, and nobody's perfect." 7. Garner "Didn't Have The Energy" To Court Ben: Garner also sent the gossip blogs rolling in October 2014 when she gave an honest interview to InStyle about her "mindful" marriage. "You can't expect to be courted all the time, and I don't want to court him right now – I don't have the energy!" She said. "… But we're definitely in a very mindful place where we're making an effort to be together, do things at the same time, and be loving." 8. Ben Had Some Run-Ins With Gambling: Affleck was the subject of some pretty bad press in May 2014 when he was kicked out of and banned for life from the Hard Rock casino in Las Vegas for allegedly counting cards. Affleck later copped up to the story, telling Details in September 2014: "I took some time to learn the game and became a decent blackjack player. And once I became decent, the casinos asked me not to play blackjack." 9. The Rumors Followed Them For Years: Whether you believe the tabloids or not, one thing remains clear: rumors of a tumultuous relationship had been following Affleck and Garner for years. Things took an especially heated turn in the last few months, with many magazines and online gossip sites seemingly filing at least one divorce rumors story every week. As much as we hate to admit it: Looks like they were right. (Source: https://www.nickiswift.com/1566/possible-warning-signs-ben-jens-marriage-doomed/)

#21. McKeller (Modern Celebrity Couple: Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn AKA “KURDIE”)

Kurt Russell + Goldie Hawn ❤️

• Portmanteau Name: Kurdie • Full Birth Names: Kurt Voegel Russell, Goldie Jeanne Hawn • Birthdays: Kurt (March 17th, 1951), Goldie Hawn (Nov. 21st, 1945) • Current Ages as of 2019: Kurt (68), Goldie (73) • Zodiac Signs: Kurt (Pisces), Goldie (Scorpio) • Total Biorhythm Chemistry % Score: 51% • When They Met: 1966 • How Long They Were Together: 35 years (1983–Present) • Current Relationship Status: In Committed Relationship

History of Kurt and Goldie’s Relationship: One of the most iconic and long-lasting couples in Hollywood is Goldie Hawn, 72, and Kurt Russell, 67. The famous on-screen duo has been together for 35 years (and counting!). Though the two have vowed not to marry, their commitment to each other seems like it's never been stronger. Proof? This relationship timeline highlighting their epic, three-decade-long love story. The two first became acquainted while filming, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, but they weren't quite ready to start dating yet. "I was 21 and he was 16," Hawn recalled during a BBC Radio 4 interview. "I thought he was adorable, but he was much too young. Then, years later we met up again, and I remembered that I liked him very much when I first met him. We both said we would never go out with another actor so it just shows you never can tell." Even someone as charming and handsome as Russell couldn't resist the opportunity to woo Hawn with this pick-up line: "Man, you've got a great figure.""We've kind of met twice," Russell told Conan O'Brien in 2017. "We met in 1966 on a Disney picture. I was 16 and she was a young dancer. It was her first movie. And then the time we got together was 1983 on Swing Shift." Russell continued: "I was severely hungover and I didn't know Goldie at all outside of having worked with her those many years before. I just didn't have in my mind what I was going to see, and she had a great body. So the first thing that came out was, 'Man, you've got a great figure.' It came out quickly and it could've gone wrong, and she said, 'Why thank you.'" While the two were filming Swing Shift, they went out one night after work under the guise of practicing a dance scene. Russell took Hawn to The Playboy Club, where he says they talked for hours, and then they two decided to continue the fun at a house Hawn had recently purchased to renovate. There was just one thing: she didn't have the key yet, so they were forced to break in. “We eventually found our way upstairs, looking around at imaginary furniture," Russell said, according to People magazine. "We were in the imaginary bedroom when the police walked in because we had to break into the place to get in. That was our first date."The cops didn't ruin the night, though, as the couple finished out their date in a hotel room. And, they've lived together ever since, Russell said. Prior to dating Russell, Hawn already had two children, Kate, 39, and Oliver Hudson, 42, by her second ex-husband, Bill Hudson. They were married from 1976 to 1982. She was previously married to Gus Trikonis from 1969 to 1976. Russell had a son, Boston Russell, 38, by his ex-wife Susan Hubley, who he was married to from 1979 to 1983. He and Hawn welcomed their son, Wyatt Russell, 32, in 1986. Wyatt, Kate, and Oliver are all accomplished actors, just like their famous parents."We all have dinner together quite often," said Hawn. "My daughter lives down the street from me, so I see her a lot." The couple have always been forthcoming about not walking down the aisle together, citing that as the reason their relationship is so strong. "We have done just perfectly without marrying," Hawn explained. "I already feel devoted and isn't that what marriage is supposed to do? So as long as my emotional state is in a state of devotion, honesty, caring, and loving, then we're fine. We have raised our children brilliantly; they are beautiful people. We did a great job there and we didn't have to get married to do that. I like waking up every day and seeing that he is there and knowing that I have a choice. There is really no reason to marry." "I think the secret is to know when to depend on somebody and when not to," she told Woman's Day. "It's important that you are able to hold up your side of the house. I believe that one person can't bear the whole burden because then their shoulders start getting heavy. The other part is to stay as sexy as you can and make sure you focus on all of those aspects of a healthy relationship—and sexuality is definitely one of them." During an interview with Loose Women in 2016, Hawn also confirmed that she doesn't spend every waking hour with Russell."In a healthy, longer-term relationship, I would say it's great to be together about 68 percent of the time." In May 2017, the legendary actors received not one but two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They even smooched during the ceremony. "It turned out to be a lovefest," Hawn told People. "The last thing he said was, 'I’ll always cherish you.' I didn’t expect him to say those things. I had no idea he was going to be so beautiful. "Look, I’ve said this for 34 years, I don’t think Goldie and I, in real terms, are any different than any other couple; we go through all the same things," Russell explained in a recent interview with People. "But the important thing of who the two people are in a relationship is what you have to deal with. There’s gonna be ups and downs and sideways and everything else. I just think after 34 years you’re gonna have experienced every emotion that you can together."As far as what Hawn loves most about Russell, the Bird on a Wire actress had this to say: "He is a unique and very gifted person. He is smart, alive and a big character. He's also a great father...and he is very male!" (Source: https://www.oprahmag.com/life/relationships-love/a25924942/goldie-hawn-kurt-russell-marriage/) We wouldn't blame twice-divorced actress Goldie Hawn if she decided to give up on relationships for good. But the actress and Hollywood Walk of Fame recipient gave love one last shot when she met actor Kurt Russell on the set of the 1984 film, Swing Shift. Their relationship resulted in the merging of two of Hollywood's most influential and good-looking stars. They immediately became a blended family, which included Hawn's children from a previous marriage, Oliver and Kate Hudson, and Russell's son, Boston Russell. The couple then cemented their bond by having a child of their own, Wyatt Russell.Their life together is now content and complete — oh, except for one little thing: they never got married. Not only do they oppose legalizing their union, but Hawn has made comments that bashed the idea of Russell ever becoming her husband. So what gives? Are they commitment phobes, or is there a much deeper issue?From their kids asking them to remain unmarried, to Hawn's refusal to drop a ton of money on a wedding ceremony, here are the real reasons Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell never got married. 1.) Divorce would be imminent: Some couples think getting married is a perfect way to display their undying love and commitment to one another. But, for Goldie Hawn, she sees marriage as nothing more than a bunch of doom and gloom, telling Britain's Loose Women panel, "I would have been long divorced if I got married." Yikes. Why so cynical?Next, the Overboard actress somewhat bashed those who revered the sanctity of marriage to prove her point. "If you need to feel bound to someone, then it's important to be married," she said, before adding, "If you have independence, if you have enough money … and you like your independence, there's something psychological about not being married." Huh?! The actress went on to say that being unmarried gives people "the freedom to make decisions one way or the other."We're not so sure Hawn's logic tracks. There are plenty of married couples who have no problem maintaining their independence. Take Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, for example. They're so independent, they practically live separate lives! Okay, maybe they're a bad example, but you catch our drift, right? 2.) They don't need marriage to make it last: Let's face it, their untraditional romance has lasted longer than most marriages in the entertainment industry. So, it's obvious Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell know a thing or two about how to keep a relationship afloat. And Hawn said it best in an interview with Porter magazine (via Us Weekly) when she stated: "A lasting relationship isn't about marriage." Yeah, obvi!To further expound on her thoughts about the secret to a happy romance, she added, "[A lasting relationship is] about compatibility and communication. And you both need to want it to work."Despite making some solid points and a ton of sense during her interview, it hasn't stopped the press from hounding her and her beau about when they'll finally take that walk down the aisle. However, at this point, it's clear the veteran actress is sticking to her guns. But, who knows, she may change her mind one day! 3.) Monogamy is 'tough': If you think infidelity isn't an issue in the movie biz, just ask LeAnn Rimes about her thoughts on that subject. Having a slew of fans, groupies, and hot co-stars makes staying faithful nearly impossible for some entertainers. And since Goldie Hawn has been a successful actress for decades, she knows just how difficult it can be to stay on the straight and narrow. She once told People magazine: "Monogamy is a very tough order." Hmm… is she speaking from experience?According to an insider, cheating has allegedly been an issue in their relationship. "There was infidelity on both of their parts. Goldie admits that she and Kurt both went off course," the source told Closer Weekly, adding that the cheating led to the couple splitting up for a brief period of time. Granted, getting cheated on sucks whether you're married or not, but maybe Hawn thinks that if she and Kurt Russell remain unmarried, giving in to their temptations is A-okay every now and then? Who knows. 4.) She's been there, done that: Before Kurt Russell swept her off her feet, Goldie Hawn had been married twice — to Gus Trikonis and Bill Hudson. Therefore, she knows a thing or two about marriage… and divorce."Basically, once you've done it once, once you've done it twice, you realize that marriage, or the act of marrying, has nothing to do with the success," she said during an episode of Chatty Man (via People magazine).Because the Death Becomes Her star has gone through two failed marriages, her hesitance to become a bride once again is understandable, no? Instead of getting wrapped up in another failed romance, Hawn has adopted a different approach when it comes to her relationship with Russell. "The wake-up call every day is, 'Do I want to be with this man?" she continued, adding, "Do I want to be in this relationship? Am I willing to give something? How can it flourish and do I want to be there?' … Any marriage, any ceremony, any ring will not define that truth." 5.) Their kids snatched away the idea: Early on in their relationship, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell actually discussed taking the plunge during a conversation with their children — including Hudson's daughter and fellow actress, Kate Hudson (pictured) — Hawn told the panel at Loose Women. And guess what? When they asked the kiddos if they wanted mommy and daddy to get married, the answer was a resounding "no!"Maybe Hawn is using her kids as a cop-out, or maybe not. On the other hand, it's possible their children witnessed some of their parents' failed marriages first hand, and they didn't want to go through the stress of watching yet another marriage implode. Decades after that family convo, Hudson is still a huge fan of her mama and pa's unorthodox relationship, which was evident by the amount of gushing she exuded on a social media post in honor of Hawn and Russell's 34th anniversary."Love you madly, deeply, profoundly," Hudson wrote to Hawn and Russell, addressing them as "Mama Goldie and Pa." Aw! 6.) She refuses to go overboard with a lavish ceremony, but she'll wear a diamond ring!: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West spent an estimated $2.8 million on their wedding, while Donald and Melania Trump shelled out an estimated $1 million on theirs, according to E! News. Our point is: celebrity weddings can get pricey. Very pricey. When you add up the cost of the bride's dress, flowers, the venue, and a delicious cake, the final bill can be staggering. Thankfully, it ain't no thang but a chicken wing for most famous people to plop down a load of cash to make their wedding day as memorable as possible, but this is something Goldie Hawn isn't down for.Hawn told Oprah Winfrey in a 1991 interview that she refused to spend millions on a wedding, adding, "I'd rather take that money and give it to abused children." Bravo, Goldie! Though an elaborate and extravagant ceremony and reception many not be in the cards for this couple, Hawn did show off a massive diamond ring Russell had given her, while announcing that they also took part in a meaningful non-wedding ceremony. 7.) It's all about 'not losing yourself': Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have built a great life together, and they've settled into a lovely routine that now includes their children and grandchildren. Relationship goals abound, Hawn gave out a sliver of advice on how she has managed to keep their love strong sans wedding ceremony in an interview with Porter magazine (via Huffington Post). "Intention is the key," she said. "It's also about not losing yourself in each other. Being together, two pillars holding up the house and the roof, and being different, not having to agree on everything, learning how to deal with not agreeing."Okay, that's great and all, but why won't these two just make it official already? Would it really be the kiss of death if they just waltzed down to their local courthouse and officially became husband and wife? In the end, it sounds like Hawn is afraid that marriage may strip her of her identity, and though we have a much clearer idea on why they never got married, it doesn't change the fact that their non-traditional romance is still a fairytale in its own right. (Source: https://www.nickiswift.com/136549/the-real-reason-goldie-hawn-and-kurt-russell-never-got-married/)

Look out for Part III soon!

#riverdale

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capstagepemberley · 6 years

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Pride & Prejudice - A virtual book club

The following is the content I sent by email as a companion to reading Pride & Prejudice.

Hello!

Hopefully by now you’ve all had an introduction to the Bennets, the Bingleys, the Lucases, and of course the infamous Mr. Darcy. To start things off, relationships in this story are very important and often get a little muddled, so to help you keep track of who is whose cousin you can find a handy multiple-families tree here! I’ve highlighted in yellow those characters in Pride and Prejudice that also appear in Miss Bennet (not pictured: Arthur, Anne de Bourgh’s cousin).

Chapter I starts us off with possibly Jane Austen’s most famous line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This and the following paragraph really set the tone (for most of Austen’s work, not just P&P) of wryness but still an acceptance that there’s a social system and everyone works within it, for better or worse. This opening scene also introduces you to one of Austen’s strengths as a writer: she presents her characters incredibly effectively primarily through their dialog. Pay attention to the first time each character speaks - you can usually paint yourself a clear picture of their personality from that (Fun fact: the original draft of this story was titled First Impressions).

We get our first character sketches of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, who don’t make it on stage in our show but certainly loom large as the patriarch and matriarch of the Bennet sisters. Mrs. Bennet is obsessed with society and social rules, and of course with finding suitable husbands for her daughters. Mr. Bennet is the tree that Elizabeth, as the apple, didn’t fall far from. He’s clever, pragmatic, and takes a lot of pleasure in teasing his hysterical wife. He also loves his daughters very much, although there are indications throughout the book that he isn’t the most responsible father: his disdain for Mrs. Bennet’s obsession with getting the girls well-married, and his failure to set up appropriate legacies to support the girls after his death, means that he’s leaving his daughters to a very precarious future.

These first few scenes also give a nice flavor of typical daily life for members of this level of society. There were lots of rules for paying calls for social visits, and people gave or attended dinners and balls regularly. With all this day-to-day socializing in small, insular communities, it makes sense that the action in Austen’s novels is often catalyzed by strangers (usually men) coming to town, as Bingley and company do in P&P.

Austen wastes no time setting up the central conflicts of the novel by the end of Chapter VII: the Bingley-Jane romance,the Darcy-Elizabeth battle of wits, and the entail of the Bennet estate. It isn’t clear how Bingley and Darcy originally met, but it is clear that they are very dear friends: “Between him and Darcy there was a very steady friendship, in spite of a great opposition of character. - Bingley was endeared to Darcy by the easiness, openness, ductility of his temper, though no disposition could offer a greater contrast to his own, and though with his own he never appeared dissatisfied. On the strength of Darcy’s regard Bingley had the firmest reliance, and of his judgment the highest opinion.” Bingley is introduced as the light-hearted, effusive, and romantic foil to Darcy’s aloof and brooding temperament: “Bingley was sure of being liked wherever he appeared, Darcy was continually giving offence.” This is also played out in the histories that are suggested for both of them. Indications early on in the book imply that the Bingleys are new money, and our Bingley is the first who has not worked at a trade (Bingley rents Netherfield because his father “had intended to purchase an estate, but did not live to do it”). In contrast, the Darcy family is old money with a great deal of prestige as well - we find out that one of Darcy’s uncles was a judge which at the time was an extremely prestigious appointment with only about 15 judges in all of England. In contrast with these two fortunes, the Bennet estate is entailed which means that it transfers only to the closest living male heir, so the Bennet sisters stand only to inherit a small amount of money from their mother when she dies but not benefit from their father’s estate when he does. This puts them in a much weaker social position for marrying, because they would become dependent on their husband’s family wealth rather than contributing to it.

We also get a couple of glimpses of Mary’s pedantic character, like the scene in Chapter V when she inserts herself into what’s basically a gossipy conversation between Elizabeth and Charlotte to give a fairly prissy thesis statement on the failing of pridefulness. Sorry Elyse, you’re much sweeter in the play :)

I think it’s a particularly apt characterization that Darcy’s attraction to Elizabeth starts with his recognizing her “uncommonly intelligent” nature; in fact he dismisses her as not particularly attractive before he’s recognized her intelligence.

Elizabeth’s teasing, non-conformist side, very much like her father, is perfectly encapsulated in Chapter VI: “Miss Lucas defied her friend to mention such a subject to him, which immediately provoking Elizabeth to do it, she turned to him and said…”

Lydia’s plot gets started in Chapter VII when more strangers come to town, this time a regiment of militiamen who are stationed in the village. This introduces us a little bit more to Lydia and Kitty, the youngest of the Bennets, who spend a lot of time visiting their aunt and uncle so they can get to know all of the officers and basically talk about nothing else.

The end of this section is devoted to Jane’s illness and convalescence at Netherfield (Bingley’s house), where Elizabeth joins her. Being in close quarters with the Bingleys and Darcy, we get to see how judgey Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst are of the Bennets as simple, country folk; Bingley and Jane falling in love; Darcy becoming more and more fond of Elizabeth and her quick-witted ways; and Elizabeth confirming her opinion of Darcy and Miss Bingley as stuck-up.

OK, so this section largely features one of Austen’s most hilariously self-important characters who, sadly, isn’t visiting Pemberley this Christmas ;) For our purposes, Mr. Collins (like Charlotte) doesn’t inform much of Miss Bennet, but they are instrumental in P&P for getting Elizabeth and Darcy into the same room again later in the story, and also connecting us to Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her daughter, Anne.

For those of you who’ve watched Downton Abbey, Collins is a much-less-dreamy Matthew Crawley; he is the distant cousin who is the only living male relative of Mr. Bennet and thus will inherit all of the Bennet estate upon Mr. Bennet’s death. And to his credit, although it doesn’t work out in the end, he does come to Longbourn with the idea that maybe one of the Bennet sisters would be a suitable match for him and thus help out his female relatives by tying them back to their father’s fortune by marriage.

We get a LOT of information about Lady Catherine by way of Collins’ obsession with her. The first thing that readers of the time would have noticed is that, although Lady Catherine was married to a “Sir” (Sir Lewis, who is deceased), her title comes from her father rather than her husband. Women whose titles were linked to their husbands would only be referred to by their surname (Lady de Bourgh) but women inheriting a title from their parent would have their first name included as Lady Catherine does. We’ll find out later that Lady Catherine’s father was an earl, one of the three highest ranks of nobility in England, so she has a very prestigious pedigree in society. We also get an introduction to Anne, although like the praises of Lady Catherine there’s definitely an unreliable narrator feeling to the way Collins describes her.

Anne de Bourgh is said to be the heiress of Rosings and Lady Catherine’s estate, which is the reason for that little bit of detail near the beginning of Miss Bennet about the de Bourgh estate actually being entailed. As we’ll see in the next section, it’s entirely imaginable that Lady Catherine would have made bold assertions about her late husband’s estate that weren’t *completely* backed up by reality.

And you get to see more of the mischievous nature that Elizabeth and her father share when listening to Collins speak: “[Mr. Bennet’s] cousin was as absurd as he had hoped, and he listened to him with the keenest enjoyment, maintaining at the same time the most resolute composure of countenance, and except in an occasional glance at Elizabeth, requiring no partner in his pleasure.”

In Chapter XV we meet Wickham, who is also not on stage in Miss Bennet but definitely a part of the story. For those of you reading P&P for the first time, sorry about the spoilers but Wickham is going to turn out not to be quite the gentleman the girls all think he is in this chapter. Looking back in hindsight, this is a great example of how Darcy’s upstanding (but aloof) personality can be a double-edged sword for him. His sense of propriety keeps him from telling anyone in the Meryton area about Wickham’s past behavior, but he can’t help showing his emotions when they meet. Since Wickham has no problem lying for his own benefit, this makes Darcy look like the asshole in this situation, which only confirms everyone’s opinion of him as a stuck-up jerk (sorry, JR).

Here is Jane, the eternal peacemaker, in a nutshell (from Chapter XVII): “...she knew not how to believe that Mr. Darcy could be so unworthy of Mr. Bingley’s regard; and yet, it was not in her nature to question the veracity of a young man of such amiable appearance as Wickham. - The possibility of his having really endured such unkindness, was enough to interest all her tender feelings; and nothing therefore remained to be done, but to think well of them both, to defend the conduct of each, and throw into the account of accident or mistake, whatever could not be otherwise explained.”

Also a pretty good nutshell for giddy Lydia: “The happiness anticipated by [Kitty] and Lydia, depended less on any single event, or any particular person, for though they each...meant to dance half the evening with Mr. Wickham, he was by no means the only partner who could satisfy them, and a ball was at any rate, a ball.”

One more for nerdy Mary: “While I can have my mornings to myself...I think it no sacrifice to join occasionally in evening engagements. Society has claims on us all; and I profess myself one of those who consider intervals of recreation and amusement as desirable for every body.”

At the Netherfield ball in Chapter XVIII, we get another link in the relationship chain when we find out (again through Collins) that Darcy is Lady Catherine’s nephew (which makes him Anne de Bourgh’s cousin). We also see more evidence of Darcy being uncomfortable in social situations in a way that can provide a forgivable explanation for his coldness. The description of him “standing within a very short distance of [Elizabeth], quite disengaged, he never came near enough to speak” along with his conversation with Bingley at the first ball about how he’s only comfortable with people he knows, indicates that maybe he’s just too shy to know how to approach Elizabeth especially now that he knows she doesn’t think much of him in relation to Wickham’s story.

Also at the ball, we see several back to back examples of how the Bennet family is often kind of a social catastrophe. Obviously, Collins’ behavior is embarrassing, and then Mrs. Bennet doesn’t know how to use her inside voice at the supper table, Mary gives a painful singing performance, and Mr. Bennet manages to make the embarrassment worse by making it obvious that he’s trying to rescue Mary from continuing. I think it’s safe to say that both Jane, but especially Elizabeth since she isn’t as appeasing as Jane, have a lot of experience with trying to mitigate embarrassment by other members of the family.

The rest of this section sets all of the pieces in motion for the next phase of action: Caroline (Bingley’s sister) contrives a plan to get Bingley to move back to London and away from Jane to break them up, Collins proposes to Elizabeth and is turned down flat, then is picked up and dusted off by practical Charlotte whose move to Hunsford after she and Collins get married gives an excuse for Elizabeth to get out and do some visiting soon.

My thoughts in this section are particularly Elizabeth-based: She has a very strong reaction to her best friend Charlotte agreeing to marry Collins: “She had always felt that Charlotte’s opinion of matrimony was not exactly like her own, but she could not have supposed it possible that when called into action, she would have sacrificed every better feeling to worldly advantage. Charlotte the wife of Mr. Collins, was a most humiliating picture! - And to the pang of a friend disgracing herself and sunk in her esteem, was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen.”

The beginning of Volume II shows us the clear distinction between Jane’s and Elizabeth’s temperaments. When the Bingleys have unexpectedly left for London, Elizabeth is indignant, resentful, angry, and contemptuous of the conniving Miss Bingley and the inconstant Mr. Bingley. Jane, on the other hand, is terribly sad but consoles herself by thinking that at least her “error of fancy” has harmed only herself. As Elizabeth says to her, “You wish to think all the world respectable, and are hurt if I speak ill of any body. I only want to think you perfect, and you set yourself against it.”

We also get to see again the way Jane and Elizabeth clearly have to fend for themselves emotionally in the absence of appropriate parental care. Mrs. Bennet won’t stop talking about Bingley’s disappearance as if it hurt her directly, never noticing that she keeps opening the wound for Jane instead of letting it heal. And Mr. Bennet just jokes about how sometimes girls like to “be crossed in love a little” to give them something to break up the dullness.

Some new characters come into play in Chapter II, Mrs. Bennet’s brother and sister-in-law, the Gardiners. These are also minor characters that really only need to be kept track of because they give Elizabeth and Jane opportunities for visiting outside of Meryton later, which moves their two love story plots along. Mrs. Gardiner is much more sensible than her sister-in-law, and provides Elizabeth with some good advice about not letting her heart get carried away with Wickham (although it’s about the practicalities of both Elizabeth and Wickham being fairly poor, rather than a knowledge of Wickham’s bad behavior).

Everyone scatters a bit in Chapter III, with Charlotte getting married and moving to the parsonage at Rosings Park with Mr. Collins, and Jane going back to London with the Gardiners to stay with them for awhile. At this point, Elizabeth agrees to go visit Charlotte in a few months, and then later she agrees to go on a summer tour of the Lake Country with her uncle and aunt, the Gardiners. All of these trips let Austen reverse her earlier formula of creating action by bringing strangers into town; now she can create action by sending the locals out into new environments.

When Elizabeth goes to visit Charlotte’s new home, she finds a Mr. Collins who is just as insanely obsequious and annoying as he is earlier in the book. But she also sees Charlotte in a new light when she recognizes all the subtle ways that the new Mrs. Collins has found to control her husband and her environment to make it pleasant and comfortable. It’s nice to see Elizabeth’s harsh opinion of Charlotte’s choice softening enough to recognize all the good qualities of her old friend again.

And then finally, in Chapter VI, we meet Lady Catherine de Bourgh! A couple of things for our purposes: obviously, Lady Catherine is dead in Miss Bennet. And, in Pride & Prejudice, we don’t get very much direct interaction with Anne de Bourgh at all. BUT, all of these sections that include Lady Catherine and Anne (in the background) are really instructive for how Anne lived her life presumably until her mother’s death. Pay attention to how much she’s talked about, and how little she’s talked to. And her mother’s way of interacting with everyone - because this is just about the only model for being an adult woman that Anne has in her life. OK, so, Lady Catherine is:

Obsessed with rank, and making sure everyone knows hers and their own

Extremely narcissistic

Extremely critical, nosey, scolding, and officious

Oblivious to anyone else’s needs/feelings/etc.

She also makes constant excuses for Anne and why she’s never learned any of the usual ladylike pursuits of playing, singing, painting, etc.

The end of this section (starting in Chapter VII) brings Darcy to Rosings Park, along with another cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. Fitzwilliam’s personality is a sort of balance between Darcy’s and Bingley’s. He’s very friendly and easygoing, but has a steadiness to him that is similar to Darcy’s sense of properness. Fortunately for Darcy, Fitzwilliam also has Charlotte’s brand of practicality as we’ll soon learn, which puts a stop to what might otherwise have been a romance between him and Elizabeth.

Before we get into this section, have you all noticed how often Austen seems to describe people paying visits to each other and then just sitting in a room and having long breaks of silence in the conversation?? It’s really struck me on this read through, and I can’t tell if she is trying to describe kind of forced conversation or if her experience really was that sometimes you go to visit somebody and you just sit around and not talk. Anyway, not really relevant but curious to me.

Of course what reminded me of that is poor Darcy and his real struggles with interpersonal communication. I think this scene in Chapter IX is an awfully cute example of him starting to act like he has human emotions like curiosity and interest in others, and immediately clamming back up: “Mr. Darcy drew his chair a little towards her, and said, ‘You cannot have a right to such very strong local attachment. You cannot have been always at Longbourn.’ Elizabeth looked surprised. The gentleman experienced some change of feeling; he drew back his chair, took a newspaper from the table, and, glancing over it, said, in a colder voice, ‘Are you pleased with Kent?’”

In Chapter X we basically wrap up the Col. Fitzwilliam plot, in which he acts as a conduit for some information that Elizabeth needs to keep the story going: While chatting with Elizabeth, they both “jokingly” talk about how the youngest son of an Earl (i.e., not the one who will inherit the fortune) can’t afford to marry someone who isn’t wealthy, and come to an unspoken understanding that it’s not meant to be between them for practical reasons. It’s cleverly done, and a good juxtaposition of Fitzwilliam’s communication skills with Darcy’s. We also learn that Fitzwilliam is co-guardian of Georgiana Darcy, Mr. Darcy’s younger sister, which will add some weight to an upcoming revelation. And finally, although Fitzwilliam doesn’t know that he’s talking to the sister of the jilted, he divulges that Darcy recently advised “someone” against an unfortunate match with a country lady. With an annoying family. From near Netherfield. It’s Jane, you guys. All of this perfectly sets up a scenario where Elizabeth’s fury against Darcy has reached a fever pitch just in time for…..him to propose!

The surprise proposal in Chapter XI (were you surprised??) shows off all of Darcy’s worst behaviors of officiousness and pride. We could probably somewhat forgive him for failing to read the room with Elizabeth, since she keeps her dislike pretty close to the vest, but telling someone that you love them even though their family is the worst and you tried to stop yourself from falling in love but you’ll take them anyway, is not the most tactful/charming proposal. Elizabeth shows off all of her prejudices as well, but I’ll say this - at least she’s not coy about explaining exactly what her complaints re: Jane and Wickham are, which opens the door up for Darcy to explain himself later. Still, they both get their licks in and then retreat to their corners to try and figure out what just happened.

Next Aside: From here out, there’s a fair amount of talk about Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s relationship (obviously). There are lots of interesting things to be said about Austen and feminism, and if anyone’s interested in talking with me about them I would love to, but obviously this book was published in 1813 and was solidly rooted in a deep-seated patriarchal society. In spite of all that, I’m going to refer to Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s relationship as one of equals because Elizabeth certainly has more agency than other characters of the time (or even the book), and also because I think we all know that we’re producing a romantic comedy and sometimes it’s nice to leave the really deep analysis at home.

So, moving into Chapters XII and XIII, we see one of the greatest strengths of Elizabeth and Darcy, and the next indication of why they are a good match. Despite the blow-up they just had, and their individual opinions that they are in the right, they both take the time to apply their intelligence and reason to considering the other person’s position. Darcy gets the upper hand here a bit because Elizabeth’s opinion is at least half based on Wickham’s lies. Of course, Darcy has to swallow his pride enough to explain the embarrassment of the real story of Wickham’s relations with the Darcys, which is a very real sacrifice for someone as proud as Darcy. Through the letter Elizabeth gets a whole new picture of Darcy - not so much the way he handled the Bingley/Jane situation, although it puts his intentions in a slightly new light - but definitely in respect to Wickham. Darcy’s reflection and gradual change occur later than Elizabeth’s, but even with him taking the time to write and deliver the letter we see him start to realize the importance of explaining himself and his thoughts, and doing so in a somewhat more gentle way than before.

Shortly after Darcy and Fitzwilliam leave Rosings Park, Elizabeth does as well and heads home to Longbourn after picking up Jane in London.

Chapter XVI is where Lydia starts to really show off her immaturity and self-interest. She:

Comes to meet her sisters and treat them to lunch, but

Uses up all her money buying a bonnet that she says isn’t very nice (but not the ugliest!), so

Tells Jane and Elizabeth they’ll have to pay for everyone’s lunch instead, and then

Laughs about how fun it is that they’re crammed uncomfortably into the carriage for the ride home because of her new, not-that-pretty bonnet and its box.

And later that evening at dinner, she goes back to telling everyone how she and Kitty treated their sisters to lunch.

In Chapter XVII, here’s sweet Jane again, being sweet. She can’t be surprised at anyone loving her sister, and she can’t help but feel sorry for Darcy who must be so disappointed at how things turned out. Elizabeth has a cute juxtaposition of she and Elizabeth when she says “Your profusion [of regret and compassion] makes me saving; and if you lament over him much longer, my heart will be light as a feather.”

Elizabeth also expresses the beginnings of her transformation when she half (maybe just a quarter) jokingly laments that no longer disliking Darcy is bad for her wittiness: “One may be continually abusive without saying any thing just; but one cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.”

Meanwhile, Wickham’s militia regiment is getting ready to leave town, and Kitty and Lydia (especially Lydia) won’t stop talking about how their lives are OVER. Lydia gets a reprieve though, when her friend who is a relatively new wife of the regiment’s colonel invites Lydia to go to Brighton with them. Mr. Bennet is passive enough to let this happen, even though Elizabeth warns him that Mrs. Forster (the friend) isn’t exactly a prudent companion for Lydia, and Lydia is far too improper to go to Brighton without adequate supervision. Here are some adjectives Elizabeth uses to describe Lydia: vain, ignorant, idle, flirtatious, attention-seeking. And here’s a passage about Lydia’s dreams of summer vacation: “She saw with the creative eye of fancy, the streets of that gay bathing place covered with officers. She saw herself the object of attention, to tens and to scores of them at present unknown. She saw all the glories of the camp; its tents stretched forth in beauteous uniformity of lines, crowded with the young and the gay, and dazzling with scarlet [uniforms]; and to complete the view, she saw herself seated beneath a tent, tenderly flirting with at least six officers at once.”

I have new thoughts on Lydia this read through, but I’m going to save them for a bit later because it feels chronologically wrong to put them here. So if you’re thinking to yourself that Lydia is a bit picked on for just being herself - hold that thought!

Chapter XIX is an interesting little meditation on Elizabeth’s thoughts about marriage coming from the example of her parents. Although it’s not quite expressed this way, she believes that it’s important for husband and wife to respect each other intellectually in order to garner respect from their children in turn. She certainly sees the danger in, as her father did, marrying someone who you don’t think of as witty.

Elizabeth’s vacation with the Gardiners starts the series of coincidences that will bring us to our happy ending - first with vacation plans having to be changed to start later and not actually include the Lake district. Then, when visiting Lambton, Mrs. Gardiner’s interest in seeing Pemberley. Tours of stately homes were becoming even more of a standard attraction during this time, which gives us another idea of the prominence of the Darcy estate. And THEN, while touring Pemberley, the unplanned/unexpected early return of Mr. Darcy that puts he and Elizabeth in the right place at the right time to almost literally run into each other again.

It makes a lot of sense that seeing Darcy’s home, and him in his home, is what really brings about the last of Elizabeth’s change of heart. As we’ve seen him, Darcy is a proud and private person who is fairly uncomfortable interacting with strangers and whose facade in those situations is distant and cold (and often fairly judgmental). His home is described as friendly, warm, beautiful but not in an ostentatious or stuffy way, with a kind and affectionate housekeeper. It’s certainly not an accident that Darcy himself is able to be more pleasant and welcoming to Elizabeth and her family when he is in his familiar surroundings.

In Chapter II we finally meet Darcy’s young sister, Georgiana. She is described as being so shy she can hardly speak to people even in a home setting, which we could probably imagine wasn’t helped by being primarily cared for by someone of Darcy’s temperament. These few days at Lambton becoming reacquainted with Darcy and Bingley create a sweet series of calm-before-the-storm scenes and a raising of Elizabeth’s spirits from the turbulence she’s been experiencing.

While that all changes again in Chapter IV, it still creates the bond that gets her and Darcy through this last upheaval of Lydia and Wickham’s elopement.

The interesting thing about Lydia (which I’m sure you’ve already thought, being much cleverer than I) is that she’s really only a victim of her era. Do I find people as giddy and vapid as she is kind of annoying? Yes, but they’re not bad people, just not really my type. But realistically, Lydia knows what she wants: to flirt and be adored and run off with a dashingly handsome officer. If she’d lived in a less stringent time, she and Wickham would’ve run off and had a firey affair, not gotten married, and she’s shown to be such a strong-willed person that she probably would’ve seen Wickham’s eventual disinterest and told him to hit the road, leaving her, for the most part, none the worse. Instead, because the society they live in meant that the family would be ruined by her sinful choices, she gets saddled with a marriage to a guy who’s kind of a dick and definitely doesn’t want to be married to her either.

This whole episode causes Elizabeth to be much more vulnerable and intimate with Darcy than she probably ever would have otherwise, and gives Darcy his classic knight in shining armor opportunity to make a grand gesture for the woman he loves. In this case, that grand gesture includes him going very much against a lot of his natural tendencies toward pride and humbling himself pretty significantly. We don’t get the sense that he’s ever been much of a moral compromise kind of person, but he certainly makes some compromises here in the best interest of Elizabeth and her family. Of course, it’s only by the coincidence of Lydia’s big mouth that Elizabeth finds out about all of this.

Advancing the plot through letters is a common theme of Austen’s work. In fact, Pride and Prejudice was originally written in an all-letter format, and so we’re going to see the last pieces of the puzzle fall into place through Mrs. Gardiner’s letter.

In Chapter X, Wickham’s last interaction with Elizabeth is particularly disingenuous, with him still fishing to find out how much she may have heard of him from Darcy, and continuing to play the wronged victim angle. Based on this interaction, my own assumption is that when Elizabeth says that Mr. Darcy won’t welcome Wickham to Pemberley, she certainly hasn’t done much to change his mind.

We also see the preamble to the lonely life that Lydia eventually confesses to in Miss Bennet. With the (sort of) happy couple being forced to move to Newcastle because of Wickham’s need to leave the militia and join the regulars, she will be far enough from family that they don’t expect to see her for at least a year. It’s easy to predict that Wickham’s inattention and their relative financial hardship will take the shine off Lydia’s adventure in a new town fairly quickly, and leave her more on the outskirts of society than she would like or expect.

And so the story comes full circle, with rumors running wild about the Bingleys returning to Netherfield. In the next few chapters, we see the effects of Elizabeth on Darcy has he attempts to have more patience when interacting with her mother, and he spends time observing Jane more closely to better understand her feelings for Bingley.

Lady Catherine’s imperious entrance into the story one last time only serves to help Elizabeth and Darcy solidify their feelings for each other in the face of Lady Catherine’s general awfulness. When they finally come back together at Longbourn, we see a lovely balance of her playfulness and his seriousness in their proposal scene as they both admit their shortcomings to each other.

The resolution of the marriage plots corresponds to the view of marriage Austen consistently asserts: rather than being simply a union of two individuals, marriage is a condition in which the couple will be connected to a variety of other people. In the final chapters, Elizabeth and Darcy take the trouble, even when they find it unpleasant, to accommodate and maintain good relations with other family members and acquaintances.

The story implies that Elizabeth and Jane were both married on the same day; fitting for the closeness of their relationship and that of their husbands. Jane and Bingley lived at Netherfield for a year, but then bought an estate about 30 miles from Pemberley so we can assume that the Bingleys and the Darcys have seen each other fairly often in the last two years before Christmas 1815. Elizabeth’s and Lydia’s relationship is probably further strained when Lydia writes asking for financial assistance now that Elizabeth is rich, and Elizabeth turns her down. We also learn that Elizabeth and Jane have both been asked to help settle the Wickhams’ debts from time to time over the past three years.

And finally, a charming characterization of Darcy’s enduring commitment to Elizabeth, from a letter written by Austen about how she was unable to find portraits in a gallery that she thought resembled Jane and Elizabeth: “I can only imagine that Mr. D. prizes any Picture of her too much to like it should be exposed to the public eye.--I can imagine he would have that sort [of] feeling--that mixture of Love, Pride & Delicacy”

#Pride and Prejudice #analysis

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