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10 celebrity couples you probably had no idea were once together

Elsa Pataky, Salma Hayek, Mila Kunis... They are all happily married now but in the past, these celebrities dated other fellow stars and became iconic couples of that time


UPDATED MAY 15, 2020 10:33 AM EDT

Once upon a time in Hollywood, there were beautiful princesses and princes who still hadn’t found their true love. Back then,  Salma Hayek  and husband Henri Francois Pinault were not together, and many other celebrity power couples simply did not exist... yet. Back in those days, these stars dated other famous fellow A-listers, becoming iconic couples of that time. Take a look at our top ten.

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Elsa Pataky and Adrien Brody

Before finding her Prince Charming Chris Hemsworth and settling down in Australia, Spanish actress Elsa Pataky dated The Pianist star Adrien Brody, and like in fairy tales, they even had a castle! Back in 2008, the couple opened the doors of the magnificent property close to New York to our sister publication HELLO!.“When I saw the castle, I asked Adrien, ‘Is this ours?’” Elsa told the magazine. “He said, ‘Yes – welcome home.’”

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Michael Buble and Emily Blunt

The Canadian crooner and the Mary Poppins star dated for three years before splitting up in 2008. And although they are now happily married - Emily to John Krasinsky and Michael to Luisana Lopilato - back in the day, they were one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. “Emily is truly one of the most amazing and wonderful people that I‘ve ever known,” he told The Telegraph after the split, “and really, even now I sit and I’m thrilled that I got a chance to be a part of someone’s life who’s touched so many lives and is so amazing.”

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Keira Knightley and Jamie Dornan

50 Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan dated Keira Knightley for two years back in the 00s and even wrote a song - Only on the Outside - with his band Sons of Jim about his feelings after their breakup. They met at a shooting for British brand Asprey and sparks flew, unfortunately it didn’t last forever. “There is a big pressure when you go out with someone such as Keira,” he told the Daily Mirror after the split. “The man is meant to be the alpha in the relationship on the money and power front, and clearly I was not. You feel like you have to be dominant in other areas and that causes problems ... ”

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Alex Rodriguez and Kate Hudson

We know it’s hard to think now about a time when Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez weren’t together, especially when we see the adoration they feel for each other. But for a few months in 2009, the baseball star and actress Kate Hudson were an item and this picture is the proof. Kate’s brother Oliver recently interviewed Alex for his podcast Daddy Issues, “You didn’t even say, like, ‘Hey, like, look, I’m thinking of interviewing your ex-boyfriend. Is that cool?” said the actress during Siblings Rivalry, the podcast they co-host together.

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Mila Kunis and Macaulay Culkin

Mila Kunis and Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin were together for eight years. Yes, eight years! From 2002 and 2011, the two stars had a low-key relationship that, as Mila told Dax Shephard back in 2018, ended up in “a terrible, terrible breakup.”“I was an a**** in my 20s and I’ll be the first to admit it,” she added, “and that’s something that took me a long time to come out and be like, ‘Yeah, you know what, I was a d***’ and accept it and I own it now,” she said.

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Salma Hayek and Edward Norton

For four years, Salma Hayek and Fight Club star Edward Norton tried to keep their relationship as private as possible, but their love wasn’t meant to be. In 2003, media outlets reported the breakup. Three years later Salma would tie the knot with the love of her life and father of her only daughter Valentina Paloma , fashion mogul Henri Francois Pinault.

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Ryan Reynolds and Alanis Morissette

Not only did they date, singer Alanis Morisette and Ryan Reynolds got engaged and from 2004 to 2007 were one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. When they split, media reported the Jagged Little Pill star hit “rock bottom.” After their split, she even wrote song song Torch about the actor, who went on to marry Blake Lively. “It’s really about my grief,” she told Access back in the day. “Miss cracking up and wrestling and our debriefs at end of day,” she wrote in her lyrics.

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Adamari Lopez and Luis Fonsi

The Despacito hitmaker talked very recently about his difficut divorce from Un Nuevo Dia host Adamari Lopez . The couple, who were married from 2006 to 2010 had a complicated breakup in the spotlight. “It was a public divorce,” Luis said in El break de las 7, “everybody had an opinion and that was not easy. People said terrible things, but you learn to not pay attention.” Adamari released her book Viviendo in 2012 where she said her former husband was unfaithful. He has always denied it.

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Keanu Reeves and Sofia Coppola

Keanu Reeves surprised everyone last year when he attended the LACMA Art + Film Gala with Alexandra Grant as he has been notoriously private when it comes to his love life. Actresses like Claire Forlani and Sandra Bullock were in the list of his “rumored” girlfriends, and also Francis Ford Coppola’s daughter Sofia. According to reports during that time, the couple briefly dated in 1992 after meeting on the set of Dracula. In the picture, we can see them attending the 7th Annual IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards in Raleigh Studios, Hollywood, California.

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Joaquin Phoenix and Liv Tyler

He’s engaged to beautiful actress Rooney Mara and she’s the proud mom of three children with David Gardner - David Beckham’s good friend - but Joaquin Phoenix and Liv Tyler were one of the dreamy indie couples in the 90s for three years. They reportedly met while filiming Inventing the Abbots and kept their relationship secret while on set. “[Joaquin] would sit at the other end of the makeup trailer and say, ‘Oh, my God, [Liv’s] such a babe,’ and talk to the makeup girl. It would be like, ‘I could never get her,’ and she believed him,” Liv explained in The Morning Call in 1997.