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6 celebrity couples that broke up and got back together© GettyImages

6 celebrity couples that broke up, got back together, and are still in love

Do you believe in second chances?


Jovita Trujillo
Jovita Trujillo - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
UPDATED AUGUST 16, 2021 9:48 PM EDT

It’s hard for celebrity couples to stay together when their whole life is front of the world. From rumors, affairs, and distance, there are plenty of reasons why they call it quits. But for some celebrity couples, they just needed to take a break to realize what they wanted was right in front of them. While some couples on this list took over a decade to give love a second chance, others quickly realized it was a big mistake. Take a look at 6 celebrity couples that broke up, got back together, and are still in love.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck style© GrosbyGroup

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have been dominating the headlines like it‘s the early 2000’s. They began dating in 2002 after meeting on the set of Gigli and just a few months later Affleck popped the question with a custom-made 6.1-carat pink solitaire Harry Winston diamond ring. They planned a wedding for September 2003 but called it off just days before. They officially announced their split in January 2004 and quickly began dating other people. J.Lo married Marc Anthony in June 2004 and Affleck married Jennifer Garner in June 2005. JLo and Anthony divorced in 2014 and Garner and Affleck split ways in 2018. 17 years later, the couple has been taking vacations, renting luxury yachts, and even looking at mansions big enough for their family in Los Angeles. It’s safe to say “Bennifer 2.0” is Hollywood’s favorite power couple again.

Justin and Hailey Bieber© @justinbieber

Justin and Hailey Bieber

Justin and Hailey Baldwin seem to be happily married but their journey didn‘t come without speed bumps. They met in 2011 at the premiere of Bieber‘s Never Say Never movie in Times Square, New York City. That same month he confirmed his relationship with Selena Gomez. For the next 3 years “Jelena” was the only thing people could talk about until they split in November 2014. Rumors between Bieber and Baldwin began swirling and they denied them for over a year. Finally, in January 3, 2016, Justin made it Instagram official with a photo of them kissing, however, both claimed they were “not an exclusive couple.” Six months later in August 2016, they seemed to go from “nonexclusive” to “not at all,” as Justin began cozying up with Sofia Richie. Their fling was short-lived and he bounced bag with Selena for the next 2 years until March 2018. A few months later, Hailey and Justin reunited, and he went on to propose in July of that year. Last year in the premiere episode of their show on Facebook, The Biebers on Watch they talked about their dramatic 2016 split and Hailey told Justin, “I really let myself feel the emotions I was feeling. It feels like grieving, it is grieving actually. You feel like you lose someone you really, really love and care about. By the time we got back together, I felt like I experienced enough.”

Prince William and Kate return to the place they first met© ANDY BUCHANAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Prince William and Kate Middleton

Even the Royals have rocky relationships. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met while attending St. Andrews University in Scotland and began dating privately. After dating for 3 years they hit a roadblock and decided to split in March 2007. At the time, “media pressure” was one of the reasons cited for the breakup. Plus, Prince Williams was away from London at least 5 days a week while he was with the Household Cavalry. The media announced their split in April but their time apart was brief. In June Kate attended a themed party at William’s barrack and by the end of the night they were back together. Three years later they announced their engagement and Prince William explained, “We were both very young, we were still defining ourselves and we had different personalities, trying to find our way and growing. We gave ourselves a little space, in the end, everything was for the better.”

kelly ripa tattoos© @kellyripa

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are everyone’s favorite parents. The couple is known for leaving hilarious and at times awkward comments on each other‘s social media pages and have been married since 1996. However, they broke up briefly right before their wedding. In 2018 Kelly explained on the Betches’ Comments by Celebs podcast. “We broke up and we got back together the day before we went off and eloped. Yeah, we eloped. We went to Vegas and got married.” Mark went into a little more detail on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, “We both had to meet and do an appearance on Live With Regis and Kathie Lee,” he explained. “When we were together she wouldn’t talk to me and that made me go crazy. So I followed her in Central Park, and then we went back to my place, and we got married the next day.” Whatever happened back at his place worked because they’ve been married ever since and have 2 children together.

Celebrity Sightings in New York City - January 12, 2018© GettyImages

Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid

Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik began dating in November 2015 and have broken up several times. When the artist left One Direction to go solo Hadid made a spicy appearance in his “Pillowtalk” music video. They confirmed the relationship in February 2016 and kept it adorable on social media the next two years with photos of them embracing. Suddenly in March 2018, Malik revealed on Twitter that they ended their relationship. But they were smooching by April and looked Instagram official again by October. Then in January 2019, it was reported that they were broken up… again. They seemed to be rekindling things by November 2019 and Hadid was evening helping Zayn’s mom cook in the kitchen. By Valentine‘s day 2020, it was clear that they were back together, and they rang in her 25th birthday together in April before multiple outlets reported that they were expecting their first child. She confirmed the news on April 30th, and they welcomed a baby girl named Khai to the world on September 23, 2020. Since then, they’ve been sharing their love on social media, without any breakup rumors swirling their ugly head, instead, theres been secret wedding rumors.

The 41st Annual People's Choice Awards - Arrivals© GettyImages

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard will celebrate 14 years of marriage this year in October but it hasn’t always been rainbows and fireworks. They met in met in 2007 at a dinner party and Bell told Today in 2019 she felt “no sparks whatsoever.” Two weeks later they reunited at a hockey game and started dating, and fighting. She told Harry Connick Jr. she would love to pull a “Dramatic exit” during their fights. “When we first met, we fell madly in love and I love the dramatic exit. There is nothing I crave more,” she said. “We‘d get in a fight because we’d fight a lot, and I’d yell something and then slam the bedroom door, then I’d slam the front door, then I’d get in my car and then I’d skid out the driveway and I would sit around the corner in my car and it felt so good and I realized how incredibly toxic it was only after he pointed it out.” Three months into their relationship they broke up, “He sat me down and said, ’I can’t have this right now. I think you’re wonderful, but I am still dating other people,’” she told PopSugar. ”And then I, like, liquefied and fell to the ground, but I felt incredibly respected that he had the balls to tell me we weren’t in the same place.” A few days later Shepard came back realizing his mistake. He proposed to her in 2009 on the location of the romantic comedy “When in Rome,” and they had a long engagement because they didn’t want to get married in California until same-sex marriage was legalized. They welcomed their first daughter Lincoln Bell Shepard in March 2013 and when California’s Prop 8 was overturned in June 2013 Bell switched the script and proposed to Shepard on Twitter. By October 2013, they were married, and they welcomed their second child Delta Bell Shepard in December 2014. Since then the power couple has starred in each other’s projects, launched a line of plant-based baby products, and supported each other through it all. Including Shepards 2020 relapse after 16 years of sobriety.