Celebrity divorce in 2015

Splitting Stars

Movie stars and TV favourites struggled to get their relationships past the five-year milestone.

• Halle Berry’s marriage lasted just over two years before she split from her husband Olivier Martinez.
• Avril Lavigne decided that two years of marriage to Chad Kroeger was enough. 
• Sienna Miller split from partner Tom Sturridge after being engaged for three years. 
• Charlize Theron and Sean Penn split after 18 months together.
• “Big Bang” star Kaley Cuoco filed for divorce from her husband of 21 months Ryan Sweeting. The divorce petition revealed a pre-nup laying out Cuoco’s maintenance to Sweeting and the division of assets, showing this actress is far more financially-savvy than her on-screen character Penny.
• Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green started divorce proceedings after five years of marriage.

Double Figure Divorces

• Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner had just reached double figures in their marriage before announcing their divorce.
• Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay’s Chris Martin finalised their divorce after separating in March 2014 after 10 years of marriage and a great deal of conscious uncoupling.
• Kate Beckinsale split from her director husband after 11 years of marriage.
• Singer Gwen Stefani filed for divorce from musician hubby Gavin Rossdale after thirteen years. Some reports stated that they did not have a pre-nuptial agreement…

Stand By Your Man – Or Not

Do country stars stay married for longer? Country music star Reba McEntire and her manager Narvel Blackstock separated after being married for 26 years. In contrast, country music mega star Dolly Parton has been married to her publicity-shy husband Carl Dean for 50 years. Yes, 50!

Second (or Third) Time Around…

• It wasn’t a case of second time lucky for Jean-Claude Van Damme and Gladys Portugues who got divorced (again) after 15 years of marriage. The couple had been married previously, from 1987 to 1992.
• Or even third time lucky either for Pamela Anderson and Rick Salomon, who went through their third divorce. Yes, third.

Two British Celeb Splits You May Have Missed…

• Writer, comedian and swimmer David Walliams and Lara Stone were reported as getting a ‘quickie’ divorce in September 2015.
• In a case of life imitating art, actress Bonnie Langford divorced her husband of 20 years shortly before taking up a new role in Eastenders as Essex divorcée Carmel Kazemi.

Divorce for the under 30’s

It can be hard to be married and divorced before your 30th birthday, but young celebs that have been there, done that, and got the paperwork have some remarkably sage advice:

“There are two ways you can go: You can either nurture yourself or go destructive. I have gone down the destructive path before, and that didn’t work for me. I did it through hikes and vitamins and therapy and prayer and good friends.”

Katy Perry on her divorce, aged 27, from Russell Brand

“It was hard to imagine I would ever walk down the aisle again. It was like a death in the family: You go through the mourning stage, then the rebellion, and then all of a sudden you have to find life by yourself.”

Jessica Simpson

“I feel I know now more of what I need in a relationship, what I want in a relationship. And I know I have more tools to communicate, not just with my partner, but with myself.”

And Finally…

“The mark of a successful relationship shouldn’t be whether you’re there forever after. Sometimes you’re not meant to be forever together. Sometimes you have to come to terms with the fact that that was it. But that was a gift, a massive gift.”