14 Celebrity Couples Who Broke Up and Got Back Together

Some celebrity couples decided to give love a second chance after calling it quits.

Among the star pairings whose hearts grew fonder after absences are Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard and Nelly and Ashanti, whose breakups brought them back closer than ever and made their relationships that much stronger.

While those duos all had pretty well-known splits, others were relatively short and quiet breaks, like Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, whose reunion led to an elopement.

Below, look back at celeb couples who broke up, reunited and are still going strong.

01 of 14

Nelly and Ashanti

Nelly and Ashanti first dated in 2003 and kept their relationship quiet for 10 years — so quiet, in fact, that they didn’t confirm they had officially been a couple even as breakup rumors swirled in 2013.

The Grammy-winning artists then spent a decade apart before reuniting in 2023.

“We cool again,” Nelly confirmed during an appearance on Boss Moves with Rasheeda that September. “I think it surprised both of us. It wasn’t anything that was planned.”

The two secretly married in December 2023 and welcomed their first child together, a son named Kareem Kenkaide Hayes, in July 2024.

The following year, Ashanti presented Nelly with the Landmark Award at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards, honoring his contributions to music over the course of his career on the 25th anniversary of his album Country Grammar. Onstage, the “Foolish” singer said she was “so proud” of “the talented guy who made it — my soulmate, my husband, Nelly.”

02 of 14

Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller

After announcing their split in 2017, Stiller and Taylor had some happy news to share in February 2022: They’d gotten back together.

The longtime, low-key couple met in 1999 and wed less than a year later. After their separation, they were spotted together multiple times, but their romantic relationship wasn’t rekindled until the COVID-19 pandemic. During those early days in 2020, they decided it would be best for Stiller to move back in with Taylor and their two children, daughter Ella Olivia and son Quinlin Dempsey, as that was the only way he could see the kids during the lockdown.

“Then, over the course of time, it evolved. We were separated and got back together, and we’re happy about that,” the Zoolander star told Esquire in February 2022, adding, “It’s been really wonderful for all of us. Unexpected, and one of the things that came out of the pandemic.”

During a May 2026 appearance on The McBride Rewind podcast, Taylor shared a similar sentiment.

“We got back together, we found our way back during COVID,” the Dodgeball actress said. “I met Ben when I was 28 years old … Kids always have growth spurts, and you have different chapters and stages in your life, and I feel that’s also true for adults and particularly women.”

Taylor continued, “You get married, become a mom, for those who become mothers … career, put your career on hold, all those different chapters, and I think at that moment in time for us, we were just not on the same page with a lot of things.”

03 of 14

Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin

Longtime loves Sylvester Stallone and former model Jennifer Flavin experienced a bit of a roller coaster in 2022, announcing plans to divorce that August after 25 years of marriage.

In a statement to PEOPLE after his wife filed, Stallone said, “I love my family. We are amicably and privately addressing these personal issues.”

One month later, the pair had reconciled.

“They decided to meet back up at home, where they talked and were able to work out their differences,” the actor’s rep told Page Six in September 2022. “They are both extremely happy.”

The couple first met at a restaurant in 1988 and wed in May 1997. In 2026, they celebrated 29 years of marriage, with Stallone writing on Instagram of Flavin, “You give my life meaning!”

Stallone and Flavin share three adult daughters: Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet. The tight-knit family starred on the Paramount+ docuseries The Family Stallone from 2023 to 2024, which detailed their professional and personal lives.

The Rocky franchise star also has two older sons, Sage and Seargeoh, from his first marriage to Sasha Czack. (Sage died of a heart attack in July 2012 at 36 years old.)

04 of 14

Kyle Kuzma and Winnie Harlow

Winnie Harlow and Kyle Kuzma first connected during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, after the Milwaukee Bucks forward (who was on the Los Angeles Lakers at the time) reached out to the model on Instagram, according to Page Six.

After reportedly splitting in August 2021, they were spotted holding hands en route to a dinner date in New York City in late December 2021, in photos obtained by TMZ. In February 2022, Harlow confirmed that Kuzma was once again her Valentine, sharing snaps of the romantic celebration with her on-again beau on Instagram and calling him “my Cupid.”

The two have posted plenty of loved-up snapshots since, and they got engaged in February 2025.

“We’re over the moon,” Harlow told Vogue at the time.

05 of 14

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos

Turns out Ripa and Consuelos had a bit of a pit stop before eloping in Vegas in May 1996.

“Right before we got married, we broke up,” Ripa shared on the Betches’ Comments by Celebs podcast in July 2018. “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.”

The two tied the knot within a year of meeting on the soap opera All My Children. They have since welcomed three children, sons Michael and Joaquin and daughter Lola, and have co-hosted Live with Kelly and Mark together since 2023.

06 of 14

Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber

Now they’re happily married, but before they secretly tied the knot in September 2018, Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) had to work through some bumps in the road.

After first meeting at the “Baby” singer’s Today show appearance in 2009, the couple sparked romance rumors in 2014 after they reconnected at church, though both denied the mumblings. They did begin dating, though, and had a “very dramatic” split in 2016, with Hailey telling the U.K.’s The Times in May 2018 that “we went through a long period of time when we weren’t friends.”

By June of that year, the pair was spotted packing on the PDA, and one month later, they got engaged in the Bahamas.

Justin and Hailey then had two ceremonies — first at a courthouse in N.Y.C. and then a larger wedding in South Carolina surrounded by friends and family.

“He was the first person I ever had real feelings for,” Hailey said during an episode of the docuseries Justin Bieber: Seasons in February 2020. “When things kind of went south for a little bit, and we went our separate ways, I just knew that no matter what the outcome was going to be, he was going to be somebody that I loved for the rest of my life. No matter what, he was always going to hold a special place in my heart.”

The Biebers became parents for the first time in August 2024, when they welcomed son Jack Blues.

07 of 14

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell

Long before they became one of the most adorable couples in Hollywood — and parents to daughters Lincoln and Delta — Bell and Shepard hit a rough patch and briefly split.

“We were dating for about three months,” the Nobody Wants This actress told Popsugar in August 2017. “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.’ 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.”

Thankfully, Shepard quickly realized that his now-wife was the one.

“He called me, and he was like, ‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I was dating someone else, but they’re just not as interesting as you, and I don’t know what I’m doing,’ and he came back.”

Bell still hasn’t let him off the hook: “I still always remind him of when he broke up with me.”

The two initially met at a mutual friend’s birthday party in 2007. They got engaged in 2010 and officially wed in a simple ceremony in October 2013.

“We got married in a tiny room in the Beverly Hills courthouse, and it was still one of the best days of my life,” Bell said on CBS Sunday Morning in July 2016.

08 of 14

Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne

Sharon Osbourne and Ozzy Osbourne wed in Hawaii in July 1982. Decades later, the first couple of rock and roll briefly split in 2016 after rumors of infidelity, but reconciled shortly thereafter.

Sharon opened up about her relationship status on her show The Talk, which she co-hosted from 2010 to 2021, telling the studio audience, “I forgive. It’s going to take a long time to trust, but we’ve been together 36 years, 34 of marriage … I just can’t think of my life without him.”

With that, she added a little levity, calling Ozzy “a dirty dog” and saying, “He’s gonna pay big.”

The couple remained married until Ozzy’s death at age 76 in July 2025.

Sharon paid tribute to her late husband in honor of what would have been their 46th wedding anniversary on July 4, 2026, writing in part, “I miss your hand in mine, but I carry your love with me every step of the way. Forever my husband. Forever my heart.”

The Osbournes shared three children: daughters Aimee and Kelly and son Jack. Ozzy also had two children from his first marriage to Thelma Riley, son Louis and daughter Jessica, and he adopted Riley’s son Elliot from her previous marriage.

09 of 14

Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union

After getting together in 2009, Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade took a break in April 2013 before becoming engaged in December 2013 and tying the knot in an intimate ceremony in Miami in September 2014.

“We kind of took a step back,” Wade said of their reconciliation during an appearance on The Tonight Show. “We supported each other, but we took a step back for a little while. At the end of the day, we came back together and said, ‘Listen, we want to continue this. We want to try to continue to get better each day.’ “

The two appear stronger than ever and regularly support each other publicly.

In February 2026, Union revealed their key rule for staying close and keeping their relationship strong: “We laugh our asses off. At all times, we laugh.”

“We just stay connected, and we surround ourselves with people who believe in our marriage as much as we do,” the Riff Raff actress added.

Union became a stepmom to Wade’s two children with his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches, Zaya and Zaire, and his son Xavier with Aja Metoyer. The retired NBA star is also the guardian of his nephew Dahveon Morris. Union and Wade welcomed their first child together in November 2018, daughter Kaavia James, via surrogate.

10 of 14

Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo

For Adam Levine, it took dating someone else to realize Behati Prinsloo was the one.

Following the couple’s brief breakup, the Maroon 5 frontman broke things off with Prinsloo’s fellow Victoria’s Secret model Nina Agdal, whom he had been dating at the time, and promptly proposed to Prinsloo. (Agdal is now married to Logan Paul.)

“Famous last words, ‘I’ll never get married,’ ” Levine recalled on The Tonight Show in 2013. “I still don’t necessarily think you have to get married unless you meet someone that makes you want to marry them. And then you marry them, and it’s wonderful.”

The couple got married in July 2014 and are now parents of three. They welcomed their first-born, daughter Dusty Rose, in September 2016, daughter Gio Grace in February 2018 and a son in January 2023.

11 of 14

Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake

Four years after first being linked, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake amicably split in March 2011.

The break didn’t last long — the couple got back together that August and were engaged by December, after Timberlake asked Biel to marry him during their annual vacation to Montana.

“She is the single-handedly most significant person in my life,” the “SexyBack” singer told Vanity Fair in 2011, while he and Biel were still apart. “In my 30 years, she is the most special person, okay? I don’t want to say much more, because I have to protect things that are dear to me — for instance, her.”

The couple wed in Italy in October 2012 and welcomed their first child, son Silas Randall, in April 2015.

They hit a bit of a hiccup in 2019 when Timberlake was spotted holding hands with his Palmer costar Alisha Wainwright, a “strong lapse in judgment” he publicly apologized to Biel for on Instagram, noting that “nothing happened” but that he “drank way too much that night and I regret my behavior.”

Biel and Timberlake appear back on track. They welcomed their younger son Phineas in 2020, and among their other collaborations were Timberlake performing at Biel’s 40th birthday party and his guest appearance on her Hulu show Candy, both in 2022. These days, they spend most of their time out of the Hollywood spotlight in Montana.

Both celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary with sweet posts on Instagram in October 2022, with Timberlake writing, “10 years ain’t enough! You make me a better husband and father every day! I love you so much you beautiful human! Run it back!”

For her part, Biel captioned a carousel of images, “Being married to you is the adventure of a lifetime! Run it back, baby. RUN IT BACK. I love you.”

12 of 14

Kate Middleton and Prince William

While we’re all quick to fantasize about the perfection that is Kate Middleton and Prince William‘s marriage, their relationship wasn’t flawless, especially in the early days.

Four years before saying “I do” in a lavish ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, the pair split in April 2007.

The break was a mere bump in the road for the couple, who are now parents to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. They have weathered several ups and downs since then that have only made them grow stronger, including William’s estrangement with his brother Prince Harry and Kate’s cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Royal historian Amanda Foreman told PEOPLE in December 2025 that the turbulent few years made Kate and William more connected.

“He treats her like his bride,” Foreman said. “They seem more loved-up than ever.”

13 of 14

Dave Annable and Odette Annable

Dave Annable and Odette Annable wed in a private ceremony in Ojai, Calif., in October 2010. After nine years of marriage, they announced their separation in October 2019.

Just nine months later, however, the couple was back on. In August 2020, the pair posted identical photos and captions on Instagram, confirming their reconciliation with a sunny smooching selfie.

“2020. It ain’t all bad news. #TheAnnables,” they captioned the photo. On his wife’s post, the Brothers & Sisters alum playfully commented, “My post is better.”

Not long after, the actors announced they were expecting baby No. 2. They are now parents to two daughters, Charlie Mae and Anderson “Andi” Lee.

14 of 14

Jillian Dempsey and Patrick Dempsey

Patrick Dempsey and Jillian Dempsey (née Fink) met in 1994, when he was a client at her hair salon. They began dating in 1997, wed in July 1999 and later welcomed three children together: daughter Talula Fyfe, born in 2002, and twin sons Darby Galen and Sullivan Patrick, born in 2007.

Fans were thus shocked when Jillian filed for divorce in January 2015. The Grey’s Anatomy alum, whose commitment to the racetrack is said to have been a major issue for the couple, later confirmed in an interview with ES Magazine that the two decided to reconcile.

“Our marriage was not something I was prepared to let go of,” Patrick told PEOPLE in September 2016. “I didn’t feel like we had done all the work. And we both wanted to do that work. That’s where it started.”

Patrick was named PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2023, and Jillian celebrated the news publicly, writing on Instagram, “Well, the cat’s out of the bag for 2023 @people’s #SexiestManAlive and my hubz is on the cover! Loved being a part of this insanely fun ride with you @patrickdempsey. What a title! You truly are my sexiest man alive.”

Read the original article on People