13 Celeb Couples Who Were Broken Up From A Day To Decades Before Realizing, "Hey, We Actually Belong Together"

Rom-coms and romance novels love a second-chance romance. While getting another try with the one that got away may seem like fiction, sometimes, it happens IRL.

Here are 13 famous Hollywood exes who got back together:

1.Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck got together a year after costarring in 2003's Gigli. They got engaged but broke up in 2004. Intense media attention "was about 50 percent" of what ended their relationship.

Ben told The Howard Stern Show, "The idea that people hate you and they hate you together and that being together is poison and ugly and toxic and the thing none of us want to be part of."

In early 2021, after they'd both recently ended relationships with other people, Ben emailed Jennifer to let her know that he'd been contacted by a magazine asking for a quote about her and that he told them good things. They continued talking, which eventually led to meet-ups, and by 2022, they were re-engaged. They got married that July.

She told Vogue, "Obviously we weren’t trying to go out in public. But I never shied away from the fact that for me, I always felt like there was a real love there, a true love there. People in my life know that he was a very, very special person in my life. When we reconnected, those feelings for me were still very real."

2.In late 2022, Ali Wong and Bill Hader reportedly dated for "at least two months" then split amicably, remaining friends.

In April 2023, Bill's reps confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that he and Ali were back together.

She told Access Hollywood, "We're very selectively private... We've been together for a minute; I guess people didn’t know we were together."

3.Jada Pinkett Smith first met Will Smith when she auditioned to play his girlfriend on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1994. Though she didn't get the role, she took on the role of his partner IRL the following year. They got married in 1997 but secretly separated in 2016.

In her 2023 NBC News primetime special, Jada said, "It was not a divorce on paper, but it was a divorce... Why it fractured? That’s a lot of things. By the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying. I think we were both kind of just still stuck in our fantasy of what we thought the other person should be."

They continued attending events and such as a couple. At the 2022 Oscars, Will infamously slapped host Chris Rock for making a joke at Jada's expense. That moment inspired Jada to pursue reconciliation.

During a conversation with CAA and Vanity Fair, she said, "When I was sitting at the Oscars, it clicked in. As soon as I was like, ‘Oh snap, you hit Chris?' I was like, I’m riding with you. I didn’t come into this place as your wife, but I’m leaving here as your wife because we got a storm we’re going to have to deal with together. I am not gonna leave your side.”

4.In 1999, Ben Stiller was directing a pilot called Heat Vision and Jack, and Christine Taylor auditioned for the "sexy sheriff" role. Since they were both "on the rebound" after ending their previous relationships, they went out. They got married the following year. However, in 2017, they announced their separation.

In a joint statement to People, they said, "With tremendous love and respect for each other, and the 18 years we spent together as a couple, we have made the decision to separate. Our priority will continue to be raising our children as devoted parents and the closest of friends. We kindly ask that the media respect our privacy at this time."

Then, in 2020, during the early months of lockdown, Ben moved back into their family home so that he could be with their kids. In an "unexpected" turn of events, he and Christine ended up getting back together.

He told Esquire, "Over the course of time, it evolved. We were separated and got back together and we’re happy about that. It’s been really wonderful for all of us. Unexpected, and one of the things that came out of the pandemic."

5.Justin Bieber first met Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) when her dad introduced them backstage at the Today show in 2009. Around 2014, they reconnected at church and started hanging out as friends. Around 2016, they had a very brief relationship that ended in a "very dramatic excommunication."

Hailey told Vogue, "Negative things happened that we still need to talk about and work through. Fizzled would not be the right word — it was more like a very dramatic excommunication. There was a period where if I walked into a room, he would walk out."

Then, in 2018, they crossed paths at a church conference in Miami. By the end of the event, he told her, "We’re not going to be friends." Less than a month later, they were engaged.

"The common denominator, I promise you, is always church. By then we were past the drama. I just gave him a hug," she told Vogue.

They got married after a four-month engagement.

6.In 2013, while working on her album Breathe In, Breathe Out, Hilary Duff heard a few demos written and produced by Matthew Koma, so she set up a professional lunch meeting with him, which ended up lasting for two hours. They got together around early 2017, then broke up after a few months.

They reportedly split because their schedules were too busy.

They were a bit on-and-off, but by the end of 2017, they were back together for good.

Hilary told The Talk, "It's going so great. I mean, this is the third time that we've dated and I think that what [Selena Gomez, who'd recently gotten back together with Justin Bieber at the time] says has so much merit to it. Timing is such a big deal…third time's a charm!"

They got married in 2019.

7.After meeting at a London event in 2014, Stormzy and Maya Jama became friends. They went on to date from 2014–2019.

In a documentary, Stormzy told Louis Theroux, "That's probably the biggest loss a man can have, isn't it? Away from someone passing away, that's the biggest loss you can have. My breakup was probably the biggest catalyst for my growth as a man. It was like, 'OK, you made a mistake and you lose someone you loved, someone you cared for, someone who is special to you.'”

They got back together in 2023.

He told British Vogue, "We were so public the first time round. Somewhere down the line my spirit started resisting… So I’m not gonna speak on it."

8.In 2006, John Legend met Chrissy Teigen on the set of his "Stereo" music video. When the 14-hour shoot ended, they ate In-N-Out at his hotel then hooked up. As he embarked on a tour, they spent the next year talking via phone call and text. By 2007, they were a couple, but while she was on tour with him, he told her, "I can’t be in a relationship right now."

She told Cosmopolitan, "I let him be himself for a while. The worst thing you can do is try to lock someone like that down early on, then have them think, There's so much more out there. I played it cool for a long time. Never once did I ask, 'What are we?' Marriage was never my goal, because I've never been very traditional. I was just happy to be with him."

Their breakup lasted all of one day. They got back together quickly then got married in 2013.

Chrissy told Cosmopolitan, "Literally, a day. I knew it came from a place other than us not working. It was the stress of him having to maybe cancel a show, and he had never been in a real relationship — or so he says now. I always joke, 'Remember when you tried to break up with me?' He’s like, 'Yes, sorry. Big mistake.'"

9.In 2007, Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade met through a Super Bowl party they cohosted. They didn't really interact, and she didn't think he was her "type." However, after going through a breakup, she thought, "'It can't be any worse if I date a fetus." They dated from 2010–2013, weathering the storm of his contentious divorce and custody dispute. They split "because of distance and scheduling."

She told Glamour, "I finished filming the show, then I flew to Vegas right away to start shooting Think Like a Man Too. I couldn't take time off, and I missed some quality togetherness we desperately needed."

Gabrielle and Dwyane reconciled a few months later and got married in 2014.

She told Glamour, "Over the summer [while we were broken up], I reassessed priorities. I'd always wanted an awesome career with back-to-back projects, but I realized I wasn't willing to sacrifice my relationship for it. Moving forward, I decided my work schedule has to make sense for our family. Bottom line: If an issue's a deal breaker, it's a deal breaker. If your relationship isn't something you're willing to give up and you can compromise, do so."

10.Katy Perry connected with Orlando Bloom when he snatched an In-N-Out burger from her table at the 2016 Golden Globes. They hung out at an afterparty and became an official couple later that year. However, a year later, their reps told Entertainment Tonight that the two were "taking respectful, loving space at this time."

Katy tweeted, "HOW BOUT A NEW WAY OF THINKING FOR 2017!? U can still b friends & love ur former partners! No one's a victim or a villain, get a life y'all!"

In 2018, they reconciled, and a year later, they got engaged on Valentine's Day.

11.Pink and Carey Hart first met at the 2001 Summer X Games. They broke up for the first time in 2003.

After a brief split, the couple reunited. During one of his races in 2005, she spontaneously proposed. They got married in 2006 but announced their divorce two years later.

Pink's publicist told People, "Pink and Carey Hart have separated. This decision was made by best friends with a huge amount of love and respect for one another. While the marriage is over, their friendship has never been stronger."

However, in 2010, they reconciled.

In an Instagram post celebrating their 18th anniversary, Pink said, "Love is a lifetime of coming back to the table. We almost didn’t make it to this one, well a couple of them, if I’m being honest. When I met you, 22 years ago, I just wanted someone that wouldn’t lie to me. I didn’t have a clue about commitment, building a life together, intimacy, trust. It’s fucking hard. But man if I’m not humbled by the surprise of loyalty, history, forgiveness, and resilience. How love rearranges itself and reappears after an empty night or five. I’m proud we made it to the other side of this year."

12.Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa met when he screen tested for the role of her All My Children love interest in 1994. For her, it was love at first sight as soon as she saw his picture, but for him, focus remained on the audition because he didn't think he'd have a shot with her. He got the role, and soon they were a couple onscreen and IRL. But in 1996, they broke up.

However, only a few days later, they got back together. The very next day, they eloped in Las Vegas.

Kelly told the Comments by Celebs podcast, "We broke up the week before we got married… He popped the question the day before we got married, but that day, that very day that we got back together, we were at a taping of Regis and Kathie Lee. It was their Mother's Day special. They were pretaping it, and one of the dreams of one of the mothers was to meet Mark and me. We were her favorite characters on All My Children."

13.And finally, the first time around, Marie Osmond and Steve Craig tied the knot in front of 4,000 guests in 1982. However, they announced their separation in 1984.

Marie told People that their marriage "had some trouble." She said, "Everyone was telling me my career was over."

Following another divorce in 2007, Marie "never wanted to be married again." However, she unexpectedly reconnected with Steve through their son, Stephen. They got remarried in 2011.

She told People, "Stephen was getting married and we [realized] we can’t go to our son’s wedding and not be married. So we got married a few months before he did. He joked that he never thought it would happen, but it did!"