Celebrity Couples Filed For Divorce More Than Once
People date, people break up — that’s how it goes. But with some of our favorite celebrity couples over the years, there are a few more steps: They date, break up, date again, and break up again, adding in a wedding or two somewhere in the mix. Sometimes, the last thing you remember hearing about a couple is that they’re divorcing, and a few years later; they’re kissing on the red carpet. From Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus to Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green, we’re taking a look back at celebrity couples who have had such rocky ups and downs that they’ve had to file for divorce not just once, but several times over the course of their relationship.
The Cyruses may be the prime example of this, having now filed for divorce three times over their nearly 30 years of marriage to one another. On April 11, 2022, People and other sources confirmed that Tish had filed for “irreconcilable” differences the previous week, and the outlet further reported they haven’t been living together for over two years.
While Tish and Billy Ray may be the most prolific in their divorce filings, they’re far from the only famous couple whose divorce didn’t stick the first time. From the Cyruses to legendary Old Hollywood couples, check out the celebrity couples who’ve filed for divorce from one another multiple times below.
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Tish Cyrus & Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus top this list with two attempted divorce filings before proving that third time is the charm.
The exes first married back in late 1993, welcoming three children together during their lengthy marriage, Miley, Braison and Noah. Billy Ray also adopted Tish’s children from previous relationships, Brandi and Trace.
Early in his relationship with Tish, Billy Ray also fathered another son, Christopher Cody, with Kristin Luckey.
Billy Ray originally filed for divorce from Tish back in 2010, dropping it a few months later in March 2011. Tish then filed for divorce in 2013 but rescinded it a month later. On April 11, 2022, news broke that Tish is filing for divorce from Billy Ray again. Tish went on to remarry Prison Break star Dominic Purcell in 2023.
Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s love story is one of the grandest and messiest ones in Hollywood. The pair met on the set of Cleopatra in 1961, having an affair that caused a huge scandal. They married in 1964 but divorced in 1974. They reconciled a year later, only to divorce a year later. They shared one daughter together named Maria, 60.
Brian Austin Green & Megan Fox
Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox’s tumultuous relationship began in 2004 when they met on the set of Hope & Faith. After getting engaged in 2006, they briefly broke things off in 2009 before reuniting and marrying the following year.
In addition to Green’s son from a previous relationship, the couple welcome three boys in 2012, 2014 and 2016. Their third son was born a year after Fox had filed for divorce for the first time. In 2020, Fox filed once again, ending their marriage for good.
“I was not a great girlfriend to Brian. I’ll be very honest,” the actress admitted in 2024. “I was young and really should not have been in a relationship of that level of commitment and magnitude. I did a lot of, like, falling in love with other people all the time. I would go to work and fall in love because I was a kid.”
Eminem & Kim Scott
Childhood sweethearts Eminem and Kim Scott’s rocky romance was well documented by the media in the early 2000s.
The couple married in 1999 before divorcing in 2001. They briefly remarried in 2006 but ended that marriage months later. The couple share daughter Hailie but Eminem also adopted Kim’s niece, whom she gained custody of, and Kim’s child born during a brief split from the rapper.
Talulah Riley & Elon Musk
Actress Talulah Riley and Tesla founder Elon Musk were a match made in on-and-off heaven. After beginning their romance in 2008, the couple married within two years in a grand ceremony.
However, in early 2012, Musk first filed for divorce before remarrying a year later. Musk filed for divorce once again on New Year’s Eve 2014 but withdrew it soon after; this time, however, Riley signed separation papers, and the divorce was finalized in late 2016.
Merv Adelson & Barbara Walters
Famed journalist Barbara Walters was married four times to three different men. She first wed Merv Adelson, her third husband, in 1981 before ending their marriage in 1984. Two years later, they wed again before calling time on their relationship for good in 1992.
Pamela Anderson & Rick Salomon
Pamela Anderson and Rick Salomon wed soon after meeting in Las Vegas in 2007 but annulled their marriage two months later.
Seven years later, the pair remarried in January 2014, but Anderson filed for divorce six months later. They reconciled, and throughout their tumultuous marriage, Anderson filed multiple restraining orders against Salomon. In 2015, she filed for divorce a third time, and it was settled the same year.
Melanie Griffith & Don Johnson
Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson originally married back in 1976 after knowing each other since 1972, when Griffith was only 14 years old. They divorced six months after their wedding but they decided to remarry in 1989 and welcomed daughter Dakota Johnson later that year. They divorced again in 1996.
Jean-Claude van Damme & Gladys Portugues
Jean-Claude van Damme and Gladys Portugues wed back in 1987 before welcoming two children named Kristopher and Bianca. The pair divorced in 1992 but remarried back in 1999. Portugues filed for divorce from Van Damme in 2015, but the pair soon reconciled.
Van Damme has since said he’s thought about divorcing a few times too, but told Washington Post his love for Portugues stands strong. “We still love each other, of course, and all the people I met in my life, I love all of them. Every time you spend time with a person, whether it’s 10 minutes or 20 minutes, you build memories. If you listen for fake, then you’re stupid, so every time you spend time with people in life, you should always enjoy and everybody should be in peace.”
