Celebrity Relationships: The Soap Operas on Steroids We Can’t Resist

Celebrities date celebrities. It’s always been like that and we normal people always wanted to know everything about her private life. The gossip columns were already full in the 1950s when Elizabeth Taylor ripped off her Hollywood colleague Debbie Reynolds. Thanks to social media, everyone can now add their two cents – and say that “no one cares”.

But likes and clicks show that thousands are keen on this gossip – even if they don’t always openly admit it. It’s not a bad thing sometimes to clear your brain with trivial things. At least as long as you don’t overdo it. But many do just that.

Some people who seem to have too much time on their hands recently fumed online about Selena Gomez dating ex-One Direction singer Zayn Malik because she’s hitting on models Gigi and Bella Hadid’s ex-boyfriends. Zayn previously dated Gigi and Selena also dated singer The Weeknd, who once dated Bella Hadid. And yes, it’s absurd – and complicated.

But that’s exactly what the celebrity dating world is: a merry-go-round. Would you like an example?

As I said, Selena Gomez was once with The Weeknd, who dated Bella Hadid, who (allegedly) had something with singer Drake, who is said to have already got to know model Hailey Bieber, who in turn married Justin Bieber after he met Selena Gomez was together. Voilà, the purest soap opera on steroids!

And it’s not just the “boys”: Cher used to date Tom Cruise, who married Nicole Kidman, who was then engaged to Lenny Kravitz, whose ex is actress Lisa Bonet, who then dated Jason Momoa. And so on. In fact, it’s pretty hard not to catch another celebrity’s ex.

And that’s the point: Celebs mostly date because they’re in a world of their own and run into each other all the time. And we can happily live out our voyeurism while watching – and make our judgement.

This becomes a problem when a star meets a normal. When “Superman” actor Henry Cavill made his relationship with a non-celebrity public via Instagram in 2021, his girlfriend even became a victim of online bullying.

Many Normalos dream of a romance with their star. They seem like the fairytale princes who brought Snow White, Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella into their castle. And there they lived happily ever after. Happy end. Theoretically.

After all, they had hardly said a sentence to each other before – or were even unconscious when they first met – and who knows how Snow White and Co. were doing in a world full of lavish lavishness? Real Life Princess Meghan Markle apparently found it less casual.

Conversely, a relationship with a normal person can also be good for a celebrity. It’s a break from your own fake world, a dash of reality. At least in “Notting Hill” Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant were happy because she was just a girl “standing in front of a boy and asking him to love him”.

Sure, celebs are human too, and sometimes the modern girl actually exists. Matt Damon met his wife, Julianna Barroso, while she was working in a bar. Today they have three daughters together – but neither they nor Julianna have ever said a word to the press.

Happy end? We will see. Except for those who are actually not interested, because they will just happily continue to ignore it.