In this age of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, we get to know about celebrity hook-ups, flings, PDAs and affairs as soon as they start brewing.
And even if some celebs choose not to make public their “thing” on social media, the paparazzi makes sure that they keep tabs on it. They report to us who was spotted holding hands with who and who took a beach vacation together. So it really comes as a surprise to us when we learn about celebrities who once dated one another and we didn’t catch a wind of it. Impressive. Could it be that these relationships were too brief to show up on the paparazzi radar? Or maybe the couples were simply masters of disguise?
Let’s look at some celeb pairs that we didn’t know were once romantically involved:
# 7 Ashley Olsen and Lance Armstrong
Would you believe that the child star of Full House and the once-legendary, but now-controversial cyclist were once an item? This unlikely pair came together in 2007 and were spotted engaging in some serious PDA in a New York bar. But they split just after a few months and both moved on to date other people.
#6 Fergie and Justin Timberlake
Fergie was 23 and Justin Timberlake was just 16 when they dated in 1998! At that time, Timberlake was no more than “that blonde guy with the cute curls” of NSYNC, while Fergie was just finding fame with girl group Wild Orchid. They had a very brief relationship, which explains why we missed it. Their subsequent relationships—Timberlake dated Britney Spears before dating and marrying Jessica Biel while Fergie married Josh Duhamel—were not shrouded in secrecy.
#5 Sheryl Crow and Owen Wilson
The Grammy Award-winning singer has dated a number of famous men like Eric Clapton, Kid Rock, and Lance Armstrong, and we were all in the know about these couplings. But her two-year relationship with Owen Wilson, from 1999 to 2001 that started on the set of The Minus Man comes as a surprise to many. Wilson thinks Sheryl is a “great girl” and that it was his “lack of focus” that ended the relationship.
#4 Sandra Bullock and Ryan Gosling
Sandra Bullock dated Ryan Gosling, 16 years her junior, in 2002-2003. The duo met on the set of Murder by Numbers. It is rumored that they had a messy breakup, but Gosling still maintains that Bullock was one of the greatest girlfriends he had ever had. Gosling seems to take the on-screen chemistry he shares with his actresses very seriously; after breaking up with Bullock, he has dated a number of his co-stars, namely Rachel McAdams and his now baby mama, Eva Mendes.
#3 Kim Kardashian and Nick Lachey
Is there anything that we don’t know about Kim Kardashian? Well, it looks like we missed it when she dated Nick Lachey. It was in 2006 when Lachey was a part of 98 Degrees and Kim K. was just another wealthy LA socialite. But things fizzled out between them right after the first date. According to Lachey, Kim tipped off the paparazzi about their movie date, so when they emerged from the theater, they found themselves staring at hordes of reporters and flashing cameras. Lachey called off the relationship immediately before Kim K. got the chance to make a reality show out if it. Been there. Done that!
#2 Naomi Campbell and Leonardo DiCaprio
It is evident that Leonardo DiCaprio has a weakness for supermodels. He dated Naomi Campbell back in 1995. They had a brief relationship before DiCaprio went on to date other supermodels, most notably Amber Valletta, Gisele Bündchen, and Bar Rafaeli.
#1 Cher and Tom Cruise
The singer and the actor dated back in 1987 (That explains it; news didn’t travel so fast then.) when Cher was at the height of her musical career and Cruise was just blooming into the Hollywood A-lister that he is today. Cher was 16 years senior to Cruise, so she was a “cougar” long before the word came into vogue. They met at a White House event, but the pair never made public their relationship when they were together. Cher admitted to the relationship after almost two decades in 2008.
Just as they managed to keep their relationships under wraps, some former couples on this list also have us guessing about why they broke up. But now that we finally know about them, we can’t help but wonder if there is a relationship brewing right now in tinsel town that we don’t know about.
Couple Alert, any one?
