Celebrity marriages are an endless source of entertainment for fans – not least because the most high-profile ones tend to end in divorce. But believe it or not, some celebs actually choose not to get married at all. Most would probably rather avoid the potential heartbreak, but for others, there are more obscure factors at play. Yep, these stars – and their reasons for remaining single – may well surprise you.
1. 1. Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue has been engaged before, to British actor Joshua Sasse. But after the pair split, the pop princess announced that she would probably never marry.
“Just going through ‘being engaged’ seems like an experiment because I’d never as a girl or in all my life had a vision of getting married… Now I’m going to stick to my previous view. I don’t think marriage is for me,” the star told Red magazine in 2018. Fair enough.
2. 2. Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling has had a long on-off relationship with B.J. Novak, her co-star from The Office, and it’s a relationship she admits is incredibly complicated. In 2015 Kaling told Howard Stern that she may even have married Novak when she was younger, but it just didn’t happen.
Now she has two children, and she’s never revealed who the dad is – not even to her closest friends. All she's said so far is that Novak is their godfather.
3. 3. Sarah Silverman
In 2015, while Sarah Silverman was in a relationship with actor Michael Sheen, she tweeted, “Just read that I wanna get married which is hilarious b/c I will never get married. Why would I want the govt involved in my love life?
Ew.” She split from Sheen in 2018 – and true to her word, she still hasn’t gotten hitched.
4. 4. Bill Maher
Bill Maher once dated model Coco Johnsen, but it ended badly, with Johnsen claiming that he’d promised to marry her before going back on the idea. And these days, the controversial comedian makes his position on marriage very clear on his official website.
“I’m the last of my guy friends to have never gotten married, and their wives – they don’t want them playing with me,” he says. “I’m like the escaped slave. I bring news of freedom.”
5. 5. Sheryl Crow
In the past, singer Sheryl Crow has been romantically linked with other celebrities – Eric Clapton, Lance Armstrong, and Owen Wilson, to name a few. But despite three engagements, she’s never wed.
In 2019 she told People magazine that she wasn’t against the idea, saying, “I would love [to get married]. But I don’t think it’s the end-all, be-all.”
6. 6. Mary-Louise Parker
Mary-Louise Parker used to date fellow actor Billy Crudup. But while she was pregnant with his child, Crudup famously left her for Claire Danes. Yikes! “Maybe a psychiatrist would say I’m not married now because I have some sort of father thing.
But you know what? That would be the least of my problems,” Parker told The New York Times in 2015.
7. 7. Tyra Banks
Supermodel Tyra Banks has seemingly never felt the need to get hitched. She was in a long-term relationship, mind you, with photographer Erik Asla. She even had a child with him by a surrogate in 2016.
But the couple split the following year – amicably, it’s said – and ever since, Banks has remained unmarried.
8. 8. Allison Janney
Oscar winner Allison Janney keeps her personal life very private, although we know she was once in a relationship with film production supervisor Philip Joncas.
Yet any guys courting the now-single star should probably hold off on proposing, as Janney is unlikely to ever tie the knot. “I don’t believe in that institution,” she told E! News back in 2016.
9. 9. Matt Dillon
In 2006 Cameron Diaz’s ex Matt Dillon told People, “I’m open to life now, even to marriage. I’m open to the idea that things will work out. I absolutely value change now. I don’t fear it.
I accept it.” That was a long time ago, though, and he still hasn’t tied the knot.
10. 10. Joan Jett
For decades, rumors have spread that Joan Jett is either gay or bisexual, though she’s never actually confirmed either way. “I’m not saying no, I’m not saying yes.
I'm saying believe what you want,” she told Out magazine in 1994. But one thing’s for certain: she’s never been married.
11. 11. Al Pacino
Al Pacino may have dated a lot of women, but he hasn’t ever married any of them.
One of his most famous girlfriends, Diane Keaton, even said that she once gave him an ultimatum – marry her or lose her – but he still refused. The movie legend does have three children now, though.
12. 12. Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody has been romantically linked to lots of famous women, including Tori Amos and January Jones. And at one point, things seemed to be getting serious with the Spanish actress Elsa Pataky.
Brody even bought her a New York farm designed to look like a castle! But the relationship didn’t last, and the Oscar winner remains unmarried.
13. 13. Robin Roberts
In 2013 Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts came out as a lesbian and announced that she was in a long-term relationship with a woman called Amber Laign.
After that, tabloid magazines suggested that the two of them would get married. Well, not yet! Yes, while the pair are still together now, they’ve yet to tie the knot.
14. 14. John Cusack
The actor has dated an impressive selection of Hollywood women, including Minnie Driver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Uma Thurman. But it seems marriage simply isn’t his thing.
In 2009 Elle magazine posed the question, “In five words or fewer, tell me why you’ve never married,” and he answered, “I can do it in seven: ‘Society doesn’t tell me what to do.’” That told them!
15. 15. Matthew Perry
In Friends, Matthew Perry’s character, Chandler, ends up happily married to Courteney Cox’s Monica. But in real life, he’s never tied the knot. That’s not to say he hasn’t dated anyone.
Perry has been with lots of stars – Julia Roberts, Yasmine Bleeth, Lauren Graham, and Lizzy Caplan among them. Rumor has it that he was in love with Cox on the Friends set, too.
16. 16. Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson played Queen Elizabeth I in the famous British sitcom Blackadder II, and just like the Virgin Queen, she too has never married. “I think marriage would be quite good for me,” she told the Daily Mail in 2009.
“But I’m not going to just go out and hire someone. I think, intermittently, that you find Mr. Right, but you have to get lucky.”
17. 17. Seth MacFarlane
The creator of Family Guy has never wed, but he’s not against it. In 2013 he told Parade magazine, “I’m wide open to getting married, but actors are not easy people to date. You end up sharing that person with this other mistress that is their career.
I very much like the traditional courtship method of making a date. That’s what they do in normal places, but Hollywood’s not normal.”
18. 18. Simon Cowell
In 2013 Simon Cowell began dating New York socialite Lauren Silverman. It may not have even made the headlines had she not been married to one of Cowell’s friends at the time!
In the end, the Silvermans divorced, and Lauren gave birth to the America’s Got Talent judge’s child. But whenever someone asks him if they’ll get married, there’s no answer.
19. 19. Dana Delany
Dana Delany may have starred in Desperate Housewives, but she doesn’t actually want to be one. “I’ve had proposals,” she told the Daily Mail in 2008.
“But I like being single so much that somebody would have to be special to make me marry him. Marriage never seemed that important to me, which I think was part of growing up in the ’70s.”
20. 20. Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro’s most notable relationship has been with Rod Stewart’s daughter Kimberly, and it’s been a complicated one, to say the least. In 2011 the actor’s rep announced that the pair were expecting a child – but also that they weren’t in a relationship.
At the time an anonymous source told Closer magazine, “When she ended up pregnant, Benicio said he wouldn’t marry her and didn’t want a relationship, but he’d support the baby.”
21. 21. Lauren Graham
For more than a decade now, Lauren Graham has been in a committed relationship with her Caroline in the City and Parenthood co-star Peter Krause.
But it seems she’s simply not interested in all the paperwork that comes with tying the knot. In 2014, appearing on The Ellen Show, she said, simply, “Aren’t we married already?”
22. 22. Kristin Davis
Kristin Davis’ Sex and the City character, Charlotte, dearly wanted to get married – but Davis herself has other priorities. In 2008 she told the Early Show, “Little girls who say, ‘I want to get married’...
I was never one of those little girls. It is not that I wouldn’t, but I don’t see that I must do it or be unhappy.”
23. 23. Shonda Rhimes
“I have never wanted to get married,” Shonda Rhimes told Oprah in 2015. “I never played bride. I was never interested.
I don’t know what it is… There may be some people who are doing it and who are very happy and who love it. And I am not knocking any of you.”
24. 24. Diane Keaton
In a 2019 interview with AFP, Diane Keaton reflected on how she’d remained unmarried.
She said, “I wonder if I’m the only single woman of my age who’s been in film who hasn’t gotten married, so I might be a freak. Maybe I did miss out on something. But then, nobody can have everything, right?”
25. 25. Marisa Tomei
Marisa Tomei doesn’t think that either marriage or parenthood is for her. “I'm not that big a fan of marriage as an institution,” she told Manhattan magazine in 2009. “And I don't know why women need to have children to be seen as complete human beings.”
Later, a rumor circulated that she was engaged to her then-boyfriend, actor Logan Marshall-Green. It ultimately turned out that wasn’t true, though.
26. 26. Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah has been in a relationship with choreographer Eboni Nichols since 2013, and the pair now have a son together. But while tabloids have reported before that the two are engaged, no one has ever confirmed this.
Maybe it will happen, and maybe it won’t! In the meantime, all parties involved seem to just be enjoying life just fine.
27. 27. Jon Hamm
In 1997 Jon Hamm got into a long-term relationship with Jennifer Westfeldt, but he didn’t necessarily want to marry her.
He later told Page Six, “We may not have a piece of paper that says we’re husband and wife, but after ten years, Jennifer is more than just a girlfriend. What we have is much deeper, and we both know that.” Alas, they split in 2015 – and Hamm hasn’t wed since.
28. 28. Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter has had a fascinating love life. For one, she was part of a love triangle with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. Branagh met Carter during the production of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Then they dated for five years before she moved on to director Tim Burton. That relationship ran its course, too, and to this day the actress has never tied the knot.
29. 29. Owen Wilson
Owen Wilson has never been married, but his life is probably complicated enough already. He has three young children by three different women: Jade Duell, Caroline Lindqvist, and Varunie Vongsvirates.
And to make things even thornier, Vongsvirates has claimed that Wilson has never even met the daughter he fathered with her. Eek.
30. 30. Winona Ryder
In 2018 Winona Ryder claimed that she and Keanu Reeves got married for real during their wedding scene in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Given that no paperwork was ever filled out, it’s unlikely, but that doesn’t stop Ryder from calling Reeves her “husband!” Since 2011, she’s also been in a relationship with fashion designer Scott Mackinlay Hahn, just to complicate matters.
31. 31. Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu may have never been married, but that didn’t stop her from starting a family of her own. Yup, in 2015 she had a son, Rockwell, via gestational surrogate.
And the following year, she told CBS News, “It doesn’t matter the machinations of how things occur. How you love and parent a child is most important.” Indeed.
32. 32. Condoleezza Rice
In 2011 Piers Morgan quizzed Condoleezza Rice about her personal life – and the former U.S. Secretary of State gave some very revealing answers. Rice said she had “come close” to marriage before, though she wouldn’t confirm how many times. She did, however, tell Morgan why she had never walked down the aisle.
“I just never found anybody that I was going to spend my life with,” she explained. But Rice hasn’t ruled out a wedding altogether just yet!
33. 33. Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo came very close to getting hitched. And we mean close, as in 1927 she apparently left her would-be husband, fellow actor John Gilbert, at the altar.
Years later, in 1955, the Hollywood legend told Time magazine, “If I could find the right person to share my life with, I would. If you are blessed, you are blessed, whether you are single or married.”
34. 34. Naomi Watts
When Naomi Watts first began a relationship with Liev Schreiber, she wasn’t sure if they’d ever get married. In 2009 she told Marie Claire, “It’s not like I’ve grown up having this dream of a fairytale wedding… He and I have a family.
We’re very much together. We just don’t have that certificate, and that’s okay with both of us.” They ultimately split in 2016.
35. 35. Charlize Theron
In 2019 Charlize Theron told Glamour magazine that she couldn’t see herself ever getting married. The actress explained, “I haven’t been in a relationship for a very long time. I never wanted to get married.
Those are things that are not hard for me because they’re innately my truth.” She also said that people found this hard to accept.
36. 36. Leonardo DiCaprio
Good news for all those of you who adore Leonardo DiCaprio: he still isn’t married!
And while he doesn’t talk much about his personal life, it’s well known that he’s dated a string of beautiful models, including Gisele Bündchen. If you’re stunning and young, then, you may still be in with a chance.
37. 37. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah has always been firm on the subject of marriage. In 2020 she even wrote an essay for O magazine about why she’s never wed Stedman Graham. Oprah explained, “I realized I didn’t actually want a marriage.
I wanted to be asked… I didn’t want the sacrifices, the compromises, the day-in-day-out commitment required to make a marriage work.”
38. 38. Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain is considered one of the greatest basketball players ever, although he didn’t spend all his time on the court. Rather shockingly, he once claimed that he’d slept with 20,000 women! Yet the sports legend later admitted that the unmarried playboy lifestyle wasn’t quite all it was cracked up to be.
Before his death in 1999, he told Al Meltzer, “With all of you men out there who think that having a thousand different ladies is pretty cool, I have learned in my life I’ve found out that having one woman a thousand different times is much more satisfying.”
39. 39. Anna Kournikova
Anna Kournikova and Enrique Iglesias have been together for over 20 years and have had kids together — but there are no wedding bells in their future.
As long ago as 2008, Kournikova told People that she was “never getting married,” and she has been good to her word. Not that Iglesias seems particularly bothered. He told Parade in 2012, “I’ve never really thought marriage would make a difference.”
40. 40. Billy Crudup
Billy Crudup’s personal life has been, well, a bit turbulent. Take the time he left a pregnant Mary-Louise Parker to date co-star Claire Danes! Fans were appalled, and that relationship ended up only lasting three years.
He’s now with Naomi Watts, but as yet there’s no talk of marriage. Other celebs have taken the plunge and tied the knot, though, and they’ve done it... with their fans!?
41. 41. Nicolas Cage and Alice Kim
The story of how Alice Kim met Nicolas Cage is the stuff of fairy tales: she was a waitress, he a Hollywood film star.
Apparently, it was a simple phone number swap that led to Kim eventually becoming Cage’s wife in 2004 and, the following year, the mother to his improbably named son Kal-El. Aww.
42. 42. Steve and Marjorie Harvey
Marjorie Bridges was sitting in the audience of one of Steve Harvey’s comedy gigs when he first noticed her – and, apparently, immediately fell in love. “I don’t know who you are but I’m going to marry you,” he said to the fan.
True to his word, Harvey eventually tied the knot with her in 2007, 17 years after their initial Memphis meeting.
43. 43. Corey and Susie Feldman
Susie Feldman apparently once said of ex-husband Corey, “I knew I would marry [him] ever since I saw Stand By Me.” And that’s what ultimately happened in 2002.
Unfortunately, though – and perhaps because the actor was now far from the teen heartthrob he was in that movie – the one-time Playboy pinup filed for divorce in 2009.
44. 44. Christopher Guest and Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis has recalled that she spied a snap of This Is Spinal Tap star Christopher Guest in Rolling Stone and, rather charmingly, instantly decided that she was going to marry him.
A matter of months later, then, and after a little chasing on the actress’ part, she did – and the pair have been wed for over 30 years now.
45. 45. Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth
Reese Witherspoon could, it’s fair to say, have taken her pick of any number of famous young men to be her future husband.
The man she chose, though, was a little less starry – although it’s worth noting that, with Jim Toth being co-head of motion picture talent at her own agency, she picked someone almost guaranteed to already admire her. Indeed, in 2014, three years after the pair had wed, Witherspoon described Toth as her “number one fan.” Sweet.
46. 46. Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa
While Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa’s year-long marriage may now be over, the way in which the couple’s relationship began is still rather lovely. When Khalifa was asked in an interview about his ideal woman, the hip-hop star gave Rose’s name.
What’s more, the model was flattered and told him so on Twitter, with the pair going on to date, marry and have a son together.
47. 47. Danny Bonaduce and Amy Railsback
Erstwhile child actor and reality TV star Danny Bonaduce reportedly met third wife Amy Railsback when she encountered him as a fan in a coffee shop.
And not only did this seemingly inauspicious first meet eventually end in the pair marrying in 2010, but it also gave Railsback a new job: she’s now Bonaduce’s manager.
48. 48. Julia Roberts and Danny Moder
Life somewhat imitated art for Julia Roberts when she met and started dating The Mexican cameraman Danny Moder. After all, at that point she’d already notably played the megastar going out with a normal dude in Notting Hill.
Unlike Hugh Grant’s character in the romcom, though, Moder was already married – a state of affairs that he swiftly resolved before finally wedding his movie star lady in 2002.
49. 49. Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon
Nick Cannon grew up with a poster of Mariah Carey on his wall; she was, he says, his “dream girl” and “the one.”
Dreams therefore became reality for the TV host when he married the Grammy-winning singer in 2008 – although they crumbled in 2014 when the pair separated. Oops.
50. 50. Adam Sandler and Jackie Titone
It’s fair to say that not everyone is a fan of Adam Sandler. At the time she met the movie star, former model Jackie Titone was, though; and, furthermore, she was reportedly head over heels when he offered her a part in his film Big Daddy.
An auspicious move, perhaps, as Sandler and Titone eventually wedded in 2003 and now have two daughters together.
51. 51. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin had a significant crush on Gwyneth Paltrow before he met her, even wryly naming her as his “girlfriend” at one gig.
And sparks evidently flew when the pair eventually set eyes on each other, as they married in 2003. Famously, though, Martin and Paltrow “consciously uncoupled” in 2014.
52. 52. Jessica Alba and Cash Warren
Perhaps the one good thing to come out of 2005’s Fantastic Four was that leading lady Jessica Alba met her husband – lowly production assistant Cash Warren – on set. Warren has quipped that he “got lucky” in winning over the actress.
Certainly, since they married in 2008 and now have two beautiful daughters, it’s clear that he’s not done too badly out of the gig at all.
53. 53. Fergie and Josh Duhamel
In 2004 Josh Duhamel told a magazine that he had a big crush on Fergie not to mention occasional dreams about her.
And when they eventually met, Fergie’s second line to him was the potentially embarrassing “How was I in your dream?” The actor must have saved face somehow, though, as he and the Black Eyed Peas singer wedded in 2009 and now have a son together.
54. 54. Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman
Actor Adam Shulman had a big crush on Anne Hathaway but didn’t want to ask her out as he was afraid that she’d be dating someone else.
An easy assumption to make, sure, but as soon as he found out that she wasn’t, he made his move. And it was a good move at that, for the pair went on to marry in 2012.
55. 55. Victoria and David Beckham
In the ’90s, now-retired soccer player David Beckham admitted to being a Spice Girls fan – or a fan of one of their members in particular. In fact, of the woman once known as Victoria Adams, Beckham told British newspaper The Sun, “She’s my idea of perfection.
I knew that if she wanted me, we would be together forever.” She did want him, as it turned out, and their more than two decades of marriage so far definitely bodes well for the future.
56. 56. Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox Starkey
Despite facing some vicious competition, Maureen Cox managed to bag a Beatle in the form of drummer Ringo Starr.
And while it took time, dedication and attending many Cavern Club shows for Cox to even get Starr to notice her, notice her he eventually did – before, in 1967, going on to tie the knot with her. The couple’s marriage lasted until 1975.
57. 57. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
In 2004 Katie Holmes rather wistfully told Seventeen magazine, “I used to think I was going to marry Tom Cruise.” A mere seven months later, though, and Cruise would leap onto Oprah’s couch proclaiming his love for the former Dawson’s Creek actress.
A lavish wedding took place the year after – although given that it all ended in divorce in 2012, Holmes may now be more careful about what she wishes for.
58. 58. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
It’s hard to imagine Kanye West doing anything as normal as having a crush on someone, but before he reached superstar status he definitely had a crush on Kim Kardashian.
In fact, when his ex, Amber Rose, accused him of exchanging sexy snaps with the reality star, the rapper replied, “I wish.” Proof then that, well, wishes do come true – and the celebrity-courting couple went on to wed in 2014.
59. 59. John Travolta and Kelly Preston
Kelly Preston has claimed that after clapping eyes on a poster for Grease she had “a flash” of knowledge that she was going to get hitched with John Travolta.
“I really knew it and it turned into, ‘I’m going to marry that man,’” the actress said in 2007. Silly? Maybe – but then the couple have been wed for almost a quarter of a century now.
60. 60. Elvis and Priscilla Presley
By now Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s relationship may well have given hope to several generations of love-struck teens. After all, it took a mere chance meeting in Germany for romance to blossom between the young fan and the hip-swinging pop star, even if she was somewhat underage at the time.
The pair, of course, went on to marry when Priscilla was 21, although it was a union that, sadly, lasted less than five years.
61. 61. Elvis and Priscilla Presley
By now Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s relationship may well have given hope to several generations of love-struck teens. After all, it took a mere chance meeting in Germany for romance to blossom between the young fan and the hip-swinging pop star, even if she was somewhat underage at the time.
The pair, of course, went on to marry when Priscilla was 21, although it was a union that, sadly, lasted less than five years.