Getty ImagesBreakups are brutal, but sometimes, they bring couples that much closer together.
In fact, some of the most beloved pairs in Hollywood once called it quits before becoming our favorite couple goals. From iconic duo Chrissy Teigen and John Legend to lovable royals Prince William and Kate Middleton, happily ever after wasn't so certain for many of today's unbreakable pairs of star-crossed lovers.
"We were both very young...we were both finding ourselves and being different characters," Prince William once shared when recalling his brief split from the Duchess of Cambridge. "It was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up so it was just a bit of space, and it worked out for the better."
And whether the breakup lasts hours, months or even years, a little separation is all it takes to realize they've found their one and only.
Celebrate National Kiss and Make Up Day today with our gallery of celeb sweethearts who parted ways before giving love a second chance.
Ben Affleck & Jennifer Lopez
No one had the resurrection of Bennifer on their bingo card heading into 2021.
But the couple who so splashily dated before calling off their engagement in September 2003 (though they didn't confirm their split until January 2004) had other ideas.
Ben and J.Lo saw their previous commitment and raised it a marriage, tying the knot in Las Vegas on July 16, 2022, and celebrating with a big bash in Georgia a month later.
Reports surfaced in May 2024 that they may not be living happily ever after, but for now their recoupling remains the granddaddy of back-togetherness.
When they saw each other at the 2007 Golden Globes, their "love connection" was palpable, according to Jessica's 7th Heaven costar Beverley Mitchell. "I was like, 'OK, this is happening.'"
After several years together, however, they released a joint statement in March 2011 confirming their mututal decison "to part ways."
But it was clear they still had feelings for each other.
Soon enough, the pair reconciled and tied the knot in October 2012. They welcomed son Silas on April 8, 2015, and his brother Phineas in July 2020.
"We have similar values," Jessica told Marie Claire in 2017. "We believe in loyalty, honesty. We like to have fun. We like a lot of the same things. Also, in the business, we're all very career-oriented, and you have to be a little selfish. I understand that about my peers—about being focused and driven—and if you can find that and someone who shares the same values as you, it's like, 'Score!'"
As reports of an imminent engagement started to make the rounds in the U.K. in early 2007, William broke up with his college sweetheart after four years together.
That June, however, he invited Kate to a costume party at his barracks in Dorset (his first military posting was with the Blues and Royals of the British Army's Household Cavalry) and apparently her sexy nurse outfit was the shot in the arm the future king needed.
A few years later, William proposed with the 12-carat Ceylon sapphire ring that belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana, and the couple's engagement was announced Nov. 16, 2010.
When looking back at their brief split, William said in their first joint interview, "We were both very young. We were both finding ourselves and being different characters. It was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up so it was just a bit of space, and it worked out for the better."
Kate admitted she "wasn't very happy about it" at the time, but ultimately it made her "a stronger person."
The singer and the motocross racer started dating in 2001 after meeting at the Summer X Games. They married in 2006, but two years later ended up taking an 11-month break.
"We were working all the time; there was so much time between our visits," Pink explained their rationale to Redbook. "Carey would see me for five days and be gone for six weeks. We'd try to fix everything in those five days—you just can't do that."
The lusty pair reunited when Pink made Carey a photo album of old cards and pictures, showed him her unsigned divorce papers and wore his favorite pair of lingerie in a hotel suite in Las Vegas.
They welcomed daughter Willow June 2, 2011, and son Jameson Dec. 26, 2016.
Even these two had some ups and downs before taking their vows on Sept. 14, 2013.
After meeting on the set of Legend's "Stereo" music video in 2006, the pair quickly coupled up, but a year later the singer started feeling overwhelmed.
"I was really stressed and busy," he told The Guardian in 2017 of that almost-pivotal time. "I was just like: 'I'd just be happier single right now,' and she was like: 'No.'"
So that was cleared up in the course of a day.
They've since become parents to Luna (April 17, 2016), Miles (May 16, 2018), Esti (Jan. 13, 2023) and Wren (June 19, 2023, via surrogate).
The Real Housewives of Atlanta star had been with Gregg since 1996, but filed for divorce in 2011.
"I always felt like you have to teach people how to treat you and I felt like at that time that Gregg wasn't treating me the way I felt I should be treated," she shared on Uncensored in 2018. "It was me teaching Gregg a lesson."
Gregg clearly got the message, as the pair remarried in 2013, letting the cameras in for I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding, and they were together until his death from cancer in 2021.
The Frozen star and the Armchair Expert host first hit it off at a friend's birthday party in 2007, but within a few months, their relationship took a turn.
"He sat me down and said, 'I can't have this right now. I think you're wonderful, but I am still dating other people.' And then I, like, liquefied and fell to the ground, but I felt incredibly respected that he had the balls to tell me we weren't in the same place," Kristen later told Pop Sugar.
But after only four days, the actress' phone rang with a remorseful Dax begging her to take him back.
They married in 2013, on some day or other, and are parents to daughters Lincoln and Delta.
The Maroon 5 singer dated Behati for almost a year, but in 2013 The Voice judge had seemingly moved on with model Nina Agdal.
But after just a couple of months, Adam was back with Behati and he brought a ring with him.
"Famous last words: "I'll never get married,'" he said on The Tonight Show in October 2013. "You know, I still don't think you have to get married, unless you meet someone that makes you want to marry them. And then you marry them and it's wonderful."
Adam and Behati share daughters Dusty Rose (Sept. 21, 2016), Gio Grace (Feb. 15, 2018) and a son born in 2023 whose name they've yet to disclose.
The very hot-for-each-other All My Children costars briefly cooled off in 1996, but quickly reconnected at a taping of what was then Live With Regis and Kathie Lee.
"It was their Mother's Day special. They were pre-taping 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," Kelly recalled on Betches' Comments by Celebs. "She wanted to meet us, and I think we drove out a new car or pushed out a new pool table or something. She got a present from her kids and we brought it out to her. It all is so connected."
The next day, May 1, 1996, they eloped in Las Vegas and went on to have sons Michael (June 2, 1997) and Joaquin (Feb. 24, 2003) and daughter Lola (June 16, 2001). They also now share a talk show, Live With Kelly and Mark.
The longtime friends met in 2009 when Hailey's dad Stephen Baldwin introduced his daughter to Canadian heartthrob backstage at The Today Show.
Seven years after their first meetup, they went Instagram official, Justin posting a pic of them sharing a kiss. But that only lasted a few months, and they went their separate ways.
In May 2018, however, the model and the "Sorry" singer reunited with a vengeance: They got engaged that July and married in September.
In an interview with The Times UK, Hailey reflected on their surprising trajectory. "I met him when I was really young and he was one of my best friends...at a certain point in time that turned into something else, but that just happens when you're 18, 19," she said. "We went through a long period of time when we weren't friends...We've moved past that."
In May 2024, they revealed Hailey was pregnant with their first child together.
The Breaking In actress and the NBA player made their red carpet debut in July 2010, but by the start of 2013, they needed some time apart.
"It was because of distance and scheduling," Gabrielle 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."
Within a few months, however, the all-star pair had made up, and by the end of the year, Dwyane was ready to bring it on. They got married on Aug. 30, 2014.
The 98 Degrees singer and the TRL host met in 2006 on the set of Nick's music video for his marital-breakup lament "What's Left of Me," with Vanessa playing the role of heartbreaker.
They started dating, but split in June 2009.
"We're trying to figure things out," Nick told Us Weekly. I don't pretend to know what the future holds, but everything's good. Vanessa's a good girl, and I care about her a lot."
They found their way back to each other by October 2009 and married on July 15, 2011. They're parents to sons Camden (September 2012) and Phoenix (December 2016) and daughter Brooklyn (January 2015).
We certainly acknowledge that when some relationships end, they are done!
But after looking at these couples, perhaps there's hope for the newly single pop culture fans wondering if they should give their past romance another try. You just never know what could happen next.
(This story was originally published on August 25, 2018 at 3 a.m. PT.)