Celebrity romances often burn bright and fizzle out fast, thanks to the intensity of trying to maintain love under the relentless spotlight of fame. However, several A-list couples have managed to defy the odds, proving love can withstand the pressures of Hollywood. From whirlwind romances to slow-burning friendships that blossomed into lifelong partnerships, their stories prove that relationships can thrive, even under pressure. Whether it’s Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick’s playful dynamic, or David and Victoria Beckham’s unwavering commitment to family, these couples remind us that lasting love isn’t about perfection — it’s about persistence. Some found love later in life, like Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, while others, like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr., turned their friendship into forever. And then there are the icons — like Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson or Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones — whose love stories have become legendary.
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Denzel and Pauletta Washington on the left smiling and a younger photo of them on the right© Getty
Denzel and Pauletta Washington — 41 years
These lovebirds hold the honour of the longest marriage on this list, with an incredible 41 years together. They first met in 1977 on the set of the TV series Wilma, married in 1983, and welcomed four kids together: John David, Olivia, Katia, and Malcolm.
The two-time Oscar winner has often credited Pauletta as the glue that holds their family together. “You can buy a house, but that doesn’t make it a home,” he told People in 2018. “And not to say a man can’t make a home a home, but my wife has made our house a home, and raised these beautiful kids and protected them and sacrificed for them — she did the heavy lifting.”
They renewed their vows in 1995 in South Africa, and are a shining example of an A-list marriage that has succeeded despite the odds. Pauletta insists there was “no secret” to their successful marriage, only a deep love for each other.
“We work at it. It’s work,” she said. “There are a lot of prayers for strength for staying in a forgiveness mode. But it’s the basic love that we have for each other.”
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Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick smiling with arms around each other on the left and a younger version of them on the right© Getty
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick — 36 years
Kevin and Kyra have found a way to keep the magic alive in their 36-year marriage, despite existing in the public eye for most of their lives. They met on the set of Lemon Sky in 1987, and Kevin pulled out all the stops to impress his crush.
He organised cast dinners hoping Kyra would stop by, even recommending a masseuse to her that happened to work right beside his gym. He conveniently bumped into her there, took her to dinner, and the rest is history. They were married in 1988, and welcomed two children together: Sosie and Travis.
Of course, everyone wants to know their secret to success, especially after mixing work and love. “I joke that the secret to a successful marriage is to not take marriage advice from celebrities,” Kyra playfully told People. “I guess if I had to think too much about [our marriage], that would probably not be a good thing. We just got lucky. I honestly believe that’s the truth.”
However, she did have one gem to share. “That thing people do, ‘If only I had this, if only I had that…’, there has to be some piece of wholeness that is within yourself before you can let somebody love you the way that you need to be loved.”
Even after all these years, their love remains fresh. “When he walks into a room…my heart gets a little fluttery and I think, ‘Oh! He’s so cute. He’s so hot,'” she told Redbook. “That’s literally the first thing I think…He’s still a mystery to me.”
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tom hanks and rita wilson smiling on the left and a younger version of them on the right© Getty
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson — 36 years
This golden couple first crossed paths on the set of Bosom Buddies in 1981 when Tom was still married to his first wife, Samantha Lewes. They stayed good friends for years until reuniting on 1985’s Volunteers following his divorce, and it was then that sparks truly flew.
“Rita and I just looked at each other and — kaboing — that was that,” Tom told GQ. “I asked Rita if it was the real thing for her, and it just couldn’t be denied.” They went public with their romance in 1986, married two years later and went on to welcome sons Chet and Truman.
The Castaway star puts their happy marriage down to a few key elements that aligned at just the right time. “The success of our relationship was a matter of timing, maturity and our willingness to have an intimate connection,” he told Oprah.
“When I married Rita, I thought, ‘This is going to require some change on my part.’ I won’t deny that providence was part of us finding each other, but our relationship isn’t magic — the way it’s shown in movies.”
He added: “In real life, our connection is as concrete as me sitting here. Not that marriage doesn’t come close to being hell in a handbasket sometimes. But we both know that no matter what, we’ll be with each other — and we’ll get through it.”
For Rita, it’s Tom’s humour that has kept the romance alive for so long. “One of the things, when we met, was that we just got along instantly,” she shared on The Kelly Clarkson Show. “First of all, I love a good storyteller. So anybody who could tell a good story, I’m down with that…I love that. He makes me laugh all the time. He’s a great storyteller.”
Together, they’ve built both a personal and professional empire, producing films such as the My Big Fat Greek Wedding trilogy. Their love story is truly a blockbuster.
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Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen smiling together on the left and a younger version of them holding haands on the right© Getty
Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen — 29 years
Ted and Mary’s love story proves that good things come to those who wait. They reconnected later in life and knew instantly that they were meant to be together. The Cheers actor initially auditioned to act opposite Mary in the film Cross Creek in 1982, although he didn’t win the part and they went their separate ways. They found each other again in 1993 on the set of Pontiac Moon, and the timing was perfect for a love story for the ages.
“We met when we were 40 and 45, and we had lived a bit,” Mary told People in 2018. “We met at a time when both of us had stared down some demons within ourselves and that was lucky that we met then.” The pair married in 1995.
They remain besotted, sharing frequent declarations of love that could be taken straight from a romance book. “I want as long as possible in my life with Mary,” Ted said. “I know it will have all of its hard parts but I want to experience love in all those moments.”
Mary echoes his sentiment: “There’s no hollow in my heart where I don’t love him, or where I doubt this love,” she said. “There’s no secret place where I say we weren’t a thousand percent supposed to spend our life together.”
Their secret? Daily appreciation. “He does tell me every single day of my life I’m beautiful, and I do know a lot of women live without that,” Mary shared. “And it does matter, someone just telling you that.”
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Tim McGraw and Faith Hill smiling together on the left waving and a younger version of them holding hands on the right© Getty
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill — 28 years
These superstars are like the royal family of the country music world, with 28 years of marriage under their belts and a beautiful brood of three daughters: Grace, Maggie and Audrey. Tim and Faith first met in 1994 at a Nashville hotel when he was with his girlfriend. “For me, there was an intense physical attraction. I guess my girlfriend saw it in my eyes,” he told Billboard. “She said, ‘I don’t want you around her.'”
They parted ways as friends until she joined his Spontaneous Combustion tour in 1996 as the opening act. Their love story ignited on the road, with Tim proposing on stage, and they married in October of that year. Since then, they’ve toured together three more times on their Soul2Soul tour, in 2000, 2006 and 2017; they’ve also acted alongside each other in the Yellowstone prequel series.
Tim credits Faith with helping to pull him out of the depths of alcoholism and he has now been sober since 2008. “I went straight to my wife and said, ‘This is where I’m at.’ I was scared,” he recalled to Esquire. “She just grabbed me and hugged me and changed my life.”
After nearly three decades, their bond remains unshakable. As to what they’ve learned over their time together, Tim shared: “Love is being angry. Love is not talking for a day. Love is getting in each other’s face. Love is accepting that I’m wrong.”
“Love is a 360-degree thing. It’s not linear. They always say you’re not supposed to fight in front of your kids. Everybody fights in front of their kids. That’s part of the deal.”
On their 2023 anniversary, The ‘Don’t Take the Girl’ singer posted a heartfelt message to Faith: “I fall for you every day, every time you walk into the room, every time I see you in our three beautiful daughter’s smiles,” he wrote on Instagram. “I just keep falling and always will.”
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Sarah Jessica Parker smiling at Matthew Broderick on the left and a younger version of them on the right© Getty
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick — 27 years
These two veteran actors have only ever had eyes for each other, after meeting in 1991 through Sarah’s brothers. For Matthew, it was love at first sight. When asked on WWHL with Andy Cohen when he knew she was the one, he replied: “Oh, the first time I met her. I saw her walking down the street and thought, ‘That’s it.'”
They quickly fell in love, marrying in a surprise ceremony in 1997 and later welcoming their son James, and their twin daughters Marion and Tabitha. Despite their strong bond, Sarah has acknowledged that their marriage hasn’t always been smooth sailing; but it’s their enduring love and friendship that has helped them weather the storms.
“We’ve been together for 20 years and you have good days, you have decent days, and you have bad days. That’s a marriage,” she told The Telegraph. “That’s a relationship. That’s a friendship, even — relationships outside the marriage run the same course.”
“If you’re in it for the long haul, and you want meaningful relationships, you are going to go through lots of different periods.”
Their secret ingredient is to maintain a strong friendship above anything else, and love will follow. “We really are friends beyond everything else, and we talk a lot,” he said on The Meredith Vieira Show. “Keep talking, I guess, I know how cliché that is. Too much silence is definitely not a good idea.”
Sarah also believes in the importance of space. “I know this sounds nuts, but we have lives that allow us to be away and come back together,” she told Girlboss Radio. “His work life takes him here, and mine takes me there. In some ways, I think that’s been enormously beneficial because we have so much to share in a way.”
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Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow with their arms around each other on the left and a younger version of them on the right© Getty
Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow — 27 years
This comedy power couple has mastered the art of blending love and work, with Leslie being a frequent collaborator of the famed director, producer and screenwriter.
The couple met in 1995 when she auditioned for his film, The Cable Guy, and Judd was smitten from the first moment. “There goes the future Mrs Apatow,” Judd told Elle of his initial thoughts after meeting Leslie. “I had a soul connection instantly. I meant it. That’s why I remember it.”
He convinced her to go on a date to a basketball game, and she realised after their night out that they were a perfect fit for each other. They married in 1997 and welcomed daughters Maude and Iris, both of whom have starred in their father’s films alongside Leslie.
Judd shared that they have found the sweet spot of collaborating well together on set and at home, telling People that they “get along much better than one would assume during the creative process,” and always try to understand each other’s perspective. “What makes [our marriage] work is we’re always trying to do better and understand each other. We’re both complicated people, but we want it to work and we love each other,” he said.
While their relationship isn’t perfect, their willingness to love each other trumps any fight they could have. “I’ve been married for 22 years. I have fought in every restaurant in Los Angeles: McDonald’s, In-N-Out Burger, Nobu — you name it,” the Knocked Up director quipped on The View.
“We engage [in fights] and I think that’s why our relationship is healthy. Then you get a call, like, ‘What do you say? We saw you guys [fighting].’ I was, like, ‘Really? Have you been married? Do you know what marriage is?'”
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David and victoria smiling on the left and a younger version of them on the right© Getty
David and Victoria Beckham — 25 years
Football’s royal couple have endured their fair share of highs and lows throughout their 25 years of marriage, yet their love remains steadfast. Posh and Becks first met after a Manchester football match in 1997, although David knew long before that they were destined for each other.
“I was in a hotel room [watching TV] with my best friend, who was my best man at my wedding,” he said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2008, explaining that the Spice Girls had appeared on screen. “I remember turning around — before I’d even met Victoria — and said, ‘I want to marry that one.'”
Their player’s lounge meeting led to hours of talking and an exchange of numbers, and that was all it took for the pair to fall in love.
David and Victoria got engaged in January 1998 and married in July 1999, after welcoming their first child, Brooklyn. They went on to have three more children: Romeo, Cruz, and Harper.
The duo hit a rough patch in the early ’00s when rumours ran rife that David had been unfaithful; however, they managed to push through and work harder on their partnership. “I’m not going to lie. It was a really rough time…David and I got through it together,” the fashion mogul told W magazine.
“No one said marriage was going to be easy. Yes, there have been bumps along the road. But the fact is we’ve come out of everything we’ve been through stronger and happier. It’s even better now than when we were first married. After all these years, we can just come home and have a laugh together.”
They renewed their vows in 2017, and continue to work on their marriage every day. “I think marriage is always about hard work,” David told The Sunday Project. “To have been married for the amount of time that we have, you know it’s always hard work, everybody knows that, but you make it work, you make difficult situations, like travelling away, being away from each other, you make it work.”
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Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones stood next to eachother on the right and a younger version of them on the right© Getty
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones — 24 years
Michael and Catherine have worked tirelessly on their marriage and even spent some time apart, allowing them to come back together stronger than ever. The iconic actor was smitten from the moment he saw his future wife in The Mask of Zorro in 1998, and asked his publicist to set up a date with her.
“I met her in the bar and was a total gentleman,” Michael shared on The Jonathan Ross Show, and asked her, “By chance do you want to come back and have a nightcap?” He was incredibly forward later that night, telling Catherine that he knew he would be the father of her children.
Catherine turned him down and left the country for several months to film in Scotland. Ever the charmer, Michael arranged for a bouquet of roses to be waiting for her at her new destination; this was the push she needed to fall head over heels in love.
The couple married in November 2000, and welcomed their children Dylan and Carys in the following years. They have been through the highest highs, like when Catherine won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Chicago in 2003, and the lowest lows, including Michael’s battle with oral cancer in 2010 and a temporary separation in 2013. However, after some time apart they reconciled and emerged stronger than ever.
“It can’t be a one-way street,” Michael explained on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2015. “But I’m crazy about her. And yeah, I think every couple has their difficult times. The only problem is, as you well know, we’re all in the public eye, and it tends to get a little more exposed than most. We’re back stronger than ever.”
Michael credits their shared industry experience as a key factor in making it easier to understand each other on a deeper level. “We celebrated our 18th anniversary recently,” he shared at a Golden Globes press conference in 2019. “And besides the genuine love that only continues to grow, I think the fact that we’re in the same industry really helps us to understand what is going on.”
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Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. smiling on the left and a younger version of them on the right© Getty
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. — 22 years
These ’90s screen stars are the definition of soulmates, and have managed to keep their romance private over the 22 years they’ve been married. The pair’s story began in 1997 on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer. It was not love at first sight, however they became friends and stayed in contact over the years. It wasn’t until their mutual friend dropped out of dinner plans with them that fate stepped in.
“We were friends for a very long time,” Sarah told People in 2020. “We’d had many dinners before. And we were supposed to go with someone else, and the third person didn’t make it out and we decided to still go.”
“We were just two people at dinner catching up,” she added. “We had a long car ride and a long dinner and things just happened.”
They fell hard and fast after that, with Freddie sharing that he knew she was the one. After starring in Scooby-Doo together in 2002, they tied the knot in September and went on to have kids Charlotte and Rocky.
When asked how they have sustained such a wonderful partnership despite the pitfalls of Hollywood, Sarah insisted that it simply came down to quality time together. “Take the ten minutes — put the phone down. Have a cup of coffee together. Walk the dog at the end of the night. Read a story with your kids,” she said.
“Make the most of the time that you have. We are all pulled in so many directions, so make sure that, whichever one you are focusing on, you’re present.”
Freddie believes their differences are what makes their relationship work. “Sarah and I are so night and day, and it’s why we’ve always been a good couple and had a good relationship, because everything I don’t enjoy she’s really good at, and everything she really doesn’t enjoy I’m really good at,” he said.