10 unlikely celebrity couples you didn’t know dated: from Kim Kardashian and Nick Cannon to Lenny Kravitz and Nicole Kidman, Madonna and Tupac Shakur – but which fellow pop star did Taylor Swift date?

Apr 23 , 2024

Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock once dated, as did Nick Cannon and Kim Kardashian. Photos: Instagram

Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow were a world famous power couple for more than 10 years, but did you know that Jennifer Lawrence was the Coldplay singer’s rebound?

Bridget Jones’ Diary star Renée Zellweger secretly dated Bradley Cooper, and Nicole Kidman only let slip that she was engaged to Lenny Kravitz 12 years after the fact

Keeping up with Leonardo DiCaprio’s love life is a full time job, and we’ve lost count of the number of times that J. Lo’s been married. But then there are the couples who seem timeless; the ones who are burned into our brains whether they lasted or not – the Kims and the Kanyes, the Nicole Kidmans and Tom Cruises. So with hindsight and a little more context, realising they dated other people either side of their big relationships can seem a little mind-blowing.

Here are 10 of our favourite celebrity couples you either had no idea existed, or had completely forgotten about …

1. Matthew McConaughey and Janet Jackson

Matthew McConaughey and Janet Jackson did go out to dinner together, but that seemed to have been the extent of it. Photo: @boshbabexoxo/Instagram

This unlikely pair first hit it off at the 2002 Grammys. However, both acted coy when asked whether they were dating at the time. McConaughey later told Andy Cohen that the pair went out for dinner and “that was sorta it”, while Jackson told The Telegraph in 2006: “I guess we did [date] … It was just for a minute, that’s why I’m so hesitant to mention it”.

2. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Gosling

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Gosling may seem like an unlikely pairing, but the two dated for a year. Photo: @ryangoslingarmy/Instagram

The first thing you’d be right to notice about Miss Congeniality and Ken is their age difference. Yep, Gosling is 16 years younger, but the cute pair met on the set of Murder by Numbers, per Buzzfeed, and dated for about a year.

3. Chris Martin and Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence dated Chris Martin after the Coldplay vocalist split from Gwyneth Paltrow. Photos: Instagram

After the Coldplay frontman “consciously uncoupled” from his wife of 10 years, Gwyneth Paltrow, in 2014, he dated JLaw for four months. Per People, they broke up but then rekindled the romance in early 2015 where they were seen at Harry Styles’ birthday party together. In the end, Martin decided to put family first, according to People, and Lawrence got tired of him being “non-committal”.