Hollywood’s Broken Engagements: John Cena and Nikki Bella, More
From Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris to Jesse James and Kat von D, see who else never made it down the aisle
If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. Hollywood has produced many goal-worthy romances through the years, including Chrissy Teigen and John Legend as well as John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, but not all celebrity couples have been as lucky to make their way to the altar.
John Cena and Nikki Bella became WWE’s “It Couple” after going public with their romance in 2012. The twosome got engaged in 2017, but they exclusively confirmed their split to Us Weekly in April 2018. While they reconciled shortly after, Cena and Bella broke up for good that July.
“The one thing I really regret about showcasing the breakup [on my show Total Bellas] is that no one got to hear [John’s] voice, and it just seemed so one-sided,” she told Health magazine in its January/February 2020 issue. “I felt like that wasn’t fair to him because he was on this journey with us from the beginning. What people don’t realize is that John never took one paycheck from Total Bellas. It was beautiful — he was fully there to support me.”
It all worked out in the end for the former flames. In October 2020, the Blockers actor quietly wed girlfriend Shay Shariatzadeh. Meanwhile, Bella got engaged to Dancing With the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev in November 2019, and they welcomed their son, Buddy, in July 2020.
Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson, for their part, began dating in May 2018 after ending their long-term relationships with Mac Miller and Cazzie David, respectively. They got engaged that June, only to call it quits four months later.
In Vogue’s August 2019 cover story, the “Positions” singer called her relationship with the Saturday Night Live star “an amazing distraction,” adding: “It was frivolous and fun and insane and highly unrealistic, and I loved him, and I didn’t know him.”
Davidson has since been linked to Kate Beckinsale, Margaret Qualley and Kaia Gerber. As for Grande, she was briefly linked to Social House singer Mikey Foster before finding love with Los Angeles real estate agent Dalton Gomez in mid-2020.
Unlike Cena and Bella as well as Grande and Davidson, Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler did make it down the aisle despite initially calling off their three-month engagement in 2011. After tying the knot in 2013 and becoming parents to three children, they revealed their separation in April 2020.
Though their divorce battle got off to a rough start, the Very Cavallari alums have worked to establish a good coparenting relationship. “There’s good days and bad days, but I’m feeling really good right now,” the Uncommon James founder told Us in October 2020. “I’m feeling really happy and really free and that’s a nice feeling.”
Scroll down to see which celebrity couples have called off their engagements.
The personal trainer revealed in October 2020 that her engagement to the retired NBA player had ended. “Y’all know I’m honest and transparent so I have to be the first to let you guys know that I am no longer engaged to Lamar,” she wrote via Instagram. “This has been a difficult decision for me to make but it is the best for myself and my children.”
Parr also noted that Odom “has some things that he alone has to work through.”
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The former duo’s whirlwind romance began in May 2018, and they got engaged the following month. They announced that October that they had parted ways.
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The Stalker costars sparked dating rumors in 2014 and got engaged in 2015, but they ended their four-year engagement in 2019.
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After the Alfie costars got engaged in 2004, Law publicly apologized for cheating on Miller with his children’s nanny. Though they ended their engagement in 2006, they reconciled in 2009 before splitting for good in 2011.
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Before secretly marrying Hilarie Burton in October 2019, the Walking Dead actor was gearing up to wed Parker more than a decade earlier. The former pair got engaged in February 2008, but they pumped the brakes on their romance that April.
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Bullock and Donovan began dating and got engaged after filming their 1992 movie, Love Potion No. 9. They split in 1994.
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In addition to Bullock, Aniston is another former costar that Donovan has gotten engaged to. The now-exes, who appeared on her show Friends in the late 1990s, were together for three years before splitting in 1998.
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The St. Elmo’s Fire costars got engaged in 1985 after dating on and off for roughly two years. They set their wedding date for 1986 but ultimately called it quits in 1987 — the same year she married now-ex-husband Bruce Willis, with whom she shares three daughters: Rumor, Scout and Tallulah.
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After meeting in 1990, the former pair dated for five months before getting engaged. Depp even marked his love for Ryder with a tattoo that read, “Winona Forever,” but they split in 1993.
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The Canadian stars got engaged in 2004 after two years of dating, but their split was announced in February 2007. Reynolds went on to marry Blake Lively in 2012, while Morissette wed hip-hop artist Souleye in 2010.
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The A-list movie stars began dating in December 2013 after Penn’s divorce from Robin Wright. Though they got engaged after a year together, they split in June 2015.
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Engaged for more than a year, the pop star and the former CAA agent parted ways in January 2012. "I'll always adore him and we will remain great friends," Spears told Us in a statement. "As this chapter ends for us a new one begins," Trawick added. "I love and cherish her and her boys and we will be close forever."
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After meeting on the set of their 2010 film, The Last Song, Cyrus and Hemsworth began dating before eventually getting engaged in 2012. They would eventually rekindle their romance in 2016 and got re-engaged that October. The duo revealed that they got married in December 2018, but they ultimately called it quits after less than eight months of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in January 2020.
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Breaking the news via Twitter in 2011, the L.A. Ink tattoo artist let the world know she and her fiance called it quits. "I am no longer with Jesse, and out of respect for him, his family and myself, thats all the info I'd like to share. Thanks for respecting that."
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Just five days before their wedding, the model decided not to walk down the aisle with the Playboy founder. “The wedding is off,” Hefner tweeted. “Crystal has had a change of heart.” The two reconciled and tied the knot in December 2012. They were married until the day Hefner died in September 2017.
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After a televised romance and a six-month engagement, the two split. The couple had been in trouble for some time, fighting over everything from his lack of intimacy to her spoiled dog.
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Starting the name morphing trend, the publicity monster that became Bennifer was doomed from the start. Affleck made headlines for visiting a strip club, and three days before they were set to walk down the aisle, the event was called off.
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After a three-month engagement in 2011, the Chicago Bears player changed his mind. Sources close to Cavallari told Us she was "blindsided" by Cutler, who later confirmed the split via Facebook. They later reconciled and got married in June 2013, but they announced their split in April 2020. They share sons Camden and Jaxon as well as a daughter named Saylor.
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After getting engaged New Year's Eve 2008, the Dancing With the Stars celebs called it quits in September. He Twittered, "What was meant to be a 'life long book', turned into a 'chapter'.......and now that 'chapter' is finished."
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The rose wasn't so sweet for Bachelor finalist Rycroft. In March 2009, Us reported that after the single dad gave the final rose — and the 3.1-carat Neil Lane ring — to the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader in the finale, he shocked audiences by breaking things off six weeks later in a taped special. He decided to take another stab at his relationship with rejected finalist Molly Malaney.
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Wahler called off his engagement from the 21-year-old in February 2009. "I have decided to end my engagement, and it's an amicable split," the former Hills star, 22, told Us. Wahler — who has also dated Lauren Conrad — says they're still good friends: "We agreed we are both just too young to be considering getting married right now."
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In January 2009, the Ghost Whisperer star pulled the plug on her wedding to the Scottish actor — even after she'd bought a wedding dress, and set a date and location for her spring 2009 destination wedding. "We are working it out," McCall said of their drama-filled engagement. "We are both still wearing our rings."
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The couple ended their relationship on Aug. 26, 2008 after a two-year engagement. The couple, who dated for five years beginning in 1992, had rekindled their romance after Sheridan's split from fiance Nicklas Soderblom in 2005. "For me there's only been one person, and that's Michael," she had said.
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A source close to the couple — who split in April 2008 after they had been dating since 2002 — told Us that Kanye "just couldn't keep it going — they are still friends and have broken up and gotten back together before, so it could work out." West had proposed to Phifer in 2006 while vacationing in Italy and had said he wanted to honor his late mother's wishes to make the relationship official.
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The couple got engaged in the Bachelor's 15th season, but after postponing the wedding date, Maynard decided Brad wasn't the one. "Right now I just want to focus on being a mom and not have to worry about ... not knowing who to trust," she said.
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He might be married to Mariah Carey now, but less than two years ago, Cannon popped the question to the Victoria's Secret model in the middle of NYC's Times Square — with the help of a jumbotron. Five months later, in October 2007, they split to focus on their careers.
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The cute couple were engaged in 2003 after three years together. Two years later, they broke off their engagement. Holmes didn't stay heartbroken for long: eight weeks later she was engaged to current husband, Tom Cruise.
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After three years together (six months of which they were engaged), the couple announced their split. "We were up against her biological clock — that pressure is what cracked it," Armstrong later said. But Crow didn't need him: she adopted a son in 2007 and another in 2010.
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The House costars called off their engagement with a joint statement on August 15, 2007, that said, "we are still very close, and we look forward to continuing to work together." Spencer, who proposed to Morrison over the holidays at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, had said it had taken him six months to ask Morrison to marry him.
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The couple met on the set of their movie Seven and seemed like the perfect Hollywood couple. But after nearly three years together (and a six-month engagement) they split. Paltrow later told Barbara Walters that she couldn't believe he went out with her when she was, "such a mess."
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The Scandal star ended her engagement with the actor in 2007 after dating for four years.
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Us broke the news in October 2003 that the stars were planning to tie the knot. Years later, the actress would finally go public with the truth during an interview with The Edit. “Well, I knew Zoë [Kravitz] because I was engaged to her father,” she said of her Big Little Lies costar in February 2017. “It’s all in the family! I love Lenny; he’s a great guy.”
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The exes ended their 11-year relationship in November 2011. "For years he wasn't ready [for parenthood]. Then when he got ready, I didn't have time. I never held anything off because I was waiting for something to kick in. I don't think that far about tomorrow," she said during Lifetime's The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet the following year. "I felt the urge to want to have a baby, and I wanted to, but I remember that respecting his decision — and making the decision to wait with him — was one of the most mature things." Saldana would go on to have three sons with Italian artist Marco Perego, whom she married in June 2013.
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The Glee alum and rapper announced their split in April 2014 six months after getting engaged. "After careful thought and much consideration, Sean has made the difficult decision to call the wedding off," his rep told Us at the time. "Sean wishes Naya nothing but the best and it is still his hope that they can continue to work through their issues privately. We will not be commenting again on this matter."
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Us exclusively confirmed in November 2014 that the pair called it quits. "She got swept up in the engagement last Christmas, but then their schedules got crazy and she realized it wasn't the right decision," an insider said. Their 14-year age difference didn't help matters either. Another source added: "The gap just ended up being too much. Ben was kind of immature. She couldn't deal with him anymore." He’d go on to marry Laura Prepon in June 2018.
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The Vampire Diaries alum exclusively revealed to Us in May 2018 that he and the model had split four months after he popped the question. “Actually, we called it off,” he said at the Voices In Displacement Gala. “But yeah, it’s just the way it was. It happened.”
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The WWE stars exclusively confirmed to Us in April 2018 that they ended their six-year relationship just days before they were set to tie the knot. Us confirmed they reconciled one month later, but they called it quits for good in July 2018. Bella went on to get engaged in November 2019 to Artem Chigvintsev, with whom she welcomed a child in July 2020, while Cena married Shay Shariatzadeh in October 2020.
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About nine months after getting engaged in March 2018, the Destiny's Child singer and her pastor fiancé split and called off their engagement. “I still remain fearless. I guess I still remain single! Things didn’t work out,” the musician wrote on her Instagram Story in December 2018. “The healing that needs to take place is a must! I don’t wanna destroy another relationship. Blessings to him, his family and ministry. #FEARLESS.”
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