Celebrity couples so secretive we forgot they were dating
Hollywood couples are so good at keeping us in the dark, but this new pairing let their guard down on the red carpet.
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For an industry that is constantly under a spotlight, Hollywood is so damn good at keeping us in the dark – especially when it comes to keeping those high-profile romances out of sight and out of mind.
For instance, before newcomers Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan walked the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty earlier this week, we would never have suspected a thing.
Yes, the pair have sparked dating rumours for months, but the singer – who most recently toured Australia with Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour – and the Saltburn star refuse to confirm nor deny their relationship status.
But after their flirty exchange at the Oscars afterparty event when Keoghan couldn’t take his eyes off Carpenter while mere metres from one another on the red carpet, there’s no denying these two are an item.
“Sorry, I’m distracted,” the 31-year-old told photographers as he continued to look at the singer, 24.
Carpenter and Keoghan are not the first Hollywood couple to remain tight-lipped about their romance. Here are other celebrity odd couples who dated so secretively, we forgot they were a thing.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr.
Speaking of the aforementioned Oscars, this year’s Best Supporting Actor winner Robert Downey Jr dated an equally famous star — Sex and the City icon Sarah Jessica Parker.
The pair dated in the ‘80s when they first burst onto the scene, but they split after seven years because of the actor’s drug and alcohol abuse.
“I liked to drink, and I had a drug problem, and that didn’t jibe with Sarah Jessica, because it is the furthest thing from what she is,” the Oppenheimer star told Parade magazine in 2008.
“She tried to help me. She was so miffed when I didn’t get my act together.”
Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock
This year’s Oscars was also massive for Downey’s fellow Best Supporting Actor nominee Ryan Gosling, who was in the running for his role as Ken in the Barbie movie.
But before he was headlining movies on his own, Reynolds was an up-and-comer who dated major movie star Sandra Bullock, who was then 16 years his senior.
The pair’s romance began on the set of their movie Murder by Numbers in 2002 and lasted for one year. However, Bullock, now 59, has left a lasting impact on the star.
“I had two of the greatest girlfriends of all time,” he said in a 2011 interview, referencing his relationships with Bullock and his The Notebook co-star Rachel McAdams, who he dated from 2005 to 2007.
Ryan Reynolds and Alanis Morissette
Another famous Ryan also had a low-key romance with a singing superstar.
Yes, in case you missed it, Ryan Reynolds dated Grammy winner Alanis Morissette.
The unlikely pair met at mutual friend Drew Barrymore’s birthday party in 2002 and went on to date for the seven years – they were even engaged in the three years before their break-up.
The You Oughta Know singer would later reveal she has a habit of staying in relationships longer than she needed to because she was a “love addict”.
“I think it’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Morissette told the Los Angeles Times of her romances, which also included Full House star Dave Coulier.
“I was a full-blown love addict, so it was like, ‘I can’t keep doing this, my body can’t take it.’ For someone who is a love addict, [breakups are] debilitating.”
Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal
We may know about Jake Gyllenhaal’s relationship with Taylor Swift all too well, but his romance with Natalie Portman flew under the radar.
The pair reportedly dated on the down low in 2002 and again in 2006 but remained friends despite the romance fizzling.
But it wasn’t until Gyllenhall honoured the actress with a Desert Palm Achievement Award at the Palm Springs Film Festival in 2011 that fans found out they were an item.
“She’s a vegan, which makes it really frustrating when you’re picking a place to eat,” he joked of his ex onstage.
Tom Cruise and Cher
We wish we could turn back time on this pairing and witness it in real time.
Before he became a Top Gun, Tom Cruise shared a hot and heavy romance with Cher.
The unlikely couple met at Sean Penn and Madonna’s wedding back in 1985 when he was 23 and she was 38 and had already been married and divorced twice at the time.
Their relationship didn’t last either, but Cher still raves about their “deep connection” and calls Cruise one of her “greatest lovers ever”.
“He was in the top five. It’s not a long list, just a good list,” she said in a past episode of Watch What Happens Live.
“It could have been a great big romance, because I was crazy for him.”
Courteney Cox and Michael Keaton
Courteney Cox and Michael Keaton went from lovers to Friends, but the actress has no regrets.
The pair began dating in 1989 after the Friends star told a mutual friend she liked Keaton’s performance in the 1988 film Clean and Sober.
To avoid making headlines, they had their first date at Cox’s house where they “talked for five hours” straight.
“We talked about our dream homes — the great ones we’d seen and the kind we’d like to build ourselves,” she told People in a previous interview.
They would go on to date for six years but split in 1995, one year after Friends premiered. However, to this day, Cox only has love for the Batman star.
“It’s the most important relationship I’ve ever had, and I think he’s the most wonderful person I’ve ever met,” Cox told the magazine.
Originally published as Celebrity couples so secretive we forgot they were dating
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