It’s safe to say that celebrity couples aren’t necessarily known for their long-term relationship success. Be honest — which couple do you know more about: Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries (who were married for 72 days) or Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson (who have been married since 1998)?
YES, the two are completely different — but you get the point. Celebrities can have successful love lives. Look no further than these 15 Hollywood couples, who have all opened up to reveal their best advice on marriage.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
This dream-pairing has been married for more than 20 years. “You can’t expect it to be easy,” Will told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s like our marriage was the most difficult, grueling, excruciating thing that we have ever taken on in our lives. And you know, we’re just not quitters. If there is a secret, I would say it’s that we never went into working in our relationship. We only ever worked on ourselves individually, and then presented ourselves to one another better than we were previously… Really, at the end of the day, it’s just not quitting.”
Jada echoed Will’s sentiment in an Instagram post. “A wise man shared with me yesterday one word responsible for his 24 years of marriage. You know what that word was…forgiveness,” she wrote.
Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar
They weren’t an on-screen couple in I Know What You Did Last Summer, but the film is responsible for Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar meeting back in 1997. Today, they’re married with two children.
“We treat each other with respect, we didn’t just get married because we thought the other was young and hot. I think that sort of crushes relationships a lot. We don’t feel fortunate as much as we feel disciplined in the work. Sacrifice is something that’s required in marriage,” Prinze told Us Weekly. “It’s fun being single, right? You can be selfish. When I was single making movies, I would travel all over the world and I didn’t have to think about anybody else’s feelings. Just my career. So if you’re in that mode, selfishness isn’t bad, it’s good. It’s how careers get made. But marriages require a step back from that and a bit of a sacrifice, and our sacrifice I think is maybe the biggest thing that’s made our marriage work.”
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Beyoncé and Jay-Z
These two have been through a lot — most of which played out very publicly. But just like many regular couples, Beyoncé and Jay have managed to make things work.
“I was independent before I met my husband, and we have such a natural chemistry and a genuine relationship, and it’s based on the things that relationships are supposed to be based on,” Beyoncé told GQ. “I’ve seen, growing up, when a woman or a man in a relationship—it doesn’t matter which one—doesn’t feel confident, they feel a bit trapped. Your self-worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone telling you who you are.”
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi
One of the most famous celebrity couples thrives in-part because they truly know each other.
“When we got married, Portia’s line was, ‘It’s good to be loved, it’s profound to be understood,’ and she understands me because that is the best gift anyone could have ever given me,” DeGeneres once said.
John Legend and Chrissy Teigen
Ask anyone who their relationship goals are, and they’ll likely respond with the names of these two. Their secrets to a great marriage focus on time — spent both together and apart.
“You just have to make time for each other, go on little trips like we did for her birthday and go to dinner just the two of you sometimes,” Legend told E! News. “You still have to have romance time.”
But alone time is necessary, too. “Travel away from each other a lot — that helps,” Teigen also told E! News. “We’re not together 365. It’s nice to be able to really be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I miss you. I miss you so much.’ That works for both of us.”
