Eddie Murphy and Paige Butcher – 18 Years
Love can occur in the most unlikely of places. For celebrities whose love lives are under intense scrutiny, they often face backlash when they go public about who they are romantically involved with. This happens even more so when one member of the couple is significantly older than the other.
Often called May-December romances, some of entertainment’s biggest stars have opted for relationships like these, deciding to let their heart lead the way. As these couples blossom along the red carpet, their massive age differences have become the spectacle of awe and wonder among fans. Take a look at some of the largest age gaps amongst celebrity couples.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds – 11 Years
Comedian and actor Eddie Murphy, 62, has had a legendary Hollywood career. His romantic life has been nearly as famous as his acting work. He has fathered ten children with several different women.
His roller coaster love life found stability upon meeting Australian actress and model Paige Butcher, 44, in 2012. They’ve been in an extended engagement since 2018 and bonded together over their love of sports, love of family, and humanitarian efforts.
Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet – 12 Years
Sparks flew when the Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds, 47, and Blake Lively, 36, met while filming Green Lantern back in 2011. Reynolds and Lively officially started dating a year later and married in 2012.
This happily married couple has an age difference of 11 years and has three daughters together, James, Ines, and Betty. With Reynolds’ frequent jests about being a husband and father famously beloved by the internet, their age gap has barely been noticed.
George and Amal Clooney – 17 Years
The Aquaman actor Jason Momoa, 44, and The Cosby Show star Lisa Bonet, 56, proved that age doesn’t really matter. Momoa and Bonet met back in 2005 at a New York City jazz club.
While dating, Momoa and Bonet welcomed two children, Lola and Nakoa, before tying the knot in October 2017. They were for 17 years before they announced their separation in January 2022.
Dennis Quaid and Laura Savoie – 39 Years
George Clooney, 62, recognized as one of the most desirable bachelors in Hollywood, became a dashingly married man when he married human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, 46, back in 2014, with an age gap of 17 years.
They both met at a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend the year before, leading to a well-founded romance beloved by celebrities. They welcomed twins, Ella and Alexander, back in June of 2017.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Jason Statham – 19 Years
Actor Dennis Quaid, 69, got engaged to Ph.D. student Laura Savoie, 31, in 2019 and the two got married a year later in Hawaii. Quaid is 39 years her senior and has publicly said about his new wife, “I just love who she is as a person.”
Together, the couple currently cares for three children named Jack, Zoe, Thomas from Quaid’s previous marriages. This makes it Quaid’s fourth time down the aisle.
Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz – 17 Years
The tough antihero actor Jason Statham, 56, and Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 36, became a powerhouse couple with their looks and talent. Huntingon-Whiteley got mainstream attention after essentially replacing Megan Fox in the third Transformers film.
While the pairing’s age difference takes some by surprise, the two have been together since 2010. They are not officially married but are parents to a son named Jack.
Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster – 26 Years
Model and America’s Got Talent judge Heidi Klum, 50, found love with Tokio Hotel musician Tom Kaulitz, 34, after two failed marriages. They started dating back in 2018 and got married a year later.
Through this marriage, Kaulitz ultimately became the stepdad of four children. Klum has two daughters, Leni and Lou, and two sons, Johan and Henry, from her previous marriage to singer Seal.
Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey – 12 Years
Rockstar and singer Rod Stewart, 79, met model Penny Lancaster, 52, in 1999 at an autograph signing. After inviting Lancaster to a concert with him a night later, they’ve been a couple ever since.
The couple married in 2007 and gave birth to two sons, Alastair in 2005 and Aiden in 2011. They both co-parent Stewart’s six other children from his previous marriages.
Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness – 12 Years
Oscar winner and actor Matthew McConaughey, 54, met model and designer Camila Alves, 41, in 2006. Falling in love, he proposed to Alves in Christmas 2011, and they tied the knot in June 2012.
With a 12-year age difference, the couple has since had three children together, two sons named Levi and Livingston, and a daughter named Vida.
Alec and Hilaria Baldwin – 26 Years
Hugh Jackman, 55, and Deborra-Lee Furness, 68, have been married since 1996. After meeting during the filming of the Australian show Correlli a year before, Jackman was smitten with Furness at the start of his acting career.
Since then, they’ve adopted two children, Oscar and Ava. They were in a relationship for over 27 years before they announced their separation in September 2023.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z – 10 Years
After his divorce from Kim Basinger more than a decade ago, Alec Baldwin, 65, fell in love with his yoga instructor, Hilaria Thomas, 40. The couple ended up getting married in 2012.
Since then, the Baldwin family has expanded to over five children across seven years, with four children of their own and one from Baldwin’s first marriage.
Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart – 23 Years
Infamous for their music careers, both Beyonce, 42, and Jay-Z, 54, first started dating back in 2001 before walking down the aisle back in April 2008. Together, they had Blue Ivy Carter in 2012 and twins Rumi and Sir in 2017.
As the music industry’s strongest couple, they’re often seen as proof that age differences can work, and thus having a marriage work for over a decade.
Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson – 32 Years
It was at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards, when Harrison Ford, 81, first met Calista Flockhart, 59. At the time, Ford was married to Melissa Mathison, his second wife, but it seems that he never forgot that encounter with Flockhart.
After the divorce from Mathison, he popped the question on Valentine’s Day to the Ally McBeal actress in 2009. They got married a year later and adopted their son, Liam, and have been successful since.
Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith – 11 Years
Not minding the 32-year age gap, American Horror Story actress Sarah Paulson, 49, and Holland Taylor, 81, have been dating since 2015. They originally met at a party back in 2005 when Holland Taylor was dating Cherry Jones.
After Paulson confirmed their relationship in an interview with the New York Times a year later, they’ve been a happy couple since and are still growing strong.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton – 16 Years
James Bond actor Pierce Brosman, 70, found love again by meeting journalist Keely Shaye Smith, 60, while at a party in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 1994. After losing his first wife, Cassandra Harris to cancer in 1991, the sparks between Smith and Brosnan flew instantly.
The Irish-American actor and Smith tied the knot back in 2001, making their marriage one of the longer ones in Hollywood. They have two children together, Paris and Dylan.
Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger – 10 Years
The Walking Dead villain Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 57, had been dating One Tree Hill actress Hilarie Burton, 41, since 2009. After Burton divorced her husband that year, the couple referred to each other as husband and wife even before their marriage.
They made it official in 2019, even after spending ten years together and bringing two children into the world, boys Gus and George.
Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed – 9 Years
The infamous Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy Chris Pratt, 44, found love again through meeting Katherine Schwarzenegger, 34, daughter of the Terminator and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This new love bloomed after Pratt split from Mom actress Anna Faris in 2018. Chris and Kathrine got married in 2019 and had a daughter, Lyla Maria, in August 2020.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Camila Morrone – 22 Years
The ageless Vampire Diaries actor Ian Somerhalder, 45, decided that age was just a number when he started his relationship with the famous Twilight vampire, Nikki Reed, 35, in 2014.
While playing vampires from different storylines, these two actors officially got married in 2015 and welcomed their daughter Bodhi Soleli in 2017.
Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo – 9 Years
Leonardo DiCaprio and Camila Morrone were first linked together in January 2018 during an outing in Aspen, Colorado. But it wasn’t until February 2020 when they publicly appeared together as a couple for the first time when they sat together at the Oscars.
E! News reported that DiCaprio’s been enjoying domestic life with Morrone, and their relationship appeared to be “pretty serious.” The couple spent a lot of time during the pandemic lockdown. But after more than 4 years together, the couple split in October 2022. DiCaprio was 47 and Morrone was 25.
Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra – 10 Years
Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine, 44, a bachelor for a long time, decided to shift to a life of romance and fatherhood when he met and married Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo, 35, in 2014.
The singer, who was a judge on The Voice, but stepped away for a few seasons, and the Namibian beauty have since welcomed two children to the world, Dusty Rose in 2016 and Gio Grace in 2018.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi – 15 Years
News of Nick Jonas’ and actress Priyanka Chopra being an item broke in 2017 after a public appearance together. The former Jonas brother, 31, and Chopra, 41, ended up getting married a year later. They even had two wedding ceremonies to commemorate their love.
They originally met when they noticed they were both wearing Ralph Lauren at the Met Gala in 2016, according to an interview with Jimmy Kimmel.
Hayley Roberts and David Hasselhoff – 27 Years
Talk-show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, 66, met model, actress, and businesswoman Portia de Rossi, 51, back in 2004. DeGeneres and Rossi got married in 2008 after the same-sex marriage ban in California was overturned.
The pair has been going strong since, even as DeGeneres is 15 years Rossi’s senior, and it doesn’t faze them in the slightest.
Daryl Hannah and Neil Young – 15 Years
Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, 71, had worries about the age gaps when he began dating model Hayley Roberts, 44. Roberts saw Hasselhoff filming auditions as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent and asked the Knight Rider actor for a picture. Hasselhoff obliged but only on the condition that she give him her number.
Since that eventful meeting in 2012, they have been together and they officially tied the knot in 2018. Roberts became the stepmom of two children, Hayley and Taylor.
Amber Tamblyn and David Cross – 19 Years
Originally dating back in 2014, the Splash mermaid Daryl Hannah, 63, and musician Neil Young, 78, got married in 2014. They even had two separate ceremonies for the occasion, one on Young’s yacht and the other in California.
With so much love between them, Young confirmed the news through a video online, asking fans to refer to Hannah as his wife.
Matt Bomer and Simon Halls – 14 Years
David Cross is a standup comedian, director, and actor, and creator of a beloved sketch show with Bob Odenkirk in the ’90s called Mr. Show. Cross, 59, got married to Amber Tamblyn, 40, an actress best known for a brief CBS series called Joan of Arcadia. The two wed in 2012.
The couple officially had their first child, Marlow, back in 2017, and even despite creating a 19-year age gap between them, they’ve been able to make it work.
Elton John and David Furnish – 16 Years
Actor Matt Bomer, 46, achieved TV success with the show White Collar, but behind the scenes kept a marriage to publicist Simon Halls, 60, under wraps for over three years until the year 2014.
Since being married in 2011, the couple have three boys together, who were born via surrogacy.
David Foster and Katharine McPhee – 34 Years
English legendary musician Sir Elton John, 76, has had a long-term relationship with David Furnish, 61, after they met at one of John’s dinner parties back in 1993.
After hitting it off, they officially married in 2014 when same-sex marriage became legal in the UK. Since then, John and Furnish have welcomed two children into their lives.
William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman – 13 Years
Through a love of music, American Idol competitor Katharine McPhee, now 39, met producer and singer David Foster,74, back in 2000. It wasn’t until she was 33 that the two began dating in 2017.
By 2019, the couple got married. Foster was previously married four times, and McPhee married once before the pair ended up getting together.
Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin – 13 Years
Shameless actor William H Macy, 73, and Desperate Housewives actress Felicity Huffman, 61, were together on and off for at least 15 years before officially getting married in 1997.
They have been married for over 23 years, and the Fargo actor supported his wife during the recent college admissions scandal. Macy and Huffman have two daughters, who are ages 19 and 21 respectively.
Emilie Livingston and Jeff Goldblum – 30 Years
Through bonding on the set of True Blood costars Stephen Moyer, 54, and Anna Paquin, 41, found love despite the 13-year difference. True Blood was one of HBO’s most popular s shows and it ran from 2008 to 2014.
After getting married in 2010, the couple has been going strong, having twins Poppy and Charlie in 2012. Moyer also has two children, Billy and Lilac, from a previous marriage.
Viola Davis and Julius Tennon – 12 Years
Jurassic Park and Independence Day star Jeff Goldblum, 68, found love and married Canadian Olympic athlete, Emilie Livingston, 38, back in 2014.
Both successful in their own careers, Goldblum, still a working actor, and Livingston, a retired gymnast, have two sons together, named Charlie Ocean and River, who are ages 5, and 4.
Olivier Sarkozy and Mary-Kate Olsen – 17 Years
Viola Davis, 55, who holds the title of first African-American and youngest actress to receive the “Triple Crown of Acting” award, met and married actor and producer Julius Tennon, 67, back in 2003. Tennon had overheard Davis mention how she doesn’t know anyone and decided to give her his card.
In 2011, they adopted a daughter, Genesis. They are also raising two other children who Tennon has from one of his previous two marriages.
Annette Bening and Warren Beatty – 21 Years
Mary-Kate Olsen, one of the iconic Olsen twins, became a child star from the hit ’90s show Full House. Olsen, 35, had been dating French banker Olivier Sarkozy, 52, for two years before announcing their engagement to the public in 2014.
A year later, they had a small marriage ceremony at their private home in New York City. Sarkozy is the half-brother of Nicolas Sarkozy, the former President of France.
Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson – 23 Years
Warren Beatty and Annette Bening are Hollywood icons. Together, they have careers spanning over six decades. Beatty, 84, originally met Bening, 63, back when Bening expressed interest in appearing in the film 1991 Bugsy, which the two of them ended up starring in.
Less than a month before the release of the film, Bening gave birth to the first of four children. They ended up getting married in 1992 and have been one of the longest lasting Hollywood couples ever since.
Bob Saget and Kelly Rizzo – 23 Years
Aaron Johnson, who starred as the character Quicksilver in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron actor, 31, met Sam Taylor Wood, 54, while on the set of Nowhere Boy in 2009. While only 18 at the time, they were engaged a month after meeting.
They married in 2012 and changed both their surnames to Taylor-Johnson. Together, the couple has two daughters, Wylde Rae and Romy Hero. Sam also has two daughters from a previous marriage.
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones – 25 Years
Comedian and actor Bob Saget, whose standup act is very different than his role of Danny Tanner on Full House, 65, married TV show host and actress Kelly Rizzo, 42, in 2018. Saget was previously married to Sherri Kramer for 15 years before calling it quits in 1997. He and Kramer have three daughters together.
Saget, the Chicago native, and Rizzo ended up meeting each other through a friend in back in 2015. Now, they love traveling together as husband and wife.
Dane Cook and Kelsi Taylor – 27 Years
Michael Douglas’ relationship with Catherine Zeta-Jones was not his first rodeo with large age gaps. When he was 32, he first married Diandra Luker, who was 19 at the time. Douglas’ famously saw the Zeta-Jones in The Mask of Zorro, wanted to meet her, and they were married in 2000 after just a year of dating
Despite the 25 year difference, Michael Douglas, 76, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, 51, both share the same birthday of September 25. They have two sons together, Dylan and Carys.
Sean Penn and Leila George – 31 Years
Standup comedian and film actor Dane Cook, 49, found his love and announced his relationship with musician and actress Kelsi Taylor, 22, in 2018. They both met at a game night hosted by Cook, and since then, were inseparable.
Cook was one of the biggest comedians in the world when he became one of the first to take advantage of social media to build a fanbase, interacting with fans on MySpace.
Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union – 9 Years
Actor and political activist Sean Penn, 60, got married to actress Leila George, 29, in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Their wedding reception had only close friends and family present during the ceremony.
The couple had been romantically-linked since 2016, and after two failed marriages, one to actress Robin Wright and the other to music legend Madonna, the pandemic strengthened their connection.
Marques Houston and Miya Dickey – 20 Years
Former professional basketball player Dwyane Wade, 39, got married to actress and voice artist Gabrielle Union, 48, back in 2014. Together, they are raising three children, two from Dwyane’s previous relationship and one child together.
The former Miami Heat player met Union at a SuperBowl party in 2007. They didn’t end up going public with their relationship until 2009.
Lady Kitty Spencer and Michael Lewis – 32 Years
R&B singer and songwriter Marques Houston, 39, married Miya Dickey, 19, in a small, private ceremony in 2020 much like most people who tied the knot during the pandemic.
They first met during a Jehovah’s Witness’ convention in 2018 and got engaged one year later. The singer and Sister, Sister actor was criticized for marrying someone half his age, but the two seem to currently have a happy life together as newlyweds.
Josh Duhamel and Audra Mari – 21 Years
British fashion model and aristocrat Lady Kitty Spencer, 30, got engaged to businessman and fashion tycoon Michael Lewis, 62, in 2020, and ended up getting hitched in the summer of 2021.
Both coming from pretty high society, Michael Lewis has a net worth of £80 million, and Lady Kitty Spencer is the niece of Princess Diana of Wales. They have been together since 2018, though little is known about how the pair met, though they were introduced by former British Secretary of State For Defence Liam Fox.
Madonna and Ahlamalik Williams – 26 Years
Actor and fashion model Josh Duhamel, 48, recently found new-founded love through meeting and dating model and beauty pageant holder Audra Mari, 27.
Duhamel previously had a relationship with Black Eyed Peas’ singer Fergie, but after separating in 2017, and officially divorcing in 2019, Duhamel met the former Miss World contestant in October of 2019 and have been a couple ever since.
Helena Bonham Carter and Rye Dag Holmboe – 22 Years
Singer and actress Madonna, 63, has always made headlines in much of what she does, and her romantic life is no different. She was formerly married to Hollywood actor Sean Penn and director Guy Ritchie, and was dating basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman in the 1990s. She started dating Ahlamalik Williams, 27, in 2019.
They announced their relationship status when they went on a private island vacation in 2020. As for Williams, he is known to be an excellent dancer with a social media following of over 80,000 followers.
Steven Tyler and Aimee Preston – 39 Years
Helena Bonham Carter, 55, was previously married for 13 years to Hollywood director Tim Burton before they divorced in 2014. She was also married to actor and director Kenneth Branagh from 1994 to 1999.
She began a relationship with Norwegian writer and art historian Rye Dag Holmboe, 33. Carter and Holmboe met at a wedding in 2018 and while he is 21 years her junior, Carter has compared the relationship to her character on The Crown, Princess Margaret, who was in a relationship with Roddy Llewellyn, a man 17 years younger than her.
Patrick Stewart and Sunny Ozell – 39 Years
Legendary Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has been in a relationship with Aimee Preston since 2014. Preston met Tyler at first by working as his personal assistant for the company Marble Bag Production in 2012.
The two have made quite the headlines as Tyler, 73, is nearly 40 years older than Preston, 34. Preston is actually over 10 years younger than Liv Tyler, the Dream On singer’s famous actress of a daughter.
Arlene Silver and Dick Van Dyke – 46 Years
Sir Patrick Stewart, 81, has been married to singer and songwriter Sunny Ozell, 42, since 2013, and despite their 38 year age gap, they seem perfectly happy.
The singer met the famous Star Trek captain while Ozell was waiting tables at a restaurant. Through various meetings during performances of the play Macbeth, the romance blossomed from there.
Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer – 15 Years
With a career spanning over seven decades, actor Dick Van Dyke, 95, married Arlene Silver, 49, in February of 2012. Van Dyke has called wedding Silver “one of the smartest moves I ever made.”
Having met at the SAG awards in 2006, Silver met Dyke while applying his stage makeup at the event. Silver and Dyke dated for about a year before they got married.
Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender -12 Years
Meeting in 2008, British fantasy author Neil Gaiman, 60, and Dresden Dolls singer Amanda Palmer, 45, got married in 2011. The two both have successful careers in their own right.
They have one child, Anthony, who was born in 2015. They originally met while Palmer asked Gaiman to write stories to accompany photographs of her as a corpse.
The King and Queen of Bhutan – 11 Years
Actor Michael Fassbender, 43, began dating actress Alicia Vikander, 31, back in 2014 after meeting on the set of The Light Between Oceans. In that time, Fassbender has been one of the most popular leading men in Hollywood.
The couple kept the beginnings of their relationship secret until they were discovered at their incognito wedding in Ibiza in 2017.
Emma Heming Willis and Bruce Willis – 23 Years
This story seems like something that doesn’t happen in real life. Among the Bhutan royalty, King Jigme Wangchuck, 40, originally met commoner Jetsun Pema, 29, when she was seven years old at a picnic.
At the picnic, Pema confessed her love innocently to the Prince. After catching the Prince’s heart, he promised to marry her when she was older. They then married in 2011 and gave birth to a son in 2016.
Princess Charlene and Prince Albert – 20 Years
Before finding love again, actor Bruce Willis, 66, was married to actress Demi Moore until the year 2000. The Die Hard star then married model and actress Emma Heming Willing, 43, in 2009.
With this marriage, Willing is also the stepmom to Willis’s three daughters from his previous relationship. They also have two daughters together, Mabel and Evelyn.
Guy Ritchie and Jacqui Ainsley – 13 Years
Meeting at a swimming competition in 2000, Princess Charlene, 43, and Prince Albert II of Monaco, 63, dated for ten years before getting engaged in 2011.
That same year, the couple got married at a royal wedding. As the bride, Princess Charlene wore a Giorgio Armani gown on their wedding day.
Alexis Roderick and Billy Joel – 33 Years
Film director Guy Ritchie, 52, found love and married model and actress Jacqui Ainsley, 39, in the summer of 2015. He was previously married to singer Madonna, but the two ended their relationship in 2008.
Between the couple, they are raising five children.. The couple have had three children together and co-parented Richie’s two children from his previous marriage.
Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green – 13 Years
Musician and composer Billy Joel, 72, met former Morgan Stanley executive Alexis Roderick, 39, in 2009. Joel was married three times before, most famously to model Christie Brinkley.
Joel and Stanley originally met at a restaurant in Huntington, California and they ended up getting married in 2015 at Joel’s Long Island estate. They have two daughters together, named Della and Remy.
Before starting a very steamy relationship with rocker Machine Gun Kelly in 2020, actress Megan Fox was married to Brian Austin Green. Fox, 35, originally met Green, 48, back in 2004 on the set of Hope and Faith when she was just 18 and he was 30.
They got engaged in 2006, reportedly split three years later, and then got back together and married in 2010. They have three sons together, Noah Shannon, age eight, Bodhi Ransom, age seven, and Journey River, age five.