Is Celebrity Divorce More Common?
According to The Marriage Foundation, an organization in the United Kingdom, celebrity divorce rates are double the current UK divorce rates. The foundation looked at 488 celebrity marriages between 2001 and 2010. Fifty percent of the marriages ended in divorce, compared to the UK divorce rate of 25% for the same period.
In the United States, the current divorce rate is 2.9 per 1,000 marriages. However, some experts estimate that couples in the United States have a 39 percent chance of divorce. In both cases, the rate of divorce for “normal” couples is much lower than the rate of divorce for celebrity couples.
Why Do Celebrity Couples Divorce?
Each marriage is different. The individuals are unique. Therefore, it is impossible to predict why a couple might break up.
However, there are specific characteristics of a celebrity marriage that are generally not an issue in a typical marriage. Some of these characteristics could be factors in the high rate of divorce for celebrities.
Potential factors that increase the chance of a divorce for a celebrity couple include:
Conflicting Schedules
Entertainers topped the list of jobs that seem to have a high risk of divorce. If you look at the other professions on this list, the ones that share this common factor all have demanding or extreme schedules.
Celebrity couples generally have hectic schedules. When both partners work, they may spend weeks or months apart. Even if they are not apart, other demands on their schedules, such as public engagements, photoshoots, meetings, interviews, and other engagements, may leave no time to work on personal relationships.
The time apart can harm their relationship. Also, the time apart can intensify some of the other factors that can lead to celebrity divorce.
Opportunities for Infidelity
There can be a lot of temptation to cheat on your spouse in Hollywood. Working closely, sometimes intimately, with attractive, charismatic individuals for months can lead to attraction. When you spend weeks away from your spouse, attraction can lead to infidelity.
Even when infidelity is not an issue, the mere thought of infidelity can lead to marital problems. The spouse left at home can feel insecure, jealous, and vulnerable. The fact that rumors about co-stars circulate on social media and online does not help the situations.
Financial Independence
Many couples do not divorce because divorce is expensive. Also, spouses rely on each other for financial support. A one-income household can be difficult to maintain.
However, celebrities are often financially independent. They have the funds and resources to make it on their own, whereas most couples fear losing their home or being evicted if they leave their spouse.
Public Scrutiny
Some celebrities have succeeded in keeping their private lives private. However, that is generally not the case. Most celebrities are used to having their entire lives published for public consumption.
It can be challenging for two A-listers to maintain a marriage under intense public scrutiny. Or, when an A-lister marries someone who is not as famous, the scrutiny can be unbearable (think of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes).
Being followed every time you leave your house by photographers and having every detail of your life published online can create tension in a marriage. For some people, the pressure can become too much.
Rushing Into Marriage
Some celebrity couples rush into marriages because they long for someone to share their life who understands the pressures of being a celebrity. However, even though they may share the pressures of being celebrities, do they have enough things in common to make them compatible as spouses?
Once they are married, they must answer real-life questions involving children, religion, ideologies, finances, and other day-to-day issues that all couples face. Celebrities who do not take the time to discuss these issues before marriage often end up separating because they are too different.
When a Marriage Does Not Work
Celebrities are people. Sometimes a marriage simply does not work. Their profession may have nothing to do with the divorce.
It may take years for a couple to decide that the marriage is not working. Couples married 20 or more years get divorced. For some couples, a year is all it takes to decide that the marriage is not working.
Regardless of why your marriage is no longer working, it is important to seek legal counsel if you are thinking about divorce. Even amicable divorces can become contested before all issues are decided.
Issues that can complicate a divorce include custody, child support, spousal support, and property division. With the help of a divorce lawyer, you might settle disputes without costly divorce litigation.
Having an experienced divorce lawyer to help work through these issues can help ensure that you have the resources you need to enter the next phase of your life.