Bad vices, angry fights, and an anti-cheating security detail.
These pop stars may have thought they found their happily ever after,
but the writing was on the wall long before their respective wrecking balls broke it down.
Shortly before Britney Spears and Kevin Federline divorced in 2006,
there were plenty of rumors that there was trouble in paradise for the pop superstar
and her backup dancer baby daddy — and this was after only two years of marriage.
The proof? In November 2005 — two months after they welcomed their first son,
Sean Preston — Star did a poll of more than 5,000 people in which 96% of respondents suggested
Federline was sponging off the popstar and was no good for her. A source also claimed to the
outlet that Spears was left miffed because her now-former husband had been partying hard and
was supposedly spotted flirting with other women. Spears was clearly so done with her man at the
time that she filed for divorce mere weeks after giving birth to their second son, Jayden James.
Federline opened up about his partying ways several years later,
admitting to Us Weekly in 2015,
"I soaked up as much of the lifestyle as I could. I'd walk into a club and get a
table worth $15,000 a night with unlimited free drinking. [...] But everything got so crazy."
In the words of Jessica Simpson, a little bit goes a long way, and that was certainly the
case when it came to other relationships before she filed for divorce from Nick Lachey. These
two were the golden couple of the early 2000s; after they tied the knot in 2002,
they immediately invited reality cameras to record pretty much every second of their
life as newlyweds for the aptly titled MTV show, "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica."
"I know it's tuna, but, it-it says Chicken … by the Sea."
The pair seemed madly in love, flaunting their romance on magazine covers and in
soppy duets. But the cracks started to appear before the split as Simpson
was accused of getting too close to another man.
That man? Her "Dukes of Hazzard" co-star Johnny Knoxville. The rumors were plastered across
tabloids in 2005 to the point where Knoxville repeatedly had to deny them. He told GQ,
"It's not true. Jessica and I are just friends. She's a great girl and all that,
but all the rumors — I just kind of take it
in stride. But it's kind of hurtful to the families that are involved."
Only, she later admitted that wasn't 100% accurate. In her 2020 memoir "Open Book,"
Simpson copped to having what she called an "emotional affair" with Knoxville.
Other early signs this one was doomed? People reported that
Lachey started partying more as the cracks were showing,
and he refused to join Simpson in Texas for a family Thanksgiving shortly before their split.
There were rampant rumors that things between Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey weren't exactly a sweet,
sweet fantasy before the divorce papers were filed in January 2015.
Cannon himself even confirmed they weren't a "Vision of Love" towards
the end. In a refreshingly honest interview with The Insider in August 2014, he said,
"There is trouble in paradise. We have been living in separate houses for a few months."
This news about Cannon — who at that point was only dad to his and Carey's twins — came
shortly after Page Six reported they were no longer living in the same home. A source added,
"He's been living out of hotels. They're fighting a lot."
The outlet claimed that Carey sent a security guard with Cannon to Vegas
hoping that the employee would keep her then-husband away from other
women. There were also reports that Carey was supposedly feeling jealous
and didn't necessarily trust Cannon not to cheat while he was traveling.
Another sign this love train was heading to Splitsville? Fans noticed that they
hadn't been photographed together in the months before their divorce,
despite the two clearly loving the camera in happier times. Cannon tried
to change the narrative with a throwback social media snap, which clearly failed.
It was pretty clear Katy Perry and Russell Brand's marriage was coming to an end when
they spent Christmas and New Year's apart. A source told Us Weekly in December 2011 that
the two — who married in October 2010 — had hit a rough patch just over a year after their nuptials.
"And the worst thing I suppose is things like that don't last forever."
The source claimed that the seemingly "Hot n Cold" lovers had a serious blowout just
before Christmas and never got over it. The insider explained,
"She was like, 'F— you. I'm going to do my own thing.' Russell replied, 'Fine, f— you too.'"
The source purported that the two fought regularly ever since they got together.
An E! News insider also claimed the couple had been spending more and more time apart towards
the end of 2011 and didn't even reunite for the holidays. The two made it pretty clear
they weren't desperate to be in one another's arms anymore when Perry was spotted in Hawaii
just before celebrating the New Year, while Brand headed back to his native England. This was all
despite CTV claiming in November 2010 they had a pact to never go more than a week without seeing
each other. And on top of that, Brand was spotted without a wedding ring in London.
Ultimately, he was the one who officially called time on things,
filing for divorce one day before New Year's Eve, 2011.
There were signs LeAnn Rimes and Dean Sheremet's marriage was coming to an
end before her notorious 2009 affair with her now-husband, Eddie Cibrian. Though it
seemed like everything exploded in scandal for Rimes and Sheremet, People reported the two had
actually been living in separate cities before the world knew about her new romance with her
"Northern Lights" co-star. Rimes had reportedly made the big move to Los Angeles to focus on her
acting and singing career while Sheremet stayed in Nashville to pursue his songwriting passions.
While discussing how they grew apart in different cities, a source told People,
"Maybe there was less of an effort to meet up in those
moments where they typically would have met up."
Of course, any issues the married couple had were surely exasperated
when Rimes started working — and falling in love — with Cibrian,
who was then married to "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Brandi Glanville.
The celebrity entertainment world was rocked when Us Weekly shared
photos of Rimes and Cibrian at what appeared to be a very romantic dinner in Los Angeles in
March 2009. It was then confirmed in July 2009 that Rimes and her husband were separated and
had been for a while. An insider claimed the two were supposedly still trying to work on
their marriage, but Sheremet finally filed for divorce in December 2009.
Tamar Braxton and Vince Herbert's marriage was plagued with serious abuse allegations
for a while before they actually called it quits. Long before they signed divorce papers,
fans had been concerned over whatever was going on between the stars.
"I had to file for divorce to, you know, let Vince know I was very serious."
One of the most shocking and high-profile dramas in their marriage came when TMZ
claimed that Herbert had bit Braxton on the hand while they were staying at a
hotel together in August 2016. The two attempted to dispel rumors of trouble in paradise though;
paparazzi got snaps of them holding hands as they put on a united front just days later.
However, two months after that, the twosome's rocky marriage was back in the spotlight. Daily
Mail reported that police had previously been called to the now-former couple's home for
another alleged domestic dispute while her family was over. A source said of the alleged incident,
"Since there were no physical signs of battery,
Vince was not arrested. But these fights are happening more and more."
This source also claimed that Braxton had been living in what they described as a "private hell"
with her husband — who also served as her manager — after losing her gig as a co-host on "The Real."
Braxton and Herbert's marriage lasted about another year after the abuse rumors swirled,
and she filed for divorce in October 2017.
One way to let everyone know you're over your marriage? Telling the world you're over the
whole male race before singing a song you wrote about your previous breakup with your husband.
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth's marriage appeared to show a few signs of trouble
before they split in August 2019. As Cyrus boldly told fans at a show two months prior,
"I'm f—ing sick of men."
She then launched into "Wrecking Ball," which she'd previously hinted was about
one of her splits with Hemsworth amid their years of being on and off.
After that, fans noticed that they appeared to stop sharing photos of one another on
their social media accounts. Cyrus had posted snaps across her social media channels while
she was vacationing without her man in Italy — and she wasn't wearing her wedding ring.
With that said, it was actually Hemsworth who eventually filed
for divorce from the former "Hannah Montana" star.
It's no secret that Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's marriage was never
the most stable of unions. In fact, tension seemed to exist between the
two immediately after they tied the knot. In 2019's "A Song for You:
My Life with Whitney Houston," Houston's friend and assistant Robyn Crawford claimed
that Houston and Brown appeared to start having arguments on their honeymoon in 1992.
Crawford also insinuated that there was physical abuse in the relationship right
after their wedding. She claimed she saw Houston with an injury and asked
her what happened. According to Crawford, Houston told her,
"We had a disagreement. I threw a glass, the glass hit the wall, shattered,
and that's how the cut happened. Couples argue all the time and it's never a big deal."
Both continued to be plagued by allegations of abuse and drug
use from there. Houston's hairdresser, Ellin LaVar alleged to People in 2018,
"The problem with Whitney and Bobby was they exacerbated
each other's addiction. She did more cocaine,
he drank more. But when they got together they both started doing more cocaine and drinking."
In 2016, Brown opened up about their troubled marriage amid the abuse and drug use,
admitting to Robin Roberts on "20/20" that he hit Houston on one occasion.
"The last few years of our marriage,
it was terrible. Both of us trying to be clean, or one of us trying to be clean."