A decade-long romance is a huge milestone, but it’s still not common in Hollywood. From fame to
privacy invasion from the media, to maintaining a long-distance relationship due to busy schedules.
Then add to that struggles that any couple can have. The pressure can mount up and cause a
Hollywood romance to come crashing down. Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen were no exception.
The couple had a love story that was filled with many beautiful memories. So, it came as a shock
to a lot of people when they announced they had broken up. But what caused the split? Let’s see!
The duo met in 2007 on the set of Jumper, a sci-fi movie where they played love interests.
The sparks flew straight off the screen and into reality — they began dating almost immediately.
Rachel and Hayden had a whirlwind romance and were engaged just one year later.
But this wasn’t to say their relationship was completely smooth sailing. In 2010,
they called off their engagement because the stress of being in a long-distant relationship
became too much. Bilson was based in Los Angeles and Christensen was mainly in Canada at the time.
It seemed like another typical Hollywood breakup,
but just three months after their split, the pair reconciled. All the details of
their parting were kept very hush-hush as they were an extremely private and low-key couple.
The glitz and glamour didn’t affect what they did on date nights either.
Rachel and Hayden’s idea of spending time together was dinner and a movie at home,
grabbing coffee, running errands, and maybe an occasional hockey game.
The actress couldn’t help but boast about how she held their low-key date nights down. “I’m
a really good girlfriend. I always put all that first in my life. I’m definitely the person who
would make him his favorite dinner to come home to. I love to cook, so we make dinner at home a
lot and watch movies,” she said. You go, Rachel! When the pair did get back together, they were
re-engaged, and their lives seemed better than ever. The actress couldn’t even resist
speaking about Hayden in interviews. When she was asked what makes their relationship so special,
she said, “He’s so incredibly supportive and considerate. It’s so basic. This is my partner,
my support, just there for me no matter what. And vice versa.” How sweet is that?
Even with all the love between them and an engagement ring, the pair still never ended up
getting married. Neither of them spoke about why, but it didn’t stop them from building a family. It
also didn’t stop Bilson from envisioning her funky wedding dress. "I'm lucky that my boyfriend is
open-minded when it comes to fashion. I hate being too pretty. I always add something that gives it
a little funk. A leather jacket over a wedding dress — I would totally do that,” she said.
After 7 years together, the lovebirds welcomed a daughter, Briar
Rose (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F6WzoyOEiE 0:00). Their child’s name was
inspired by Rachel’s love for Disney (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2fztz76zE
0:10). Hayden later explained how they came up with the unique name by saying,
"The original Sleeping Beauty from 1959 is called Briar Rose. We both love Disney,
but Rachel especially was very keen on the name.”
It makes sense because, at the time, their little family seemed as magical as a Disney movie!
Rachel and Hayden loved being new parents even if they had a little bit of a tough time adjusting.
“I have this little angel in my life now and Rachel and I are so thrilled.
We don’t sleep as much as used to, but it’s all worth it,” the actor said.
The duo seemed to be happy with parenthood so much that when Briar was one year old,
there was already talk of a second baby. “I may have another child, that’s still up in the air.
I’m having so much fun with one right now. I want to be happy and content. I want everyone in my
life to be healthy and happy,” Rachel said. The couple wanted to explore the world
with Briar and show her as many things as possible… everything except Hayden as Darth
Vader (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwRXzSmi_Bc 0:09) in the Stars Wars franchise.
There are a bunch of reasons why the actress doesn’t want her daughter to watch the movie.
"Luckily, she's not aware that her dad is one of the biggest villains of all time.
She has no idea what it means because she hasn't seen anything. And thank God,
because he kills children, so let's keep that from her until she's like 80. I'd like to keep it that
way," Bilson said. Well, on the bright side, no one is going to mess with Briar in school!
The now 8-year-old has been raised with the understanding that her parents are actors but
isn’t aware of just how famous they really are. The couple’s daughter also seems to
understand what acting is because she wants to follow in her mom and dad’s footsteps.
Rachel opened up about how her then 6-year-old wanted to be an actress, like now!
"I'm like, 'How do we handle this?' Obviously, if it's something she chooses in her adult life then
that will be that, but I think to keep that away from her as long as possible is our top choice.
It's not really what I would want for her at this age,” she said. Well, isn’t that understandable?
Everything seemed to be picture-perfect for the couple. They were in love,
engaged, successful, had a child, and we’re talking about having another little one.
But then in 2017, Rachel and Hayden went their separate ways.
The breakup didn’t signal that there was a great deal of animosity between them, though.
The pair had apparently agreed that it was time to end the relationship. The actors thought it
would make a better situation for raising their daughter. Neither of them publicly
spoke about why they didn’t work out. Even though it seemed to be a very
peaceful parting, rumors still spiraled that there was more to the story.
One of the suspected reasons behind the breakup was the personality clashes between Rachel and
Hayden. The actor prefers to live a private and quiet life. He is somewhat of a recluse
and likes staying home. Hayden also has suffered from depression and could become quite neurotic.
This wore Rachel down over time because she is the complete opposite.
The actress is vivacious, outgoing, and loves to be around friends.
“Rachel is very outgoing, and her friends are very important to her. Hayden is the opposite.
He can be very antisocial. Hayden never wanted to join her for special occasions,
like weddings. Rachel had to attend by herself,” Bilson’s close friend said.
We can understand if this was the reason behind their split, but it is unlikely.
If this was the case, they probably wouldn’t have been together for over a decade, right?
Other inside sources said that it was more likely their constant conflicts about everyday issues.
It became exhausting and depressing for Rachel and eventually, it became too much for her.
A viable cause behind the separation was possibly their conflicting work schedules.
The actress lived full-time in Los Angeles while the actor stayed mainly in Toronto
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX1JyRh2Qhc 0:11). This seems to be the most reasonable
explanation as to what caused their split the second time around
because it was what caused their first split. Possibly the craziest rumor was that Bilson
dumped Christensen because of the texts he had with Emma Roberts
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzR5NoTS5c 0:04). Allegedly, the messages were suspicious
to the actress and seemed to show that he was having an inappropriate relationship with Emma.
Despite what the reason was, the exes chose to have a healthy co-parenting relationship
for the sake of their daughter. “Being a mum is number one for me and it always will be.
Most important for me is that Briar is okay and secure and stable. No matter what I’m dealing
with or how much it hurts or how much anger there is, it’s just about her,” she said.
When Rachel and Hayden called it quits, their baby girl was only 3 years old,
and the actress spoke about how she explained it all to her. “We say Mummy has a house and
Daddy has a house but she’s pretty young to have an in-depth conversation," she said.
The duo continues to raise their daughter amicably and treat one another as friends.
Bilson doesn’t shy away from publicly praising Christensen as a father,
saying, “He is so present and just so awesome with her. He is a wonderful father.”
In December 2020, Rachel opened up about co-parenting during the pandemic. In short,
she loved it. She was grateful for Hayden’s adherence to COVID-19 preventative measures
when their daughter was staying with him. “It’s been great. She's had the opportunity
to have another house to go to and not just be stuck in our house the entire time.
For her to have another house to go to, I think that’s actually been helpful,” the actress said.
As for their love lives since their breakup, Christensen's has remained a mystery. He
hasn't been linked to anyone special in the years following their breakup… at least, not publicly.
Bilson is currently single but she had a relationship with Bill Hader for a year
before they ended things in 2020. She said this split was more painful than childbirth. Hmmm,
she didn’t have much to say on how painful the breakup with Christensen was!
For now, it doesn’t appear that the couple has any plans to reconcile. Only time will tell, but
when a situation isn’t working for either party, sometimes it is best to just agree that it doesn’t
work and move on. Either way, we could all take a page out of Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen’s
book on friendship and co-parenting. We hope, whatever happens, they end up happier than ever,
together, or not! What do you think is the most reasonable explanation for their breakup?
Let us know in the comments below. Until next time, Rumour Juice.