# do celebrities date other celebrities most of the time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106 "2012-05-25T21:03:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ctrs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@ctrs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctrs)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/1 "2012-05-25T21:03:35Z")
Every time I read about a celebrity dating or marrying someone, that person is almost always already (say that five times fast) well-known on their own. It is true that people tend to date those who are in the same league, not to mention that “celebrity couple” headlines sell well in the paper. However, it seems hard to find a celebrity (the big-times ones, at least) dating a “regular” person. So my question is, do celebrities really date other celebrities primarily, or is it because the news only reports “celebrity couples”? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/2 "2012-05-25T21:22:02Z")
People tend to date the people that they spend time around. Most celebrities spend most of their time around other celebrities, so… ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/3 "2012-05-26T05:42:00Z")
Another reason is that the lifestyle of most celebrities is sufficiently unusual that only other celebrities can put up with it. ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/4 "2012-05-26T09:39:27Z")
Jennifer Anniston not returning the emails? ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/5 "2012-05-26T12:42:57Z")
I suspect there’s some confirmation bias. You just don’t hear about the thousands of celebrities dating non-famous people because it’s not tabloid-worthy. ---
**Author:** ![Batfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Batfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batfish)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/6 "2012-05-26T12:53:28Z")
I’ve said it before. Celebrities date/engage/marry/have children with/cheat on/break up with/divorce other celebrities because there is publicity at every stage. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/7 "2012-05-26T13:04:57Z")
Celebrities’ lives aren’t like regular people’s lives. It makes them incompatible with anyone who isn’t a celebrity. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/8 "2012-05-26T14:50:34Z")
Moved to Cafe Society from GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/9 "2012-05-26T15:10:51Z")
Jon Bon Jovi married his High School sweet heart. Patrick Swayze married a lady he had known since childhood. Those are the two exceptions I can think off. The Beatles were married to various non celeb at times as well (Lennon, McCartney). EDIT I think several of the Pythons were also married to “commoners”. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/10 "2012-05-26T15:46:39Z")
Dolly Parton has been married to man that hates the spotlight for 45 years. He runs a road paving company in Nashville. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/11 "2012-05-26T17:55:56Z")
OK, let’s test this. To get a sampling of celebrities unbiased by their relationship status, I’m going to look at the set of movies currently playing at my local theater, and take the first-two-billed names from each, then look each of them up on Wiki and see who (if anyone) they’re in a relationship with. That gives me: Battleship: Alexander Skarsgård - Only relationship listed is ex-girlfriend actress Kate Bosworth Brooklyn Decker - Married to tennis player Andy Roddick Chernobyl Diaries: Jesse McCartney - I see no relationship listed Jonathan Sadowsky - No relationship listed Dark Shadows: Johnny Depp - In an LTR with actress Vanessa Paradis Michelle Pfeiffer - Married to television producer David E. Kelley Avengers: Robert Downey Jr. - Married to film producer Susan Downey Chris Evans - No relationship listed MiB 3: Will Smith - Married to actress Jada Pinkett Smith Tommy Lee Jones - Married to Dawn Laurel, who doesn’t have a Wiki page Snow White and the Huntsman: Kristen Stewart - In a relationship with actor Michael Angorano Chris Hemsworth - Married to actress Elsa Pataky The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: Judi Dench - Widow of actor Michael Williams Bill Nighy - In a LTR with actress Diana Quick The Dictator: Sacha Baron Cohen - Married to actress Ilsa Fisher Anna Faris - Married to actor Chris Pratt What to Expect when you’re Expecting: Cameron Diaz - Last relationship listed is baseball player Alex Rodriguez Matthew Morrison - Only relationship listed is ex-engagement to actress Chrishell Stause So, out of 18 celebrities, we have 14 for whom the current or most recent relationship is a celebrity of some sort, 3 with no listed relationship, and only one with a listed non-celebrity partner. That seems pretty clear to me, though some of those partners seem to draw most of their fame from who they’re partnered with. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/12 "2012-05-26T18:14:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > only one with a listed non-celebrity partner I’m assuming Dawn Laurel? Personally I’d also include Susan Downey as a non-celebrity. If she was just Susan Levine, she would be in the movie business but she wouldn’t be a celebrity. If people know her, it’s because she’s married to Robert Downey. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/13 "2012-05-26T18:20:13Z")
Personally, I think it’s a factor that none of us like to think about. People tend to form relationships “in their league”. Celebrities are attractive successful people who are out of most people’s league. Most women are not in Ben Affleck’s league. Most men are not in Jennifer Garner’s league. But Ben Affleck is in Jennifer Garner’s league and Jennifer Garner is in Ben Affleck’s league. So celebrities end up in relationships with other celebrities because they don’t have to settle for ordinary people like us. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/14 "2012-05-26T19:04:59Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > People tend to date the people that they spend time around. Most celebrities spend most of their time around other celebrities, so… > [@Nametag](#): > > Another reason is that the lifestyle of most celebrities is sufficiently unusual that only other celebrities can put up with it. > [@Acsenray](#): > > Celebrities’ lives aren’t like regular people’s lives. It makes them incompatible with anyone who isn’t a celebrity. And leaving aside the “celebrity” range, _everyone’s_ dating pool is predominantly people who engage in similar professional pursuits or attend the same social events or have similar extracurricular interests as them. You may not end up with an equal-celebrity spouse but if you’re, say, an entertainer your mate may be a succesful producer/writer/marketer, or maybe an entertainment lawyer or personal trainer; if you’re a star headliner s/he may be a writer/choreographer/session musician that’s respected in the trade but unknown to the masses. Those are the sorts of people whose world intersects with yours on near everyday basis. Then there are those long-term relationships that started before celebrity struck, which date back to when the celeb was him/herself just an anonymous regular citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/15 "2012-05-26T19:18:58Z")
There is Larry Fortensky, the construction worker who was the seventh husband (eight marriage) of Elizabeth Taylor. They met at Betty Ford clinic. > **[Larry Fortensky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Fortensky)** > > Larry Fortensky (January 17, 1952 – July 7, 2016) was an American construction worker known for being the seventh and last husband (but eighth marriage) of actress Elizabeth Taylor. They were married in 1991 at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch and divorced five years later. > Fortensky, the eldest of seven children, was raised in Stanton, California, and dropped out of Pacifica High School in nearby Garden Grove during 10th grade. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1972 and discharged three mo... ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/16 "2012-05-26T21:44:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Personally, I think it’s a factor that none of us like to think about. People tend to form relationships “in their league”. Celebrities are attractive successful people who are out of most people’s league. The problem with this is that there are quite a lot of celebrities that are there not because they are outrageously hot, and yet they still wind up with other celebrities more often than not. So this league thing only works if celebrities are using other criteria than most people use to determine what league people are in. In other words, it would be more a classist thing. Another factor, though, is that it seems that romantic leads are more likely to wind up with each other, followed by people in other relationships. It is my hypothesis that pretending to be in love or to love each other makes either fall for each other or at least think they have so fallen. Because another constant in celebrity relationships seems to be how often they fail. People even say things like, say, that a 10-year marriage is forever in celebrity terms. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/17 "2012-05-26T21:51:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Celebrities’ lives aren’t like regular people’s lives. It makes them incompatible with anyone who isn’t a celebrity. Us magazine says celibrities are ‘just like us’, though. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/18 "2012-05-26T22:03:24Z")
Cracked has an article up called “[5 Reasons You Should Never Take Advice from Celebrities](http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-you-should-never-take-advice-from-celebrities/),” and it goes through some of the reasons why celebrities are not just like us, including: > [@](#): > > **#5. They Come from a World Where Money Isn’t a Thing** > > … > > It’s not a huge mystery that when you enter into that celebrity level of financial security – let me rephrase that: when you become so effortlessly rich that your life makes fuck sounds – the enormous weight of that stress just evaporates. … > > **#4. They Literally Pay People to Live Their Lives for Them** > > … > > Assistants do everything for them, effectively wiping away all of life’s normal stress inducers like picking up the kids, mowing the lawn, organizing weddings, chartering last-minute flights and even crawling under the house to fix the goddamn air conditioner. > > … > > **#3. Their Day-to-Day Life Bears No Resemblance to Yours** > > … > > Now, that’s not saying she doesn’t work hard. I’m sure that her schedule is a nightmare when she’s filming and making her appearances, but she also doesn’t exactly have to worry about being fired when she takes a few months off between shoots. And for that matter, even if she got blacklisted tomorrow, who cares? She’s set for life. When you add that factor in with the personal assistants I mentioned earlier, of course she has time to work out. She’s just lost touch with the general public so much that she just assumes everyone has access to these perks. > > This is where that core message shows up that always just makes me want to explode – where a celebrity says or implies that people who work that hard need to slow down and enjoy the small things because they’re missing out on life. They can’t imagine a world where people work themselves into exhaustion because they have to – not because they want to. They don’t live in a world where someone can show up and take your fucking car because you couldn’t make the payments, where one missed rent check plus one intolerant landlord equals instant homelessness. … These three items at least are very good reasons why celebrities and regular people find it difficult to relate to each other. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/19 "2012-05-27T05:03:06Z")
It is also interesting that the few exceptions that we have found are those where the relationship was ante celebrity. Or in Dolly Patrons case with a man who was possibly richer than her, I am presuming a man who owns a road paving company is not exactly cash strapped. ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106/20 "2012-05-27T05:11:20Z")
Yup. As a rule, celebrities are the performing monkeys - nice to watch perform, but no connection to the real world and no reason to intersect their lives with the rest of us. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-date-other-celebrities-most-of-the-time/623106.md?page=2)