How many times have celebrities stepped out with regular old people, only for the media to go crazy? It seems like there’s no escaping the paparazzi even when a celeb tries to lie low. There’s something innately uncomfortable for journalists and celeb magazines when famous people wind up marrying or having kids with people who are essentially “nobodies.” But even the rich and famous want to find love, and for them, it’s even more difficult than it is for everyone else.

From women who are looking for fortune and fame, to relationships that help promote a celeb’s career to new heights, there are many unsavory reasons why actors, musicians, and other big personalities wind up with us average folk. But in some cases, it really is a love connection.

Whether the media bashes one half of the couple for not having glamorous looks or they don’t like that she’s got a subdued career of her own, there’s a lot of judgment surrounding people in the spotlight who don’t date within their own league. Big age gaps, differences in social status, and couples who come from different industries all face media backlash for not conforming to Hollywood’s ideals of the picture-perfect couple.

17 Katie Holmes Marrying An Idol

Long before Katie Holmes made her “big break” on Dawson’s Creek, she was a huge fan of Tom Cruise, the Huffington Post reported. A classmate of hers from their private Catholic school youth said that Katie used to pray for Tom Cruise during religion class. Katie even told reporters that as a girl, she thought she would marry Tom Cruise.

Fast forward to 2005 when then-26-year-old Katie met and started dating Cruise, who was 42 then. The media referred to Katie as a B-list celebrity, while Tom was a huge celebrity who graced the big screen. Their marriage lasted 6 years, and produced daughter Suri, but Katie didn’t get her fairytale ending with her idol, after all. Their divorce was a dramatic and highly publicized one, and still left people speculating on how it ever happened.

16 Kimberly Porter Gives Diddy Another Daughter

Diddy, or Sean Combs, since it’s hard to keep track of all his aliases throughout his career, has a total of six kids with three different women. His first was with high-school sweetheart Misa, and then a long-term relationship with Kimberly Porter spanned 13 years and four more kids. Diddy adopted Kimberly’s oldest son from a previous relationship, then the two had a son and twin daughters. But mere months before the twins were born, a woman named Sarah Chapman gave birth to Diddy’s next daughter.

Sarah Chapman worked in fashion, People reported, and she had known Diddy for several years. But news of the affair traveled through the grapevine to Kimberly, who didn’t know the other woman. Diddy and Sarah’s daughter, Chance, was born in 2007, and Diddy appears to be just as involved in her life as he is in his other kids’.

15 Deborra-Lee Furness Puts Philanthropy Over Fame

Australian Hugh Jackman is everyone’s favorite action star, and apparently now-wife Deborra-Lee Furness was a big fan back in the 90’s, too. Despite her lack of fame in the United States, Deborra-Lee is also an Australian who acts and produces. She and Hugh met on the set of a TV show they both starred in, but beyond the 90’s, her career appears to have fizzled.

Early in their marriage, Deborra-Lee became pregnant and subsequently miscarried, two times. However, the two later adopted two children together- son Oscar in 2000 and daughter Ava in 2005. Deborra-Lee went on to become an activist for international adoption, creating publicity and raising funds for orphanages and developing programs to help refugees. Although she lives her life largely out of the public eye, Hollywood hasn’t had much to say about Hugh’s tame and humanitarian wife.

14 Sarah Jane Fenton Is Dressed Down And Doctorate

With at least 38 movies under his belt, Clive Owen holds his own against other big-name actors in Hollywood. But his wife, Sarah Jane Fenton, isn’t nearly as familiar to the public. She used to act, according to Bustle, but her career was relatively short-lived and relegated to the 80’s and 90’s. The pair married in 1995 and had two kids together, Hannah and Eve.

The media is harsh when it comes to Sarah Jane’s public appearances, since she’s not the typical starlet who steps out with tons of makeup on in attention-grabbing dresses. Still, Sarah Jane is a doctoral researcher who’s also worked for charities and in other research capacities. And in the end, it truly doesn’t matter what anyone else says but Clive- and he calls his lovely wife his “diamond.”

13 Jennifer Meyer's Hollywood Connection Falls Short

Tobey Maguire’s soon-to-be-ex Jennifer Meyer may own her own jewelry company now, but at the time she and Tobey met, Jennifer was working in public relations. The couple met when Tobey was filming Seabiscuit in 2003, and they got married in 2007. Although Tobey’s fame no doubt helped launch her serious jewelry career (Jennifer Aniston wore one of her pieces in The Breakup), Jennifer Meyer had her own Hollywood connections through her family.

On the surface, however, it appeared that the Spiderman actor was the power half of the couple, with at least 31 movies on his resume (plus tons of awards and nominations) and worldwide fame. In 2006, their daughter Ruby was born, and in 2009 son Otis arrived. In 2016, the two announced they were separating. Their divorce was finalized in 2017.

12 McDreamy Meets His Match With Jillian Dempsey

Their entire family appears picture-perfect, but Patrick Dempsey and his wife Jillian nearly called off their marriage in 2015 after 16 years. While Patrick, known as McDreamy from his long stint on Grey’s Anatomy, has been voted sexiest man alive multiple times, his wife is a makeup artist who is behind the camera more often than she’s in front of it.

Although there’s no argument about the beautiful couple’s equal physical attributes, Jillian flies under the radar when it comes to her husband’s career. She has, however, graced the red carpet alongside McDreamy, and their three kids (Sullivan, Darby, and Talula) continue to be insanely photogenic as they grow up. Ultimately, the Huffington Post reported, Patrick explained that he and his wife were not ready to give up on their marriage, and instead decided to work through their differences together.

11 Bartender Luciana Bozan Barroso Marries Movie Star

As one of the highest-grossing actors ever, Matt Damon had the fame and the notoriety to win any high-profile woman he wanted. But he chose a single mom who was a bartender at the time, and the couple married in 2005. Luciana Bozan Barroso is an Argentinian beauty who had a 7-year-old daughter when she and Matt wed, and they later had three kids together. Isabella arrived in 2006, Gia in 2008, and Stella in 2010.

Although Matt has earned tons of recognition and awards for his 60-something films, it’s obvious that at heart, he’s a family man who doesn’t care about being in the spotlight- which explains how he and Luciana connected. It’s nice to know that an average gal who bartends to make ends meet can snag a guy as hyper-famous as Matt!

10 Twins For Amal Clooney And Famous Husband

George Clooney has quite the resume of lead roles in movies, awards for acting, and political and economic activist pursuits. But when he met and began wooing Amal Alamuddin, who is 17 years his junior, tabloids gossiped about the pair and the apparent clash regarding religion in the family. Later, George criticized the Daily Mail for reporting that his mother-in-law opposed the pair’s marriage, and they wed anyway in 2014.

Despite the media downplaying Amal’s own work and her successes pre-George, Mrs. Clooney is an accomplished and highly esteemed barrister who works in international law and human rights. Although before they met, George and Amal lived distinctly different lives- he in the spotlight and she in court- the two reportedly have a strong marriage and in 2017 became parents to twins Ella and Alexander.

9 Wedding Crash Turned Wedding Match For Kyla Weber

Vince Vaughn is one of America’s favorite funnymen, and his high-profile relationship with Jennifer Aniston pushed him even farther into the spotlight. The two split in 2006, however, and in 2009, Vince got engaged to Kyla Weber, a Canadian realtor. The Frisky reported that Vince, who had a reputation in Hollywood for being a player, proposed to Kyla with a 4-carat diamond ring worth around $125,000.

The two apparently met at a wedding and Kyla met Vince’s parents a mere four months later. Since their marriage in 2010, the two have been photographed out at dinner, holding hands over the table, and at a Dolly Parton concert. Now the pair have two kids- Locklyn, born in 2010, and Vernon, born in 2013. No word on whether Kyla still works in real estate, but Vince’s career continues to hold up.

8 Comedian Pursues Attorney Alexi Ashe

Funnyman Seth Meyers keeps us rolling with his biting political commentary and super silly stunts with other celebs (you’ve got to see his day-drinking outing with Kelly Clarkson), but he’s super serious about wife Alexi Ashe. They dated for five years before marrying in 2013 in a gorgeous ceremony at Martha’s Vineyard. Prior to the marriage, Alexi worked as an Assistant District Attorney, and now she advocates for victims of gender violence. While those are admirable pursuits, it’s safe to say no one in Hollywood had any clue who she was until she began dating Seth.

We have to assume Seth is smitten with wife Alexi, since the couple gave their son her maiden name. Ashe Olson Meyers was born in 2016, and in late 2017, Seth announced on his show that he and Alexi were expecting their second baby.

7 Cookbooks And Sitcoms Meet For Jessica Seinfeld

Although it’s now off the air, everyone has heard of Seinfeld and its lead actor, Jerry. But fewer people have heard of Jerry’s wife, whom he’s been married to since 1999. Jessica Seinfeld is a cookbook author and philanthropist, and she’s worked in public relations in the past. It’s safe to say she knows enough about show business to support Jerry through his decades of fame.

The two originally met at a sports club, while Jessica was still married to someone else. However, she explained later that their marriage was on the rocks for some time prior to her meeting Jerry. Jerry and Jessica now have three kids together, Sascha, Julian, and Shepherd. It’s refreshing to see a celeb couple who’s so invested in philanthropy, and we wish Jessica would get more recognition for her work.

6 Rekindled Receptionist Romance For Tinglan Hong

In 2011, Hugh Grant and a receptionist at a London-area Chinese restaurant- Tinglan Hong- welcomed a daughter together. Hugh’s publicist confirmed the pairing and called the relationship a “fleeing affair.” Daughter Tabitha, also known as Xiao Xi- which means “happy surprise” in Chinese- was Hugh’s first child. Hugh even said that the press made it impossible for him to attend Tabitha’s birth, and Tinglan had to get an injunction for him to visit.

Either the couple split up, or Hugh continued seeing other women on the side, because in between the pair’s first and second children, Hugh also hooked up with and had a baby by another woman. Mere months after his other paramour delivered Hugh’s second child, Hugh’s third child, Felix, was born. But the story doesn’t end there- keep reading for more details on Hugh’s dalliances with non-celebs- and the babies that resulted.

5 Baby Number Five For Hugh And Anna Eberstein

Although he had three babies within a year and a half- to two different women, and not in order- Hugh Grant apparently wasn’t done growing his fascinatingly complex family. Daughter Tabitha came first, with Chinese restaurant receptionist Tinglan Hong. Then came son John with Swedish TV producer Anna Eberstein. A few months after, son Felix arrived to mom Tinglan.

With the count at three kiddos, Hugh and Anna then had another baby- Hugh’s fourth- in 2015. But in January of 2018, US Magazine reported that a very visibly pregnant Anna went out to dinner with Hugh in Los Angeles, sparking whispers online about Hugh’s fifth child. Although he’s apparently a hands-on dad who doesn’t want his money and fame to go to his kids’ heads, it’s likely he’ll have some explaining to do when they’re old enough to add.

4 Melanie “Mel B” Brown Fails To Charm Comedian

However huge of a fan you were of the Spice Girls in their heyday, there’s no arguing that Melanie “Mel B” Brown and actor Eddie Murphy are in totally different leagues. Still, that didn’t stop the two from pairing up following Eddie’s divorce from former wife Nicole Mitchell. The two shared five children, Bria, Myles, Shayne, Zola, and Bella. But soon after Eddie and Mel broke up, she announced that she was pregnant and that the baby was Eddie’s. He denied it, however, but People later reported that a DNA test confirmed Eddie was the father of Angel Iris Murphy Brown.

That makes a total of 9 kids for Eddie, who had two kids from two women prior to his relationship with Nicole Mitchell. After his split from Mel B, Eddie enjoyed a short pseudo-marriage to film producer Tracey Edmonds, before dating and having a baby with model Paige Butcher.

3 Aryn Drake-Lee's Understated Look Earns Scorn

Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams has been one of America’s heartthrobs since he first came on the TV scene in 2006. He even ranked on the “Tv’s 100 Sexiest Men” list twice. His wife, on the other hand, has long been on the receiving end of media criticism over her appearance. A successful real estate broker in New York, Aryn Drake-Lee reportedly supported her then-boyfriend as he made his big break into acting.

The two married in 2012, and later had two kids together- Maceo and Sadie- but their relationship spanned over a decade, much to the confusion of red carpet photographers everywhere. Aryn’s public appearances were always understated, and online comments targeted her looks, in particular, when comparing her with her high-profile husband. Now, however, the two are separated, and their ongoing divorce and custody struggles are not pretty.

2 Mildred Patricia's Harbors Secret Son With Movie Star

Arnold Schwarzenegger not only had a long and public career that spanned more Terminator movies than we can count, but also got involved in politics later in life and served two terms as the governor of California. But despite his glamorous life with wife Maria Shriver, Arnold apparently felt unfulfilled. The two have four children together, but things turned sour after it was revealed that Arnold had had an affair with an employee of the family.

Arnold’s affair, which he later confirmed, resulted in a child- a son named Joseph. At the time, the New York Daily News reported that the mother, Mildred Patricia “Patty” Baena’s Myspace page highlighted that she was a proud mom with a body type with “some extra baggage.” Her appearance became the topic of scathing online commentary, but it seems she successfully provided Arnold with emotional and other support outside of his marriage.

1 Cassandra Harris - Power Couple Plows Forward

Although he played the suave spy back in the 90’s, Pierce Brosnan is still a heartthrob for to many Bond fans. Pierce’s first marriage ended with the unfortunate death of his first wife, Cassandra Harris. The two had son Sean together, and Pierce later adopted Cassandra’s two kids when their father passed away. In the late 80’s, Cassandra was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and she later passed away in 1991.

In 1994, the now-famous Irishman Pierce met Keely Shaye Smith, an American journalist. While her early career involved an appearance in one of Huey Lewis’ music videos, Smith went on to become a correspondent for big-name news agencies. Still, since she and Pierce are from vastly different backgrounds- and industries- critics are always quick to point out the disparity between the two. However, that didn’t stop them from having two kids together and enjoying nearly two decades of wedded bliss.

Sources: Huffington Post, Wikipedia, NY Daily News, Bustle, The Frisky, US Magazine,