“Relive all the drama!”: What’s behind our fascination with celebrity relationship timelines?

Celeb relationships

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Entertainment


“Relive all the drama!”: What’s behind our fascination with celebrity relationship timelines?

By Christobel Hastings

3 years ago

3 min read

A curious relic of 00s pop culture, celebrity relationship timelines are as popular as they ever were. But why do we continue to comb over high profile romances, and what does it say about us? Stylist’s entertainment editor Christobel Hastings investigates.

It happened recently when I heard the joyous news that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, aka Bennifer, were back together 19 years after they called off their engagement. Back in the 00s, the couple were catnip for the cameras: beautiful, successful, passionately in love. When Affleck popped the question to Lopez in late 2002 with an engagement ring that reportedly cost $2.5 million (£2.1m), the singer called it “the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen”. But in 2003, the couple with the catchy portmanteau had postponed their wedding, and by 2004, the pair had split up, breaking a million hearts all over the world.

How do I know these details? Well, like many other people around the world who become invested in celebrity relationships, I have avidly consumed every detail of Bennifer’s romance over the years, from the pair’s red carpet appearances for 2003’s (widely panned) romcom Gigli through to every triumphant yacht photo from their 2021 summer reunion. And aside from smiling moonily at every loved-up photo on J.Lo’s Instagram feed, I must confess that my encyclopaedic knowledge of their history comes from one place in particular: the celebrity relationship timeline.

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