Five big celebrity break-ups

Actor Ben Affleck and actress Jennifer Garner have confirmed they are divorcing. Photo / Getty Images

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have revealed they're divorcing after two years of marriage. While you dry your eyes, we look back over the years at five other big celebrity couples whose seemingly perfect relationships dissolved very publicly.

Katy Perry and Russell Brand

One of the more unexpected couplings in recent years, Katy Perry and Russell Brand had a whirlwind romance that captured the world's attention. They married in October 2010 after just months together, in a traditional Hindi ceremony that attracted some controversy at the time. Both their stars were on the rise at the time, but it all came to an end when they announced in December 2011 they would be divorcing. In her 2012 documentary

Part of Me

¸ it was shown that Brand asked for a divorce by text message while Perry was on tour. Brand's 2015 documentary

A Second Coming

revealed her lack of interest in activism and her rising fame led to their marriage's end.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin

The end of this celebrity marriage was less messy, more ... bizarre. The Oscar winner met the Coldplay frontman in 2002 at a concert, with the pair marrying the next year. They had two children, Apple and Moses and were regularly seen side-by-side at events. However, Paltrow announced on her blog in March 2014 that the pair were separating, calling it a "conscious uncoupling". They later went on holiday together in Mexico and the Bahamas, but finalised their divorce in April this year. Martin has since been linked to Jennifer Lawrence and Kylie Minogue, while Paltrow is dating

Glee

co-creator Brad Falchuk.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston

Probably the biggest, most infamous break-up in modern Hollywood history, the one we are all still talking about a decade after it happened. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston seemed like the perfect couple: one the star of a hit sitcom, the other a rising movie star, the world fell in love with them. They married in a Malibu ceremony in 2000, and enjoyed a seemingly happy five-year marriage. Pitt even made a cameo appearance on

Friends

, in a now-ironic role as an old classmate who hates Aniston's Rachel Green. That all changed in 2005, when the couple announced their divorce after seven years together. Pitt quickly moved on to his

Mr and Mrs Smith

co-star Angelina Jolie, creating the "Brangelina" hype and leading many to believe there had been an on-set affair. Aniston is now married to actor Justin Theroux, while Brangie have their six-strong brood of children, yet the rumours and debate is still a regular feature in any interview and gossip mag.

Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon

One of the youngest couples on this list, the pair met at Witherspoon's 21st when Phillipe was just 22. The two dated and starred in

Cruel Intentions

together before marrying in June 1999. Witherspoon gave birth to their daughter, Ava, three months later and their son, Deacon, in 2003. The couple then split in 2006, with Witherspoon citing "irreconcilable differences" as the cause. The two had a lengthy legal process that was not settled for nearly two years, brought on by their lack of a pre-nuptial agreement. Witherspoon has now married talent agent Jim Toth and had another son, while Phillippe has a daughter with ex-girlfriend Alexis Knapp.

Tom Cruise and everyone

Tom Cruise has been one of the biggest film stars on the planet for the nearly four decades now since breaking out in the 1980s. However, behaviour over recent years has dimmed his star power considerably, and part of that comes down to his relationships. Cruise was first married to actress Mimi Rogers in 1987, who introduced him to Scientology in 1990 before their divorce. Tom then moved on to Nicole Kidman, whom he had met in 1989 and married less than a year after divorcing Rogers. The two adopted two children together and appeared as lovers in Stanley Kubrick's final film

Eyes Wide Shut

. Cruise then divorced her in 2001 and briefly dated Penelope Cruz. However, his biggest relationship has been with Katie Holmes.

The two began dating in 2005, after the Church of Scientology reportedly "auditioned" actresses to be the star's girlfriend. Labelled "TomKat" by the press, Cruise made headlines when he enthusiastically jumped on Oprah Winfrey's couch and declared his love for Holmes. The two married in 2006 a few months after their daughter Suri was born, where the head of Scientology was best man. They were married for five years before Holmes filed for divorce, and since then she has been linked to dozens of different men while keeping her distance from Cruise. The actor reportedly has not seen Suri for more than two years. All actresses were 34 when Cruise divorced them. Coincidence? We think not.

- nzherald.co.nz