By Jennifer Harrington
Everyone knows the oldies song that proclaims “breaking up is hard to do”, but do you ever wonder why some women stay in bad relationships, rather than breaking up and starting over? Look no further than Hollywood to identify some of the most common reasons women don’t kiss Mr. Wrong goodbye:
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1. She fears being single. Esquire Magazine’s 2011 Sexiest Woman Alive, Rihanna, has publicly admitted she hates the single life and it’s “overrated”. She’s made it no secret that she’s looking for that special guy to share her life with. While Rihanna may claim she is not enjoying her time unattached, after her disastrous relationship with Chris Brown, it seems she is taking some time out of the dating game to have fun and heal.
2. She doesn’t want to face the stigma of divorce. After being married for two decades, there’s no question that Robyn Gibson knew about some of the problems her husband, Mel Gibson, was facing. Mel has notably dealt with alcohol abuse, an arrest for driving under the influence, and publicized racist remarks. Despite all of these warning signs, Robyn stood by her man until 2006 when they filed for divorce. Knowing what Mel put her through, one can only wonder if she stayed with him so long because for the sake of their seven children and their strong Catholic faith, which discourages divorce.
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3. She wants children. Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux recently announced their engagement, which means everybody will be watching for Jennifer’s baby bump in the coming months. A victim of constant pregnancy speculation over the past several years, Jennifer has shared that in regards to having a baby, “I still kind of go with, if it happens, it happens. I’m calm and peaceful with whatever the plan is. It’s not something where I’m going, ‘I gotta have a kid!'” Given she’s 43, time will tell if Jennifer is tying the knot with Justin for true love or for babies.
4. She doesn’t want to hurt her partner. Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp, while never married, enjoyed a long romantic relationship and became raised two children together. The couple has gone their separate ways. Vanessa still speaks glowingly of her former partner and it’s apparent the love between these two was real, but given Johnny has been living for the bachelor for some time now, it’s likely there was something was very off-track in this relationship. Ultimately, Vanessa has decided that “Love is the strongest and most fragile thing we have in life. Nothing is ever for sure, but when something in love doesn’t work from the beginning, it’s never going to work. Don’t push it.”
5. She doesn’t want to hurt her children. Several years ago, everybody watched as the relationship between Kate and Jon Gosselin crumbled. Any viewer of the hit television show Jon and Kate Plus Eight could tell trouble had been brewing between these two for some time. No doubt that raising eight small children is difficult, but between Kate’s belittling of Jon and Jon’s playboy ways, divorce was inevitable. Kate has acknowledged her biggest fear about the divorce was being a single parent and hurting her children.
6. She thinks things will get better. Kourtney Kardashian’s relationship with longtime boyfriend Scott Disick has been marked by Scott’s excessive drinking and partying, and the couple’s hesitancy to marry. In fact, in 2011, Kourtney shared with People magazine that she thinks Scott is “the one”, but she is not “100 percent” yet. Scott has sought professional help for his alcohol abuse issues, and recently the couple welcomed their second child, daughter Penelope Scotland. It seems that Kourtney is hoping that Scott’s wild days are behind him!
7. She thinks she won’t find anybody better. It’s hard to imagine what attracted Angelina Jolie to Billy Bob Thornton, but during the course of their three-year marriage, indulged frequently in public displays of affection, and even wore vials of each other’s blood as necklaces. They ultimately split because they had different ideas of how they wanted to live; Angelina is a well-known globetrotter and Billy Bob is a homebody. When they split, they had just adopted son Maddox from Cambodia. Assuming the role of a single parent must have been scary for Angelina, but just one year later, Angelina met Brad Pitt met Brad Pitt, and the rest is history!
8. She labels herself as part of the problem. The late Whitney Houston and ex-husband Bobby Brown dealt with alcohol and drug abuse in the media spotlight. Many people blamed Bobby for introducing Whitney to drugs, but in an interview with ABC News, Bobby said “I wasn’t the one who got Whitney on drugs”. The 15-year marriage was violent at times, and Whitney shared with Oprah Winfrey in 2009 that, “He was my drug. I didn’t do anything without him. I wasn’t getting high by myself. It was me and him together, and we were partners, and that’s what my high was–him. He and I being together, and whatever we did, we did it together. No matter what, we did it together.” It’s hard to imagine that Whitney didn’t blame herself for some of the problems in her marriage.
9. She doesn’t have the frame of reference to understand healthy relationships. Britney Spears became a major international pop star when she was just a teenager. It’s no surprise that her twenties were marked by increasingly erratic behavior and two short-lived marriages. However, Britney has spent the past several years living a much more low-key lifestyle, focusing on her duties as a mother to her two small sons. She’s also enjoyed a long courtship with now-fiance, Jason Trawick. It seems the past decade has taught Britney a lot about life and love!
10. She feels pressure to make it work. It seems the relationship between Kim Kardashian and Kanye West is on the fast-track. Kim is only 31, but she has two failed marriages behind her (as well as many ex-boyfriends). Kim’s 2011 marriage to Kris Humphries was widely criticized when she announced plans to divorce just 72 days after the lavish wedding ceremony. Many declared the nuptials were just a publicity stunt. If the romance between Kim and Kanye continues, Kim will likely feel pressured to make a real commitment this time around (it helps that Kim and Kanye were friends before dating!).
What other celebrities can you think of that have stayed in bad relationships for too long? Share your comments below.
