Celebs Who Lived With Partners Even After They Broke Up

We've seen our share of brutal celeb breakups, as well as heartbreaking public splits, but not all A-list relationships come to an end with headline-making drama. While a breakup or divorce is never easy, no matter who you are, it is possible to maintain a good rapport with a former flame. In fact, a slew of celebrities are still friends with their exes, and some have even lived together after they called things off.

As psychologist Mark Travers, Ph.D., wrote for Forbes in 2022, "Exes can make for good friends who know how to support, motivate, and care for you." However, he also cautioned that shifting from romance to friendship can be difficult and noted that it doesn't always work out. Which is exactly what the celeb exes below show us. They all tried to remain friendly and even cohabitated following their breakups, and they exemplify the wide range of relationships that are possible with a former partner. While some managed to transition from couples to BFFs without issue, others weren't so lucky.

After 10 years of marriage, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced they were parting ways in June 2015, per People. However, they didn't file for divorce until April 2017, and all that time, they put on a united front for their three kids: Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel. So much so that they actually continued to live together post-split — sort of. As Us Weekly learned, they both decided to stay on their Brentwood, California property, although Affleck moved out of the main house and into the guest house. "They want it to be simple, and this takes the drama out of it," a source told Us Weekly, explaining their unusual decision. "It is important for them to keep this nice and efficient for the sake of their family."

As of December 2015, they were still living together, although it was starting to take its toll. "It's obvious many times that they both find it annoying to deal with each other," an insider told People. "It's a strange situation to live together and yet be separated." Even so, they thought it was best for their children and so, they kept up the arrangement until May 2017. That's when Affleck moved into a nearby property, while Garner and the kids stayed put. "The kids are doing well. They have been to Ben's new house," a source shared. The pair finalized their divorce in October 2018.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin will forever be remembered for their March 2014 "conscious uncoupling," and indeed, their ability to split up and remain friends has been truly exemplary. At the time, the couple explained that they would always be in each other's lives because they're family. They shared, per People, "In many ways, we are closer than we have ever been." They've sure kept their word! Case in point: They even continued living together after announcing their separation. It wasn't until October 2014 that Martin actually moved out, per Us Weekly, and even then, he made sure to choose a property within walking distance of his ex and their two kids, Apple and Moses. In fact, he bought the home right across the street from his former house in Brentwood, California.

The couple eventually finalized their divorce in 2016 but have continued to set the standard for friendly co-parenting. That includes taking family vacations and always supporting each other, like when Paltrow attended Martin's concert in France in 2016. Speaking with Today in 2021, Paltrow told the outlet her ex had actually been over at her house just the day before. "He's like my brother," she shared, gushing, "He's my family. I love him."

Eight years. That's how long it took for Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy to finalize their drawn-out divorce. The pair initially called it quits in December 2012 after two years of marriage, with Frankel telling Us Weekly, "This was an extremely difficult decision that, as a woman and a mother, I have to accept as the best choice for our family." She vowed to remain friendly with her ex for her daughter's sake, but when she filed for divorce in January 2013, things took a turn. The reality TV star alleged that Hoppy told her, "I'm going to destroy you," per People, and they soon found themselves in a nasty custody battle.

It was during these court proceedings in 2014 that Frankel revealed she was still living with Hoppy in the $5 million Tribeca apartment she had bought for them in 2011. Frankel said the experience was "brutal, horrendous, excruciating" and alleged, "He would not let me be alone with Bryn in the apartment." Things got so bad that she went to a hotel and eventually rented a temporary apartment, per E! News. Hoppy finally moved out in 2016, and Frankel returned to her penthouse, thinking it would be a joyous occasion. It was anything but. "I walked in and it just washed over me," she said on B Real with Bethenny. "I sobbed for hours." She decided to list it in October 2016, and it sold in one day.

Bruce Willis and Demi Moore may just be Hollywood's friendliest exes. The actors tied the knot in 1987, separated in 1998, finalized their divorce in 2000, and have remained BFFs ever since, per ABC. Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2000, Willis explained that they would always be close because of their three daughters. "We realize we have a lifelong commitment to our kids," he shared. "Our friendship continues. The institution has been set aside." And they've sure kept their word. Even when Willis eventually found love again and married Emma Heming in 2009, and Moore tied the knot with Ashton Kutcher in 2005, the exes continued to spend plenty of time together. "We've become like a tribe," Willis told V (via Us Weekly) in 2009.

Perhaps nothing proves their unwavering devotion to each other more than their decision to live together during the early days of the pandemic. In April 2020, Moore revealed on Instagram that she was quarantining with Willis and their kids and, as she later told Naomi Campbell, Willis' wife, Emma, and their daughters, Evelyn Penn and Mabel Ray, were also there. "It was really a blessing," Moore enthused, saying, "Our family, regardless of what the shape of it is, it's important to keep together, and for the little ones to feel comfortable with me and to know me, so they also know their sisters better."

Quarantine threw a wrench in many relationships, but in the case of Jesse Metcalfe and Cara Santana, it actually forced them to stay together, even though they had broken up. The pair had gotten engaged in August 2016 after a decade of dating, per Us Weekly, but called it quits in January 2020. That proved to be unfortunate timing, as they soon found themselves quarantined together. According to one source, Metcalfe had moved into the guesthouse of their Los Angeles, California property after initially staying in a hotel post-breakup. "They had to make the mature decision to deal with this situation together like many people going through a breakup right now," the insider noted.

As if that wasn't difficult enough, the pair had to contend with a messy split. A source told People that Santana hadn't seen the breakup coming. "She was wearing her ring yesterday," they claimed. "She had no idea things weren't fine until she saw the photos online today." The photos they were referring to were snaps showing Metcalfe holding hands with model Livia Pillmann, then hitting a bar with another woman who was believed to be actress Jade Albany Pietrantonio. They finally went their separate ways in October 2020 when Metcalfe bought a home in the Hollywood Hills for a cool $3.67 million, per OK!.

Debra Messing had one of Hollywood's longest marriages before it ended in December 2011. She met her future hubby, Daniel Zelman, in 1990 when they were grad students at New York University, per E! News, and they tied the knot in 2000. Their family grew with the arrival of their son, Roman Walker, in 2004, but unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. The couple announced their split in December 2011 via a spokesperson who assured that "the decision was mutual, and they remain supportive of one another and committed to raising their son as a family," per The Hollywood Reporter. They were so committed, in fact, that despite secretly separating in February 2010, they continued living together until Messing officially filed for divorce in June 2012, per E! News.

The separation hit Messing hard. As she told More magazine (via People) in 2013, "Part of me will always contend with guilt that I wasn't able to give my son the fantasy that my parents were able to give me." It was made all the harder when she and Roman eventually moved from Los Angeles to New York. "It was traumatic because every aspect of my life was going through a huge change," she told Ladies' Home (via ET) in 2012. "I had to find a school for my second-grader. We didn't have a home; we didn't have furniture. It was literally moving here with nothing but faith and hope." Messing and Zelman's divorce was finalized in March 2016.

The COVID-19 pandemic put a real strain on many relationships. As CNBC noted, disagreements over pandemic policy, as well as being forced to quarantine together, pushed countless couples to the brink. Not so for Shia LaBeouf and Mia Goth, whose union was actually saved by the pandemic. The pair first met on the 2012 set of "Nymphomaniac: Vol. II," per Refinery29, began dating, then eloped to Las Vegas and secretly wed in 2016, per TMZ. There were rumors that the marriage may not have been legal as no marriage license was found, per Mirror, but when they announced their split in 2018, LaBeouf's rep told People, "Shia and Mia have filed for divorce."

Jump to 2020, and everything changed. That March, People spotted the exes exercising together, and, more interestingly, they were both wearing wedding rings. E! News later learned that LaBoeuf and Goth weren't just spending time together; they were actually living together in his home in Pasadena, California. A source who spotted them out one day shared, "They were very flirty, always reaching over to one another and constantly stopping to touch and give each other kisses." While the pair didn't confirm the renewed romance, it was clearly rekindled as they welcomed their first child together in April 2022, per E! News. As LaBoeuf would later reveal, per Variety, "Mia, my wife & I have found each other again & are journeying toward a healthy family with love and mutual respect."

Lisa Marie Presley's world was forever changed when her son, Benjamin Keough, died by suicide in 2020. In 2022, she wrote an essay for People in which she shared, "It's a real choice to keep going, one that I have to make every single day and one that is constantly challenging." She shared that she kept going for her three daughters and that she drew strength from support groups. She also found unwavering support in her ex-husband, Benjamin's dad, Danny Keough. As The Sun learned in March 2021, Danny joined Presley and her young twins, Finley and Harper Lockwood, while they stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel because Presley refused to live in their home where her son had died. When the family eventually found a new house in Calabasas, California, Danny again moved in with them. "[They] have been grieving together," said a source. "It's been an extraordinarily difficult time, and he's been a rock for Lisa."

Presley herself spoke about their lifelong connection with Rolling Stone in 2003. "He's my absolute best friend in the world," she shared. "The smartest thing I've ever done is have children with this man because I knew this is the one man I could be connected to for the rest of my life." And he was there with her till the end. When Presley was found unresponsive inside their home in January 2022, it was actually Danny who performed CPR while waiting for paramedics, per TMZ.

Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson have had a rocky relationship, to say the least. They began dating in 2016, per People, and welcomed their daughter True in 2018. Just days before she gave birth, however, Thompson was reportedly spotted going to a hotel with another woman, and a source told People, "He's a serial cheater." Even so, the couple remained together until February 2019, when Kardashian called it quits, per TMZ, after Thompson allegedly cheated again, this time with Kylie Jenner's best friend, Jordyn Woods. The exes appeared to be happy living separate lives, but in March 2020, a source told Us Weekly, "Khloé, Tristan, and True are quarantining together." Another insider added that the isolation was actually helping their bond. "Being quarantined has made her have a soft spot for him," they claimed. They were still living together that May, and a source told ET, "This alone time has really allowed them to reconnect without outside influences."

As ET later learned, Kardashian and Thompson were planning to make their cohabitation arrangement permanent, but that fell apart when it was proven Thompson had fathered a baby with Maralee Nichols in December 2021. "Tristan has since pulled out of escrow on his house in Encino, California, that he was in the process of selling, and is no longer moving in with Khloe," a source revealed. That didn't change when they had a second child via surrogate in August 2022 and that October, Kardashian told Kelly Clarkson, "I'm learning how to unlove Tristan."

Ne-Yo and Monyetta Shaw appeared to have the perfect relationship after first meeting at a Jamie Foxx concert in 2009. They had their first child, Madilyn, in 2010, got engaged that same year, then welcomed their second child, Mason, in 2011. However, things fell apart in June 2013 when, just two months before their wedding, Ne-Yo broke up with his fiancée. In a 2016 New York Post essay, she recalled, "I was so hurt and distraught; my parents have been together for 44 years, and I always assumed our relationship would last for the rest of our lives." Even more important than her feelings, though, were her kids. "The thought of him and my kids not living under the same roof was devastating," she shared.

And so she agreed to continue living with her ex. As Ne-Yo shared in 2014, per AZCentral, ”The romantic element of our relationship is over, but that is my partner; we're raising a kid together.” Speaking with the Rickey Smiley Morning Show that September, he explained it made sense to share a home post-split because "it was a matter of wanting my kids to grow up in one place." However, he added that was about to change because he had just bought a new home. "We're both getting to that stage in life where we're moving on and seeing other people and whatnot," he explained. "It just doesn't make any sense for us to be in the same house anymore."