Celebs That Ignored Warnings About Their Relationship

When people are in love, all they want is for the whole world to be as excited about their relationship as they are. Unfortunately, that's not always the case — especially for the inhabitants of Hollywood, whose relationships are always under a microscope. It's one thing when relationship criticism comes from the public or random trolls on Twitter, but it's a different story when the people warning you against your new S.O. are closer to the situation. Sometimes, stars' friends, family, and other members of their inner circles feel compelled to speak out about red flags they see in a relationship. Of course, just because people close to them are the ones expressing worry doesn't mean the celebs in question have to listen. After all, in the immortal, wise words of great love philosopher Selena Gomez, the heart wants what it wants. 

Here are some examples of celebrity couples who were warned against pursuing their love, but didn't let the haters deter them — and their relationships are still going strong today.

Joining the royal family isn't easy and that's a lesson that Meghan Markle learned first hand in the months after she married Prince Harry. Even though her actual marriage with Harry is, by most accounts, amazing, royal relationships always have a third member involved — the press. And the press is notoriously hard on the people who marry into the royal family. During her candid interview for the October 2019 ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Meghan actually admitted that her British friends had warned her against her royal romance.

"In all fairness I had no idea, which probably sounds difficult to understand here. But when I first met my now-husband, my friends were really happy because I was so happy but my British friends said to me, 'I'm sure he's great, but you shouldn't do it, because the British tabloids will destroy your life,'" she said. "And I very naively — I'm American. We don't have that there — [I said], 'What are you talking about? That doesn't make any sense. I'm not in any tabloids.' I didn't get it. So it's been, yeah, it's been complicated."

Of course, just months after the documentary aired, Harry and Meghan shocked the world with their so-called "Megxit," in which they announced they would be "step back from Royal duties and not undertake representative duties on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen." Harry has been explicit about the decision, saying it was necessary to safeguard his young family.  

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry aren't the only prominent members of the royal family who faced outside skepticism before they tied the knot. According to royal biographer A. N. Wilson, Queen Elizabeth was instantly smitten with Prince Philip, but she was warned more than once that she shouldn't marry him. The reason? Apparently, Philip's famously dry sense of humor wasn't a good match for Elizabeth.

"When she made it quite clear from the age of about 14 that she was in love with Prince Philip, who was a beautiful German Prince with blond hair, all the courtiers said he was entirely the wrong person to choose," Wilson explained at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, per The Telegraph. "They said it for lots of reasons, but the fact is he was wrong. The Queen is a very reserved, diligent person. He isn't. He was a naval officer and he was also quite funny." 

Elizabeth and Philip also faced pushback against their union from Elizabeth's parents. "The King and Queen were appalled," the Queen's third cousin, Lady Pamela Hicks, told Vanity Fair, adding, "The thought that he might become a son-in-law was most unwelcome. Why wasn't she marrying some respectable English duke? Yes, he was a Prince of Greece and Denmark. But very suspect, Greece — they get rid of their royal families regularly. And he had no money." 

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's love story feels almost like destiny now, but not everyone supported the coupling at the beginning—especially people in West's camp. "I mean, everyone would tell him, 'You can't be with her, she's a reality star. She's going to sink your career!' And he was just like, 'But I love her. Like, I don't care,'" Kardashian explained in her E! True Hollywood Story.

West also seemed to hint at facing skepticism about their union during an interview with James Corden for his famous "Carpool Karaoke" segment (which was actually dubbed "Airpool Karaoke," because the very special installment took place on a plane instead of in a car as usual). "People thought it would be uncool to be married, and then I got married and people were like, 'Oh, that looks cool,'" West said of his marriage, adding, that married life is, in fact, "more than cool, more than cool as hell or something — it's heavenly, it's great, it's magnificent."

And as far as critics who thought marrying a reality star would taint his hip-hop image? "I don't like going out at nighttime," West told Corden, adding, "I like being at home with my family at night as much as possible. We'll eat dinner and we'll play with the kids and we'll put the kids to bed and then we'll go to bed and my wife watches Dateline ... I read the bible."

Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik have dated off and on since 2015, but the couple's latest reconciliation, as of this writing, could be the one that lasts, since they're also expecting their first child together. But any parent knows that kids are hardly the answer to relationship troubles. On top of that, the Hadid family is reportedly not sold on Zayn as a son-in-law and is apparently urging Gigi not to rush down the aisle. "It's all so sudden — especially given Gigi and Zayn's volatile history. Her mom, Yolanda, is urging Gigi not to jump into anything and to wait until after the baby is born. She's wary of Zayn, and who can blame her? She witnessed first-hand the heartache and tears he caused her daughter in the past," a source close to Hadid told Life & Style. 

It's not clear if the model will heed her fam's advice though. "Gigi has told her loved ones that she couldn't be happier about the pregnancy," the source said. "She says her relationship with Zayn is stronger than it's ever been." In June, Zayn gave fans reason to believe he may be planning to pop the question when his friend, George the Jeweler, shared a photo on this Instagram Story that revealed a new tattoo on the singer's left forearm that includes lines from philosopher Kahlil Gibran's poem "On Marriage."

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott's relationship moved at lightning speed. They were first linked in April 2017, when they met at Coachella. Later, in a 2018 interview with GQ, Jenner talked about the origins of their relationship. "Coachella was one of the stops on his tour. So he said, 'I'm going back on tour — what do we want to do about this?' Because we obviously liked each other," Jenner said. "And I was like, 'I guess I'm going with you.'"

The young couple quickly conceived their daughter, Stormi Webster, who was born in February 2018, just ten months after their music festival meet-cute. When news broke that Jenner and Scott were expecting, notoriously outspoken talk show host Wendy Williams offered an on-air warning to the young reality star not to count on Scott. "At 20-years-old being pregnant, and I don't care how much money you have, it's got to be hard," Williams said, adding "The next reality show might in the working right now. I got a name for you, Kylie Goes It Alone. Travis Scott is not sticking around."

Williams seems to have called it on this one. Jenner and Scott split up in October 2019, but according to People, they "have continued to spend time together and co-parent daughter Stormi."

Following her 2014 divorce from Caitlyn Jenner, Kris Jenner began seeing Corey Gamble, a road manager for Scooter Braun's entertainment and marketing company, SB Projects, who just so happens to be 25 years her junior. Gamble's ex, Sheree Buchanan, spoke out against the coupling, openly warning Jenner against settling down with her much-younger man in a 2015 interview with Life & Style.

"She should be careful and sleep with one eye open. My advice to Kris is don't marry Corey," Buchanan told the tab, adding, "He looks for these broken women and he's great at knowing what to say to build your confidence. ... Corey's temper is another thing Kris needs to watch out for. He can fly off the handle over anything if he doesn't get his way." Gamble's ex also claimed that "he showed up at [her] house" after they broke up. "I had changed my locks but somehow he got a key!" Buchanan alleged. 

"Kris has a lot of power and money, and he wants to be a part of that. Get a prenup first!" Buchanan added. She also implied that Gamble is only with Jenner for her money, saying, "Given the position that Kris is in, she could have been Betty White and Corey would still have [hit on] her." Ouch.

Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber surprised a lot of people when they tied the knot on September 13, 2018 — including, it would seem, some members of the Baldwin family. Hailey's famous uncle, Alec Baldwin, weighed in on the engagement just days before the couple's surprise courthouse wedding.

"People who get married young, and they are very young, I want them to just spend time with each other," he told Canadian outlet etalk on September 9th, just four days before his niece's quickie wedding. "Obviously, [Justin Bieber] in particular has this crazy superstar career. When you're married... Like right now, I'm quite a bit older than both of them but I got married recently a few years ago. And my wife and I had four kids in four and a half years. We have a lot of little kids. The thing is, all the work I do now is based on my family. There's movies I got offered where they say 'Come leave town for five weeks. No we can't travel your family with you, we don't have that in the budget'. And I pass, because I don't want to be away from my family. And I hope that they realize that! If you want to have a successful marriage, you have to be together. You gotta stay together."

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' whirlwind romance began in May 2017, after a few months of long-distance flirting. In a 2018 Vogue interview, Chopra revealed that Jonas, who is 10 years her junior, made the first move by reaching out to her Quantico co-star Graham Rogers to express his interest in her. Next, on September 8, 2016, he slid into her DMs on Twitter, writing, "I'm hearing from a few mutual friends that we should meet" and asking her out. Chopra replied saying, "My team can read this. Why don't you just text me" and gave Jonas her digits. The rest, as they say, is history.

Also part of the couple's history, however? A little hesitation from Chopra's crew. A source told Hollywood Life that some of Chopra's friends weren't feeling Jonas' — shall we say — romantic reputation. "Her friends are all warning her that he is a total player, and not to get too close cause he will break her heart," the source said, adding, "So she is keeping everything light and easy and trying not to get too attached to him, but she thinks he is really sexy, talented and their chemistry in the bedroom is undeniable." 

"Light and easy" went right out the window when Chopra and Jonas opted for a lifetime commitment in December 2018, tying the knot in two lavish ceremonies that celebrated both their Hindu and Christian faiths. 

The breakout star of Knives Out breakout and Boston Batman Ben Affleck are a thing. If you haven't heard about Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck's budding relationship yet, don't beat yourself up too much — it's still relatively new, as of this writing. The pair met in late 2019 on the set of the erotic thriller Deep Water, where they reportedly had instant and palpable chemistry. In March, they were spotted making out in the airport before boarding a private jet together and heading to Havana, Cuba. "They are definitely dating," a source told People at the time.

The pair have been loved up and even quarantining together, but not everyone is thrilled about the relationship. Case in point: When de Armas shared a series of pics of herself celebrating her 32nd birthday with Affleck on Instagram, commenters were less than kind. One even warned, "Stay away from Affleck!" while another proclaimed, "This is bulls**t." Yikes.

Mike Tyson has been married not once, not twice, but three times. His first marriage was to actress Robin Givens and lasted just over a year. The couple wed on February 7, 1988 and called it quits officially on Valentine's Day the next year. Tyson's second marriage, to physician Monica Turner, lasted six years, but ended as a result of his own admitted infidelity. Tyson and Turner divorced in 2003, and the boxer married his third wife, Lakiha "Kiki" Spicer, in 2009. For Tyson, the third time definitely turned out to be the charm because he and Spicer are still going strong, as of this writing.

The couple reportedly started dating in 2000, but the person who introduced them, boxing promoter Don King, was not trying to set them up. In fact, he actually warned Tyson not to date Spicer. "Stay away from her," King said, according to Page Six. "Don't go talking to that girl. Leave these people alone. These are not the people to mess with." The warning didn't deter Tyson. If anything, it might have actually made him even more determined to date Spicer, who later said, "It was like moth to a flame."

King's warning was apparently so wrong, in fact, Tyson has even described his relationship with Spicer as a "truly a life-saving experience."