Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York and Prince Andrew enjoy Royal Ascot together in Berkshire, Britain
Celebrities . . . they’re not like the rest of us, are they? While most people couldn’t bear to be in the same room as a former partner once a relationship has ended, Hollywood stars seem to pride themselves on staying friends with their exes.
Not only that, but some profess to be ‘best friends’ with their former flames, despite acrimonious divorces, bitter legal feuds and years — often decades — of separation.
Take Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. Last week marked five years since the pair ‘consciously uncoupled’ after more than ten years of marriage. But, since then, they’ve been spotted together on an almost weekly basis, sharing cosy restaurant dates, family holidays and insisting they talk ‘every day’.
And they’re not the only A-list exes flaunting ever-so-friendly relationships. Last week, model Liz Hurley dined at a restaurant in Mayfair with ex-husband Arun Nayar. Singleton Liz has also accompanied Arun and his girlfriend on holiday, and is great friends with her ex-boyfriend, actor Hugh Grant, too.
Even the royals are not immune. Prince Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson remain firm friends, with Fergie continuing to describe their wedding day as ‘the happiest day of my life. Andrew is the best man I know’.
Celebrity psychologist Jo Hemmings says staying friends with an old flame ‘puts them and their wholesome image in a better light’. For A-listers, she adds: ‘It means no social media spats, no selling of stories and no taking a pop at each other.’
So, which other stars have the ex-factor? We round up the household names who keep their friends close — and their exes closer . . .
Then: Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant a Four Weddings and a Funeral Premiere in 1994
Liz Hurley and Hugh Grant
Dated for 13 years (1987-2000)
Textile heir Arun Nayar isn’t the only ex in Liz’s little black book.
She was a struggling actress when she met heart-throb actor Hugh, now 58, on a film set in 1987. Their romance blossomed into a 13-year relationship that catapulted her into the spotlight.
Their red-carpet appearances — and Liz’s ever-skimpier outfits — made them Hollywood darlings, and she stuck by him in 1995 when he was arrested in Los Angeles for lewd conduct with a prostitute.
Hugh, who was fined £900, admitted that he had been an ‘idiot’.
Five years later, the relationship fizzled out, with Liz suggesting his moods were to blame: ‘My friends used to call him Grumpelstiltskin.’
Now: Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley Patrick Cox ‘Cox, Cookies and Cake’ Store Opening, Brewer St, London in 2010
They stayed friends, and model Liz, now 53, even made Hugh godfather to her son Damian, 17. To this day, she describes him as ‘my best friend’.
Meanwhile, he says: ‘We went from zero to somewhere together.’
Psychologist Jo Hemmings says: ‘Elizabeth likes being seen out and about with her exes in order to remain relevant and in the spotlight.’
Ex-Factor: ❤❤❤❤❤
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom
Then: Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom Global Green USA Celebrates the 15th Annual Millennium Awards, Los Angeles in 2011
Married for 3 years (2010-2013)
FORMER Victoria’s Secret model Miranda, now 35, married British actor Orlando, 42, in 2010 after three years of dating. Their son, Flynn, was born the following year — but love didn’t last, and they had divorced by the end of 2013.
Miranda admits she fell into a ‘really bad depression’ after the break-up, while Orlando was spotted with a string of famous women, (including naked paddle-boarding with pop star Katy Perry, to whom he is now engaged).
But the pair put it behind them for the sake of their son, with Orlando calling Miranda ‘a great friend and co-parent’.
‘There was a period of instability when [Miranda and I] were separating, and we both made conscious choices that we would be around as much as possible,’ he says.
Now: : Miranda Kerr, Orlando Bloom and Flynn Bloom are seen trick-or-treating in New York 2013
Meanwhile, Miranda — who is now married to Snapchat’s billionaire founder Evan Spiegel, 28, and pregnant with their second child — says her unconventional friendship with Orlando ‘works out really well’.
Jo Hemmings says: ‘When children are involved, there is never a complete break-up. Putting your own feelings aside is the best way forward.’
Ex-Factor: ❤❤❤❤❤
Heidi Klum and Seal
Married for 9 years (2005-2014)
Then: Heidi Klum and Seal 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Arrivals, Los Angeles in 2010 and Now: Out and about in Los Angeles in 2014
German-born model Heidi, 45, was pregnant with an ex-lover’s baby when she met British singer Seal, 56, in the lobby of a New York hotel in 2004. The pair hit it off instantly — and married in 2005 after Seal proposed in an igloo in Canada.
The besotted couple renewed their vows every year of their seven-year marriage, but split in 2012, reportedly due to Seal’s temper and Heidi’s work schedule, and finalised their divorce two years later. After an initial feud, when Heidi started dating the family’s bodyguard, they patched things up — and now share ski holidays with their four children. ‘Whatever makes the kids happy . . .’ Seal has said.
They are so close that, in 2017, Heidi — now engaged to musician Tom Kaulitz — persuaded Seal to appear on America’s Got Talent, on which she is a judge.
Ex-Factor: ❤❤❤❤❤
Madonna and Sean Penn
Married for 4 years (1985-1989)
Then (left): Madonna and Sean Penn in 1986 and Now: The pair at ‘Help Haiti Home’ gala benefit, Los Angeles in 2016
Pop icon Madonna, 60, had a volatile relationship with actor Sean, 58, from the start, marred by violent outbursts — including one incident in which he was arrested for assaulting a photographer.
They met in 1985 and married the same year — only for Madonna to file for divorce two years later, withdraw the papers and then file them again in 1989.
There were allegations that he had hit her during their marriage, but Madonna branded these ‘false’ and ‘malicious’, declaring Sean ‘the coolest guy in the universe’.
Somehow, against all odds, the pair remained friends. At a charity fundraiser in 2016, Madonna told her ex: ‘I’m still in love with you. Yes. In fact, I think I love you more now that we’re divorced.’
She also offered to remarry him if he bid $150,000 for an auction item — which he duly did (though he was later outbid).
It seems the feeling is mutual. In 2018, Sean — who later married actress Robin Wright, from whom he is also divorced — declared: ‘I love my first wife very much’.
Ex-Factor: ❤❤❤❤❤
Then: Demi Moore and Bruce Willis at Planet Hollywood Restaurant in Los Angeles, 1995
Demi Moore and Bruce Willis
Married for 13 years (1987-2000)
Actress Demi, 56, married Bruce, 64, months after meeting him in 1987. He was her second husband (she’d wed her first at 17) and she said Bruce was ‘just so ready to . . . give me love’.
They had three daughters, but split in 1998 and divorced two years later, blaming the pressure of being in the spotlight. Bruce said: ‘Our marriage was under a huge magnifying glass.’
Despite the toll of divorce, the pair have been described as the most congenial exes in Hollywood. In 2005, Bruce attended Demi’s wedding to actor Ashton Kutcher, from whom she is now divorced, and, last month, she attended the ceremony where Bruce and second wife Emma renewed their vows.
Ex-Factor: ❤❤❤❤❤
Now: Bruce Willis and Demi Moore at The Grand Opening Of Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Las Vegas in 2007
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin
Married for 13 years (2003-2016)
Then: Gwyneth Paltrow and singer Chris Martin at the 3rd Annual Sean Penn & Friends Help Haiti Home Gala in Beverly Hills 2014
Now: Gwyneth Paltrow, here with her ex-husband Chris Martin and their kids Moses and Apple that they co-parent
Actress and wellness guru Gwynnie, now 46, met Coldplay frontman Chris, 42, backstage at one of his concerts in 2002.
A whirlwind romance followed, culminating in a secret wedding the following year.
They set up home in London, where their children Apple, now 14, and Moses, 12, (right) were born — but in 2014, the ‘conscious uncoupling’ statement appeared on Gwyneth’s lifestyle website Goop and the couple divorced in 2016.
Despite moving to LA, she has kept in close contact with Chris and often posts soppy tributes to him on Instagram, despite her marriage last year to producer Brad Falchuk. She recently described the singer — now dating actress Dakota Johnson — as ‘my brother’.
Jo Hemmings says: ‘This is the “gold standard” of celebrity break-ups — ensuring that Gwynnie is always seen in the best possible light.’
Ex-Factor: ❤❤❤❤❤
Kate Beckinsale and Michael Sheen
Together for 8 years (1995-2003)
Then (left): Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale Premiere of ‘Haunted’ in 1995 and Now: At the After-Party for the Canadian Premiere of “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallow Part 2 in 2011
Cosy Instagram pictures, declarations of love for one another and frequent family outings with their daughter Lily . . . it would be easy to think that actors Kate, 45, and Michael, 50, were still an item. Having met on stage in 1995, when Kate was 21, they moved in together soon afterwards and worked on several joint projects, including an audiobook of Romeo And Juliet. Kate gave birth to their daughter in early 1999, but later admitted she was ‘embarrassed’ that Michael never proposed.
They separated in 2003, shortly after filming their movie Underworld — whose director, Len Wiseman, Kate would marry the following year. But the split was amicable from the start, with Kate describing Sheen as ‘really dear, close family . . . I love him a lot.’ Both were firm friends with their ex-partners’ other halves — Wiseman and actress Sarah Silverman — although those relationships are also now over. More recently, Kate has been dating U.S. comic Pete Davidson, 25.
Discussing her and Sheen’s closeness in 2016, Kate said: ‘It’s so normal for us. We have been not together far longer than we were ever together.’
Ex-Factor: ❤❤❤❤❤