Oh, the one that got away... that golden ex we'll tell our grandchildren about after a few glasses of vermouth on Christmas Day. We’ll sigh and look out of the window recalling the intensity, the innocence and all that kissing in the rain. Which was likely a consequence of not getting into pubs if your big passion took place in a suburb during your teenage years.
The 90s was a good old decade for nostalgia. From grunge to goth, hip hop to britpop, the brat pack gave way to wacky Hollywood misfits and everyone on the celeb circuit was young, beautiful and totally falling in love. Devastatingly, many of these great affairs came to an end. But in the name of love – for the love of love – we've waded through the murky, press-polluted waters to pay tribute, to [celebrity] love.
Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp
WHEN: 1990-1993
WHO: Ingénues of Tim Burton, these were Hollywood’s hottest young actors who bonded over their mutual love of Catcher in The Rye.
HIGHLIGHTS: Oh now THIS was first love! The cigarettes, the J.D. Salinger obsession, the engagement, the PDA, the moody stares, the incessant hand-holding, the ‘Winona Forever’ tattoo, the way they spoke about each other. “I love that girl. I love her. I love her almost more than I love myself.”
WHAT HAPPENED? Young love in the spotlight is never easy (so I’m told) and the relationship came to a dramatic end. Winona reportedly locked herself away and wasn’t seen for months. Johnny amended his tattoo to say ‘Wino Forever’.
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER: Unable to separate life from art, they would have lived in a Tim Burton-style mansion with black drapes, ice sculptures and giant lollipops in the garden.
Photo: Rex
Harmony Korine and Chloë Sevigny
WHEN? 1994-1995
WHO? She was described by The New Yorker as “the coolest girl in the world”. He was the slightly dorky, aspiring screenwriter.
HIGHLIGHT: After spotting Sevigny hanging out in Washington Square Park, Korine insisted on making her the lead in controversial cult classic Kids, for which he wrote the screenplay.
WHAT HAPPENED? Sevigny said it was Korine’s descent into drug addiction that led to the break up. He, on the other hand, blames her, saying he became less interested when she worked with other directors. Modest.
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER? She would have been cast in Spring Breakers playing a cool Floridian gangster, wiping the floor clean of James Franco.
Photo: Getty
Justine Frischmann and Damon Albarn
WHEN: 1995-1998
WHO: She was the tomboyish lead singer of Indie band Elastica who dressed head to toe in black. He was Blur’s famous frontman with a floppy fringe and ‘cockney’ drawl.
HIGHLIGHT: Leading lights of the Britpop scene, Frischmann once featured in the ongoing spat between Oasis and Blur, with Liam once proclaiming he wouldn’t “kick Justine out of bed.” She responded by calling him a “sad c*nt”.
WHAT HAPPENED? Rumour has it Damon wanted Justine to give up her career and start a family. Others have blamed the relationship’s demise on her drug addiction. After their split in 98, Blur’s album 13 was released and contains some of the most devastating lyrics ever written about a break up, in particular Tender. Reportedly, Frischmann cried when she first heard it.
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER: They would have written ‘Britpop! The Musical’, a runaway success that would have seen them retire early to a yoga retreat in Bali.
Photo: Rex
Axl Rose and Stephanie Seymour
WHEN: 1991-1993
WHO: He was the Guns N’ Roses frontman with an appetite for destruction. She was the all-American supermodel who’d posed for Vogue and Playboy. They both epitomised the glamour of the '90s Rock scene and had the shiniest hair in world.
HIGHLIGHTS: The November Rain video of course. Costing a mere $1m to make, the sumptuous and highly indulgent ten minute film depicted the doomed wedding of Seymour and Rose (rumour has it he wanted them to be married for real in this scene but she refused). Watch it immediately if only for the wedding dress and over-the-top orchestra.
WHAT HAPPENED? Axl accused Seymour of cheating on him. They then both accused each other of domestic violence and two very acrimonious lawsuits followed. “The thrill of the whole rock n’roll thing wore off” said Seymour in an interview years later with Harper’s Bazaar. “I saw the worst of that world and it soured me.”
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER: Guys, it was never going to happen but I’d go with a big ass Malibu beach house and a ‘his ‘n’ her’ shampoo line.
Photo: Getty
Kate Moss and Johnny Depp
WHEN: 1994-1998
WHO: He was the coolest, most beautiful actor in Hollywood. She was the Croydon catwalk queen who loved a party. It was inevitable they would find each other.
HIGHLIGHTS: Moss’ 21st birthday party at Depp’s LA club The Viper Room, their insane red carpet presence, the holidays with Noel Gallagher, this weird Big Breakfast interview.
WHAT HAPPENED? Media scrutiny of course, in addition to tales of drug fuelled fights and trashed hotel rooms. Within weeks of their break up, Depp was with French singer Vanessa Paradis, who was soon pregnant. In a rare interview with Vanity Fair, Moss admitted the break up was a “nightmare. Years and years of crying. Oh the tears!”.
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER: They would have designed their own fashion line. Think Pirates of the Caribbean meets Primal Scream.
Photo: Rex
Joaquin Phoenix and Liv Tyler
WHEN: 1995-1998
WHO? He was the reclusive actor who shunned Hollywood. She was the doe-faced, raven haired model who had just been revealed as Steven Tyler’s secret lovechild.
HIGHLIGHT: They met on the set of coming-of-age film Inventing the Abbots in 1995. Phoenix once said “I really needed her and she really needed me”. Phoenix had only recently returned to acting following the tragic death of his brother River from a drug overdose in 1993.
WHAT HAPPENED? It was simply a first love that fizzled out. They are still close today with Liv saying she considers Joaquin and all his sisters as family.
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER: With that combination of talent, attitude and cheekbones their offspring could have ruled LA.
Photo: Rex
Edward Norton and Courtney Love
WHEN: 1996-1999
WHO: Love was the Grande Dame of Grunge turned actress who had two years earlier lost her husband Kurt Cobain to suicide. Norton was the young, cool-indie actor who had just earnt his first Oscar nomination. They both starred in the 1996 film The People vs Larry Flint and fell in love on set.
HIGHLIGHT: After supposedly giving up drugs for the clean living actor, Love confessed in an interview that once, whilst on a romantic holiday in Scotland, she abandoned Norton half way up Ben Nevis after hearing the wails of Oasis who happened to be playing a gig nearby in Loch Lomond.
WHAT HAPPENED? Apparently Norton proposed to Love who refused and then promptly left him for an A&R exec, “a bad man who stole all my money”, she later confessed.
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER: Love would have eventually abandoned her wild ways and they would have climbed Everest a deux.
Photo: Rex
Dennis Rodman and Madonna
WHEN: 1996-1996 (three months)
WHO: He was the NBA superstar famous for facial piercings, large hats and shotgun weddings. She was a global superstar. HIGHLIGHT: According to Rodman’s autobiography, Madonna was desperate to get pregnant and once made him fly from Vegas to New York because she was ovulating. He got a flight back straight afterwards to resume his poker game.
WHAT HAPPENED? Despite the carbon footprint, it was a short-lived affair, with Rodman confessing he was never really a fan of the superstar’s “bubblegum music”. Ouch.
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER? She would have never have met Guy Ritchie and made Swept Away. Bummer.
Photo: Getty
A nne Heche and Ellen Degeneres
WHEN? 1997-2000
WHO? Degeneres was the US sitcom star who had just come out to the world on the cover of TIME Magazine. Heche was one of Hollywood’s leading actresses and star of big screen blockbusters Volcano and Donnie Brasco.
HIGHLIGHTS: Some pretty game-changing Hollywood moments. They were the first gay couple to ever hold hands on the red carpet. WHAT HAPPENED? Degeneres admitted it was hard work being watched “like we were the only lesbian couple on the planet” and the relationship struggled under the media spotlight. After a messy breakup, Heche went on to marry one of her male co-stars and Degeneres is today Forbe’s 50th most powerful woman in the world and happily married to Arrested Development actress Portia De Rossi. IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER: They would have launched their own range of La La land-inspired sunglasses (see above pic) under the name ‘HECHERES’.
WHEN: 1999-2001
WHO: He was the bad boy rapper with a knack for getting into brawls. She was the Latina superstar whose love didn’t cost a thing. HIGHLIGHT: The 42nd Grammy Awards (which actually took place in 2000 but let’s not be pedantic). Lopez wore that green Versace dress and broke the internet BK (before Kardashian). Google later admitted it was people excessively hunting these pics that led to the birth of ‘google image search’.
WHAT HAPPENED? Poor Puff Daddy (probably green with green dress envy) went and got arrested for gun possession and bribery following a shooting at a New York nightclub. During his trial, the relationship floundered. He became P Diddy, she became J-Lo and that was the end.
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER ? They'd release a duet called ‘I’ll be Kissing You’, a romantic re-working of Puff daddy’s ‘97 hit with Faith Evans.
Photo: Rex
Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe
WHEN: 1998-2007
WHO: She was the sweetest of southern belles. He was the teen idol everyone swooned over.
HIGHLIGHTS: They lasted beyond the 90s but teenage masterpiece Cruel Intentions was their finest hour. Mainly just for the escalator scene (“well, I’m in love.”) The fact you knew they were married and having a baby in real life made the on-screen love story all the sweeter.
WHAT HAPPENED? Once considered one of Hollywood’s rare success stories, the couple called it quits after two children and eight years together. There were allegations of cheating but Phillippe has publicly blamed the media scrutiny and the fact they “were so young”.
IF THEY’D STAYED TOGETHER? Well they did, for a while.
Photo: RexLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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