In 2024, a few celebrity couples were constantly under public gaze. There was hot speculation about them, wild rumours were circulated on social media, some even bizarre ones, as they kept their fans and the public wondering about their next move.
From Kate Middleton and Prince William to the Naga Chaitanya-Sobhita wedding, which captured eyeballs and to US Vice-President elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance, these couples stirred up a storm this year.
Kate Middleton and Prince William
When Kate Middleton suddenly disappeared from public life in the UK, wild conspiracy theories were bandied about. There were rumours that she had donated a kidney to ailing King Charles in exchange for becoming a queen for one day to have gone into hiding after some Brazilian buttock lift went wrong or a haircut gone bad. There was also a story that went around that she had discovered her husband was having an affair and she was heartbroken.
Finally, all the hue and cry died down when it was officially revealed that Kate was suffering from cancer.
It was a sad year for the royal couple as King Charles was also battling cancer. However, by the end of the year, Kate has been returning to public duties after her cancer treatment.
Recently, Prince William described 2024 as the “hardest year” of his life. His family went through a “brutal time” but the worst seems to be behind them as Kate has successfully completed her chemotherapy. They seemed to have found a way to navigate the “stormy waters and the road unknown”, she said in her video message.
And, now, the couple has recently posted a Christmas message on a hopeful note. Maybe, 2024 ended on a better note than it started.
AR Rahman and Saira Banu
2024 wound down to a dramatic news in the entertainment world.
The unassuming Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman and his wife announced their separation after being together for 29 years. The announcement was first made by Saira’s lawyer who spoke of “significant emotional strain” in their relationship. And some tensions and difficulties that created an “insurmountable gap” between them. Rahman also penned a heartfelt note saying ( a tad facetiously) he had hoped they would cross the 30-year-mark but that did not happen.
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People put it down to the rising trend in ‘silver divorces’ and the media was full of stories on ‘silver splitters’. But, the couple continued to dominate headlines as out of the blue, his bassist Mohini Dey, a key member of Rahman’s troupe, also decided to publicly share her divorce plans.
Justifiably, rumour mills began to churn over a likely connection between the two. Saira and her children quickly posted clarifications waxing eloquent about Rahman and what a good man he is.
Saira said (on an unbelievable note) that all it was is that she was “unwell” and needed a “break”. And it had nothing to do with her husband getting into a romantic tangle. She pleaded with people to be kind to her husband, who she described as an ‘extraordinary’ human being. She also said they had not completely decided to divorce etc., which left people scratching their head in confusion – have they separated or divorced or what?
Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan
This is another high-profile couple that kept the paparazzi on their toes in 2024. When Aishwarya attended the Ambani wedding earlier this year without her husband in tow, tongues started wagging.
There were stories that the former beauty queen had packed her bags and left the Bachchan home. Some speculated that Abhishek was having an affair with his ‘Dasvi’ co-star Nimrat Kaur. The lady actor in question also failed to squash the rumours and instead posed with her cat on social media sending some vague message no one grasped.
But as 2024 wrapped up, all is well it seems for Bollywood’s star couple. For Aishwarya and Abhishek appeared at their daughter’s school function together beaming warmth and togetherness. All is well in the Bachchan parivar once again, it seems. As Aishwarya has set off on a holiday with her daughter, questions remain on social media. Who knows what 2025 will bring?
Hardik Pandya and Natasa Stankovic
However, cricketer Hardik Pandya and actress-model Natasa Stankovic, were not so lucky, as the couple called it quits in 2024. The couple, who got engaged on January 1, 2020, and later married, have a son named Agastya. They shared the news of their separation on social media telling fans of their decision to co-parent their child.
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They shared that they had tried their best and gave it their all, and they believed this was in the best interest of both. Earlier this year, rumours about their split began circulating, particularly after Natasa removed Hardik’s surname from her Instagram profile.
With many Hollywood celebrity couples splitting up, gossip magazines are posting stories on how ‘love’ has taken a backseat this year.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
One of the shocking celebrity breakups of 2024 is that of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.
‘Bennifer’ was a real deal in the early 2000s as their romance goes back two decades. The couple first started dating in 2002, but they broke off their engagement in 2004.
Nearly two decades later, in 2021, they rekindled their romance, and in July 2022, they tied the knot in Las Vegas. Almost two years into enjoying marital bliss, Bennifer 2.0 headed for splitsville again in May 2024.
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Despite their rocky history, marked by periods of separation and reconciliation, this time Lopez has been so heartbroken (and fed up), she filed for divorce by herself and without an attorney in August 2024. She also requested to drop Affleck’s last name (she was legally Jennifer Lynn Affleck). Affleck took refuge in his ex-wife Jennifer Garner’s farmhouse.
Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipalia
Indian cinema saw many weddings this year. From Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal to Keerthy Suresh and Antony Thattil. Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth posed moonily swearing eternal love for each other on social media after they too got hitched.
Ace shuttler PV Sindhu also became a December bride in Jaipur.
But, Telugu star Naga Chaitanya’s wedding with the sultry Bollywood actor Sobhita Dhulipala became the talk of the town. From the time the couple announced their engagement in August 2024, there’s been a lot of interest in their relationship.
Somehow, netizens feel that Naga Chaitanya’s first wife, the popular actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu got the short end of the stick and seemed to sympathise with her. There was even speculation that Sobhita had been the reason for the couple to split up. Some social media users even suggested that the young actor’s father, Nagarjuna, had let the cat out of the bag. And, indeed, Naga Chaitanya had met Sobhita even while he was married to Samantha and so on.
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But all these negative vibes did not deter the couple’s enthusiam.
They posted loving pictures of themselves and Sobhita’s video dancing to her baraat music in her dressing room telling her friend, ‘Shradha meri shaadi ho rahi hain’, went viral in a bizarre way. Their wedding pictures went around as well. People were agog to see the couple wed in Annapurna Studios even as father Nagarjuna bustled around most chuffed with his new daughter-in-law.
Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani
Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani tied the knot on July 12 this year in Mumbai. It symbolised India’s signature big fat wedding. However, people got tired of seeing video clips from the wedding. It was not just that John Cena, Kim Kardashian, Boris Johnson, Tony Blair, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and our Bollywood flock graced the wedding, every detail at the wedding from security arrangements to wedding invitations were posted for public consumption.
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There were colour coded cards to enter certain rooms in the weddings and phones were prohibited. Though one saw Madhuri Dixit and other stars dancing to their own numbers.
Indians also scoffed at the vulgar display of wealth but the Ambanis only seemed intent on giving their son Anant Ambani a wedding he will remember for a long time. Everything Radhika wore and did was exhaustively recorded.
JD Vance and Usha Vance
They came from very different worlds. He was a meat and potatoes guy, a son of a mother who was a drug-addict and she, a daughter of Indian immigrants, a vegetarian, who grew up in California. Her parents were deeply invested in academic and professional success—her father a mechanical engineer from IIT and her mother a trained marine biologist.
In his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy”, US Vice-President elect JD Vance calls his wife Usha, a “supersmart daughter of Indian immigrants” whom he met at Yale Law School. Navigating personal differences and social challenges, the couple married in 2014 and their intercultural relationship proved to be a supportive foundation for both.
JD Vance and Usha Vance came under the spotlight after Vance’s candidature as vice-president was announced by US Presidential candidate at that time, Donald Trump.
Since then, people have been curious to learn more about this couple.
Reams have been written, not just in India, about this “unique partnership” between Vance and Usha that has now brought them to one of the highest positions in the US. Usha will make history In January 2025, when she will be the first Indian American, the first Telugu, and the first Hindu Second Lady.
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