Why We're Worried About Kaley Cuoco

Kaley Cuoco's career is out of this world. She's one of the highest paid actresses in television, raking in a cool $1 million per episode for The Big Bang Theory for a total of $26 million in 2017. To her fans, Cuoco is the gorgeous, goofy girl next door whose character, Penny, exudes a gravitational pull on par with the legendary Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) of Friends — right down to the obsession with her haircuts.

Unfortunately, Cuoco is also a near-constant tabloid presence thanks to her shockingly honest admissions about her personal life, which includes a marriage that ended in an ugly, high-profile split after just 21 months. However, Cuoco's already remarried to a man she describes as her "perfect match."

As of this writing, The Big Bang Theory is in its final season, leaving Cuoco's career thereafter up in the air. Can this A-Lister make the transition from a mega-hit to another successful project? Has she finally found peace in her personal life, as well? We'll explore those questions as we dive into why we're worried about Kaley Cuoco.

Kaley Cuoco seems to rush headlong into life's biggest decisions. Case in point: She married Ryan Sweeting less than six months after meeting him, and when she was fresh off a fling with Man of Steel star Henry Cavill. "I knew people were going to think it was ridiculous," she told Cosmopolitan. Less than two years later, she filed for divorce, and the aforementioned social media scrub ensued.

But there was a token of the marriage that wasn't so easily erased: a tattoo. Cuoco threw caution to the wind on that decision too, inscribing her wedding date between her shoulder blades in large Roman numerals. Her solution for the outdated ink was equally impulsive. She covered up the digits with a large, dark moth.

In an interview on Ellen, Cuoco explained what the tat meant to her. "The significance is it was big enough to cover the numbers," Cuoco joked. "It's just what I picked out while I was there." It's a funny anecdote and all, and of course, there are so many other folks out there with regrettable tattoos that Cuoco is hardly alone. But learning a lesson from these two major life moments apparently still wasn't in the cards for the sitcom star.

Prior to her relationship with Karl Cook, Kaley Cuoco's longest reported relationship was with Big Bang co-star and onscreen husband Johnny Galecki. The pair dated for nearly two years, but kept the relationship private to not distract from the show. Galecki explained their current relationship to CBS Watch! Magazine (via Today) in 2013, three years after their split. "We're dear friends, still" he said. "She's not an ex. She's a part of my life."

Naturally, the news of the secretive fling sent the tabloids into a frenzy, including speculation that Galecki may have had something to do with Cuoco's divorce from Ryan Sweeting. It got to the point where Cuoco had to label what some folks viewed as suspicious photos of two castmates canoodling at the 2016 People's Choice Awards with the hastag #notdating. Awkward.

Though Cuoco has obviously moved on with Karl Cook, the odd nature of her relationship with Galecki has still popped up, like in this photo of Galecki and Cook hugging on The Big Bang Theory set that Cuoco shared with the caption, "Ummmmmm then this happened. @sanctionedjohnnygalecki get off my man!" Clearly, Cuoco enjoys having a laugh at the slight cringe factor of the situation, but we're worried it could get to a point where the awkwardness outweighs the fun.

This one comes with a bit of an asterisk, because we're not implying that Kaley Cuoco has a problem with alcohol, but she did once make some worrisome statements about hitting the bottle during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. First, Cuoco said that she once had an awkward encounter with the TSA over several wine-openers she packed into her carry-on, because that's not an odd thing to need immediately after getting off a plane, right?  

Then she went on to confess that she's a "huge drinker," adding that she recently switched from wine to bourbon, and that she especially loves drinking on planes. "Everyone is like so less annoying when I get to that point, that drinking point — everyone's great around me," she said in what could be interpreted as her using alcohol as a coping mechanism for social anxiety.  

Again, this is a fun anecdote that she told on a talk show, so it's unclear what amount of embellishment was going on, but at the very least, we're slightly worried that Cuoco doesn't seem to understand the concept of "that drinking point" being considered plastered.

This wordy, nerdy comedy has had a great run, but after 12 seasons and more than 200 episodes, it will live on only in reruns. The end of the series was reportedly sparked by star Jim Parsons' decision to call it a day, according to Entertainment Weekly.  

Kaley Cuoco, who signaled prior to Season 11 that she wasn't sure she was going to renew her contract, has definitely had a change of heart. In an Instagram post addressing the news, the actress wrote, "No matter when it was going to end, my heart would have always been broken in two." She also described herself and the cast as "drowning in tears" over the series' end.

Sure, that sounds melodramatic, but Cuoco's career has hinged on Big Bang since 2007, and it hasn't always been smooth sailing. Rumors of cast in-fighting, salary disputes, and Cuoco's alleged diva behavior have persisted, despite statements to the contrary. Combine that with the fact that history tells us when a hit television series ends, its stars' acting opportunities often flounder, and Cuoco has reason to worry.

Will she end up like so many of the cast members of shows such as Friends, Gilmore Girls, How I Met Your Mother, Full House, and more? Or can Cuoco break that cycle and deepen her acting career? Only time will tell.