Stars Who Left Their Wives For Younger Women

Some men treat their wives like cars: after a few years (or in some cases, a decade of two), they like to trade up for a newer model. That adage proves itself especially true in Hollywood, where celebs have no shortage of options for new loves. Here are some of the worst offenders.

Ronnie Wood

Rock n' roll icon Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones met his wife, Jo, in 1977 and married her in 1985. Everything was pretty peachy for the hard-partying couple until 2009. What happened then? 

Wood reportedly met 18-year-old cocktail waitress Ekaterina Ivanova and wasn't discreet about his dalliances with her—he even introduced her to his own wife! 

In Jo's autobiography (via the Daily Mail), she claims Ronnie and Ivanova drunkenly arrived at Ronnie and Jo's home in the wee hours one morning. Jo claims that Ivanova, still allegedly wasted, tried using her gas stove to light her cigarette and caught her own hair on fire. Jo said she used a damp washrag to put it out–a move she admitted to the Daily Mail that she may regret. The incident supposedly ended with Ronnie telling Jo, "Isn't she funny? She reminds me of you when you were young." Uh, ouch.

Kelsey Grammer

In a move so cold it befits Lilith more than Frasier Crane, actor Kelsey Grammer announced a shotgun engagement to a much younger woman before the ink had dried on his divorce papers with Camille Grammer.

Grammer and Camille wed in August 1997, and the couple had two sons together. In July 2010, Camille, then 43, abruptly filed for divorce from Kelsey, then 55, citing "irreconcilable differences." Kelsey quickly proposed to then-29-year-old British flight attendant Kayte Walsh. He married Walsh in February 2011, a mere two weeks after he finalized his divorce from Camille, with whom he still doesn't get along. Kelsey and Kayte are now parents to sons Kelsey Jr. and Auden James Ellis, as well as daughter Faith.

Ryan Phillippe

Ryan Phillippe was one of the prettiest pin-up boys of the late 1990s. He and Reese Witherspoon, who co-starred together in Cruel Intentions (1999), tied the knot in a shotgun wedding in 1999 when Witherspoon was 23 and Phillippe was 25. They soon became parents to daughter Ava and son Deacon and were considered a golden (or at least golden-haired) couple until 2007. 

That's when Phillippe reportedly met Australian actress Abbie Cornish on the set of Stop Loss (2007). Witherspoon filed for divorce, and Phillippe stepped out with Cornish, who is about six years younger than his ex.

Marilyn Manson

Burlesque starlet Dita Von Teese married self-proclaimed Antichrist Superstar Marilyn Manson when she was 33 to his 37, but less than a year later, their romance kicked the bucket. Though Von Teese never mentioned her by name, she told the Daily Telegraph that their divorce involved another woman.

"I wasn't supportive about his partying or his relationship with another girl and as much as I loved him," Von Teese said. "I wasn't going to be part of that." That "other girl" was widely believed to be then-19-year-old Evan Rachel Wood, who would later star in Manson's Lolita-inspired music video for "Heart-Shaped Glasses." Subtle.

Eddie Cibrian

Eddie Cibrian married model Brandi Glanville in 2001. The couple have two sons together, Mason and Jake. In 2009, Cibrian, then 36, co-starred with LeAnn Rimes, then 27, in the Lifetime movie Northern Lights (2009), and they began an alleged affair–both were married at the time. 

He and Glanville, who was 36 at the time, divorced in 2009, as did Rimes and then-husband Dean Sheremet. Cibrian's divorce was finalized in 2010, and he and Rimes tied the knot in 2011.

Robert Rodriguez

Director Robert Rodriguez wed producer Elizabeth Avellán in 1990. In 2006, when Avellán was 49, the pair divorced. Rodriguez was filming Grindhouse at the time with muse Rose McGowan, then 33. McGowan would later become his fiancée until they split in 2009. 

Interestingly, Rodriguez and Avellán's professional relationship continued after their divorce, with his ex producing many of his films—even Grindhouse. Rodriguez later hinted that he may have regretted the relationship with McGowan.

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise married Mimi Rogers in 1987 when he was still a rising star. By 1989, his fame had skyrocketed, making him a 27-year-old megastar married to a 33-year-old middling actress. Then Cruise met a 22-year-old Nicole Kidman on the set of Days of Thunder (1990). The year the movie debuted, Cruise divorced Rogers and married Kidman, with whom he shares two adopted children. 

In 2001, Cruise reportedly blindsided Kidman with divorce and rebounded with actress Penelope Cruz, who was then 27 to Kidman's 34 and Cruise's 41. Cruise and Cruz dated from 2001 to 2004.

Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor was married to French production designer Eve Mavrakis for 22 years. The couple share three biological children and one adopted child. In October 2017, McGregor, 46, and Mavrakis, 51, made headlines when they announced their breakup—after McGregor was spotted kissing his Fargo co-star, 32-year-old Mary Elizabeth Winstead. 

The Sun reported that while McGregor insisted nothing untoward happened with Winstead before he and Mavrakis secretly split in May 2017, rumor has it Mavrakis thinks he cheated.

Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck, then 30, was engaged to Jennifer Lopez, then 33, in 2003. Then he met Jennifer Garner, who was also 30 at the time, and ditched Bennifer 1.0 for Bennifer 2.0. 

People reported that more than a decade later, Affleck began to cheat on wife Garner with a younger woman, Saturday Night Live producer Lindsay Shookus. 

After he and Garner separated, Affleck began to publicly date Shookus, despite the fact that he was still legally married to Garner and Shookus was still legally married to her husband, Kevin Miller.

Marc Anthony

Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez were married from 2004 to 2011. When they separated, Lopez was 41 to Anthony's 42. He rebounded with Shannon De Lima, who was just 23 when they met. 

When Lopez and Anthony's divorce was finalized, he walked down the aisle with De Lima, but the new Mrs. Anthony divorced the singer in 2017.

Rowan Atkinson

Aw, come on, Mr. Bean! In 2013, British comedian and actor Rowan Atkinson divorced his wife of 23 years, Sunetra Sastry (pictured,) who was 56 to his then-62. He very quickly moved on to Louise Ford, a then-31-year-old actress. That rebound was considered "unreasonable behavior" by a judge, who settled Atkinson and Sastry's divorce in just 65 seconds

For what it's worth, Atkinson and Ford are still going strong, but only time will tell if she ages herself out of his demographic, too.

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were one of the most popular couples on the planet during their five-year marriage. They infamously divorced in 2005, when Pitt was 41, Aniston was 36, and Pitt's Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie was 30. 

Pitt and Jolie were together for 12 years (married for two) before they split in September 2016—though it's unclear if and when that divorce will be finalized.

Sean Penn

Sean Penn was married to Robin Wright for 11 years when they separated and almost divorced–the couple withdrew the divorce petition in 2008. That same year, Penn, then 48, started dating model Petra Nemcova, then 28, while still married to Wright, then 43. After he and Wright split for good in 2010, he almost immediately took up with actress Scarlett Johansson, who was 26 at the time.

Jason Aldean

Jason Aldean, then 36, was married to Jessica Ussery, then 38, for 12 years when they split in 2013. The reason for the divorce? People reported that Aldean was busted getting handsy with American Idol reject Brittany Kerr, then 25. Aldean and Kerr tied the knot in 2015. The couple announced the birth of their first child, a son named Memphis, on Dec. 1, 2017.

Billy Crudup

Though they never made it down the aisle, Billy Crudup was expecting a child with actress and longtime girlfriend Mary-Louise Parker in 2003. Crudup was 35 to Parker's 39. Then Crudup met a 24-year-old Claire Danes. 

He dumped Parker and took up with Danes, his co-star in 2004's Stage Beauty. Crudup and Danes were together for four years. Danes later told Howard Stern (via Us Weekly), "I was just in love with him and needed to explore that and I was 24... I didn't quite know what those consequences would be."

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone was married to first wife Sasha Czack from 1974 to 1985, and they had two kids. Czack was 35 when he left her for model and actress Brigitte Nielsen (pictured left,) who was 22 when she married Stallone in 1985. Nielsen and Stallone were married for two years. He and Nielsen divorced in 1987, and almost immediately after the ink dried on that split, Stallone took up with current wife Jennifer Flavin (pictured right,) who was just 19 at the time. He and Flavin have been together, save for a brief split, ever since.

Tony Curtis

The late Tony Curtis was a serial younger-woman-pursuer. He divorced first wife Janet Leigh (pictured left) in 1963 when she was 35 for a then-18-year-old Christine Kaufmann (pictured center.) He divorced Kaufmann in 1968 when she was 23 and quickly took off with Leslie Allen (whose age has gone unreported) the same year. He and Allen divorced in 1982. Two years later, he wed Andrea Savio, who was 21 at the time. He divorced Savio in 1992, when she was 29, and married attorney Lisa Deutsch (whose age was also unreported) in 1993. They divorced just 10 months later, and he married Jill Ann Vandenberg (pictured right,) who was 27 at the time—45 years younger than Curtis. Vandenberg and Curtis remained together until his death in 2010.

Patrick Stewart

Sir Patrick Stewart was married to second wife Wendy Neuss, then 49, when he met Lisa Dillon, then 24, in late 2003. He and Neuss (pictured left) divorced and he dated Dillon until 2007. After they split, he met and married jazz singer Sunny Ozell in 2009. While Ozell (pictured right) is much younger than Stewart and Neuss, she's actually about a year older than Dillon.

Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart has a type: hot, blond, and younger than his previous lover. He and his first wife Alana Stewart (pictured left) were 34 when they tied the knot in 1979. In 1983—before his and Alana's divorce was finalized—Rod hooked up with model Kelly Emberg, who was 24 at the time to Alana's 38. He and Emberg dated from 1983 to 1990, when he met and married model Rachel Hunter—when Emberg was 31 and Hunter was 21. He and Hunter (pictured center) were married until 2006, when Rod met model Penny Lancaster, who was 34 to Hunter's 37. Here's hoping Lancaster (pictured right) invested in Olay and maybe a fake ID saying she's 10 years younger, or else she may not be the last Mrs. Stewart.

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp wasn't legally married to Vanessa Paradis, but they were together for 14 years and had two kids (daughter Lily Rose and son Jack) and seemed like a rock-solid couple. That is, until Depp co-starred with Amber Heard in 2011's The Rum Diary. Depp and Heard hit it off during filming, and Depp, then 49, and Paradis, then 39, announced their split in June 2012. 

Depp and Heard started traipsing around the globe together and tied the knot in February 2015 when she was 28. They eventually split in May 2016, and it got ugly until they finalized their divorce in early 2017.

Ric Ocasek

The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek was married to wife Suzanne for 16 years when he met 19-year-old model Paulina Porizkova (pictured) on the set of the "Drive" music video. Shortly after, he and Suzanne divorced, and he and Porizkova became inseparable. They married in 1995 and have been together ever since.

Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson's 2009 divorce from Robyn Moore was expensive. The couple was together for nearly 30 years and had no prenuptial agreement, costing the actor close to half of his estimated $850 million fortune. Robyn, then 53, and Gibson, then 55, reportedly split up when he impregnated pianist Oksana Grigorieva, then 39. 

The Braveheart star's relationship with Grigorieva (pictured left) also cost him, It ended in an acrimonious custody battle over their daughter, Lucia, and legal proceedings rife with accusations of gold-digging and domestic abuse.

It's worth noting that Gibson's love interests have continued to decrease in age. In 2017, he welcomed his ninth child, son Lars Gerard Gibson, with his 26-year-old girlfriend, former equestrian vaulter Rosalind Ross (pictured right.)