Surprising reality TV splits

By Megan Riedlinger 6:04am PST, Feb 10, 2021

Is there a reality TV curse for romantic relationships? Allowing your love story to take place in front of the camera doesn't always work out. Wonderwall.com is rounding up the most shocking splits in reality TV history. First up? Carly Waddell and Evan Bass, who seemed to have a picture-perfect marriage after meeting on "Bachelor in Paradise" back in 2016. Viewers watched their relationship blossom as Carly went from skeptical to smitten with Evan then witnessed their engagement at the end of the season. They married in 2017 and welcomed two children together over the next two years before shocking Bachelor Nation in December 2020 when they announced it was over. Keep reading to see more surprising reality TV breakups…

After 21 years of marriage, no one expected "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne and hubby Tom Girardi to end things. The longtime couple shocked everyone when Erika filed for divorce in November 2020. Things only got more scandalous as reports revealed the wealthy couple were actually in some pretty serious money trouble.

We watched "The Real Housewives of New York" favorite Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy wed in 2010 on her spinoff show "Bethenny Getting Married" and got a front-row seat to their newlywed years with her other spinoff, "Bethenny Ever After." But the fairy tale ended in 2012 when the couple split. They've had a wildly contentious divorce that's gone on for nearly a decade. In the fall of 2020, Bethenny admitted on "Watch What Happens Live" that they're still not officially divorced!

We're still not over this one! After charming audiences for two years on "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica," pop stars Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson called it quits in November 2005 — the same year their popular MTV show came to an end.

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Jenni "JWoww" Farley and Roger Mathews seemed like a match made in reality TV heaven. Viewers watched their relationship blossom on season 1 of "Jersey Shore," which documented their summer 2009 meeting. They started dating the next year — which was all shown on season 3 of JWoww's MTV reality show — and by 2012, they were engaged. They welcomed daughter Mailani in 2014, wed in 2015 and added son Greyson to the family in 2016. But they ultimately called it quits in 2018 after three years of marriage, surprising "Shore" fans in the process. They attempted to reunite later that year, but things got messy in December 2018 when JWoww filed a temporary order of protection against her ex.

Though Yolanda Hadid and David Foster seemed madly in love, fans could tell things had started to change when the camera began to roll on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." As she battled Lyme disease in the spotlight, David seemed less supportive and ultimately, Yolanda announced their split in December 2015 after four years of marriage and nine years together.

There aren't many Bachelor Nation couples who've gone the distance, but fans thought "The Bachelorette" success story Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum were the real deal. The couple married in a grand TV special back in 2012 after falling for each other on Ashley's season and went on to have two children and become the portrait of a happy marriage. They even opted to renew their vows in August 2018! But unfortunately, that renewal didn't work and a little more than two years later, the couple split. Fans were shocked when, after eight years of marriage, they announced their separation in October 2020.

Though they weren't fan favorites by any means, Alexis and Jim Bellino seemed to be a match made in heaven on "The Real Housewives of Orange County." But off-camera, things weren't great. So much so that Jim filed for divorce in 2018, five years after the couple left the Bravo show.

Fans were delighted to see Khloe Kardashian find love with Lamar Odom on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and marry him just a month after they met in 2009. Despite the quick time table, the couple seemed to be madly in love. They renewed their wedding vows for their one-year anniversary and landed their own spinoff series in 2010, "Khloe & Lamar," which ran for two seasons. Unfortunately, after the NBA star's arrest for driving under the influence and allegations of substance abuse and cheating, Khloe filed for divorce in December 2013 after four years of marriage. They remained amicable, however, and Khloe flew to be by his side after he fell into a coma and was hospitalized in 2015 following a drug overdose. She even rescinded the divorce filing — leading fans to believe they might reunite after all. But really, it was just so she could ensure he got the right medical care as he recovered. In 2016, Khloe filed once more, and their divorce was finalized later that year.

"Mrs. Eastwood and Company" surprisingly let cameras document parts of a real Hollywood marriage — that of Oscar winner Clint Eastwood and his then-wife, Dina Ruiz, a former journalist. Clint didn't make many appearances on the show — which centered around his daughters Francesca and Morgan and Dina's career as a band manager — when it aired in 2012. But that seemed to be long enough to cue the reality curse: Dina filed for divorce a year later after 17 years of marriage.

"The Real Housewives of New York City" fans were sad to see this split. Despite Ramona Singer and Mario Singer renewing their vows on camera during season 3 in 2009 to mark their 17th wedding anniversary, they eventually split in 2014 after Ramona reportedly caught him cheating. The couple, who share daughter Avery, had their divorce finalized in 2016.

Dave Navarro and Carmen Electra risked the reality TV curse when they signed on to star on MTV"s "'Til Death Do Us Part" a year after tying the knot. Unfortunately, the couple fell victim to that curse after seven episodes on the network in 2004 — Carmen filed for divorce from Dave in 2006.

"The Real Housewives of New York City" star Jules Wainstein surprised Bravo viewers in 2016 when she announced her decision to split from hubby Michael Wainstein. She'd only been on one season of the show, but the couple had been married for eight years and shared two kids together. The surprising split got messy shortly thereafter with Jules claiming Michael cheated and Michael claiming Jules once assaulted him… only to then later call police and have her arrested in 2020 for alleging battering him in front of their kids. Their divorce was finalized later that year.

VH1's "Hogan Knows Best" gave us an inside look at Hulk Hogan's family life. A big part of that was his happy marriage with Linda Bollea as the show ran from 2005 until 2007. But the same year it ended, their relationship was over too. Linda filed for divorce in 2007 after 25 years of marriage and claimed Hulk had had an affair with one of their daughter's friends.

This one was shocking for Bravo lovers… and for one-half of this couple! In 2013, "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Porsha Williams found out along with the rest of the world — on Twitter — that her marriage had come to an end Yep, the reality star learned that husband Kordell Stewart, to whom she'd been married for almost two years, was leaving her. The couple's divorce was finalized later that year.

Sam Poueu and Stephanie Anderson found love on "The Biggest Loser" in 2010. The couple lost a whopping 241 pounds combined and Sam sweetly decided to propose on the show's "The Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now" special. They married two years later in 2012. Fans were shocked when just a year later, they split while Stephanie was pregnant with their first child!

Though they certainly did their fair share of bickering, fans of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" were still surprised to learn that Adrienne Maloof and Paul Nassif were going their separate ways. The couple had been married for 10 years when they announced the end of their marriage in 2012, a split that went down during season 3 of the show.