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From Kyle Richards to Brian Austin Green, these stars have admitted to having regrets about past relationships.
Relationships can be filled with highs and lows -- and while there are usually many cherished moments for couples throughout a romance, there are some times that also cause regret. While reflecting on past relationships, many former partners realize there are moments they wish they could have acted differently and changed how things turned out.
These relationship regrets are just a part of life but recognizing faults are an important part of growth. Even celebrities have admitted to having regrets about past relationships but they know that learning from their mistakes makes them a better partner in the future.
Find out what these stars regret about their relationships…
1. Brian Austin Green
Back when Brian Austin Green was a young actor starring on Beverly Hills, 90210, he dated Tiffani Thiessen for several years. Things were going well in their relationship until Tiffani joined the cast of his show and began to have intimate scenes with his costars. Looking back, Brian says he regrets being so jealous of her onscreen moments with other actors, with their relationship eventually ending just a year later.
“I was incredibly jealous every time she would f--king have to work with anybody else because we’d already been doing the show for four years. Like this is my family,” Brian shared on the Let’s Be Clear podcast. “I used to bring Tiffani to events so she knew everybody from then. Then all of a sudden she's doing sex scenes and s--t with people that were like my family and my brothers.”
He continued, “It was strange. I remember I was really just f--king jealous and boisterous. Looking back on it, I can't imagine what that was like for her.”
2. Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian made headlines when she began dating Pete Davidson but while reflecting on their romance after their split, she says she regrets “jumping into another relationship so fast.” Kim explained that after her divorce from Kanye West, she should have worked on healing instead of dating someone else.
“It got my mind away from stuff and that's not a way to run from things,” Kim said on an episode of The Kardashians. “It’s better to deal. Heal…Deal, heal and then feel.”
3. Kyle Richards
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards and her friend Morgan Wade have been the subject of dating rumors amid her separation from ex Mauricio Umansky -- and she says she regrets unintentionally thrusting Morgan into the spotlight. While discussing their relationship, Kyle explained that the media attention has given Morgan anxiety.
“She’s an artist, you know? She just wants to make music and all of a sudden she was thrust into this like, world of gossip and tabloids and traveling and having paparazzi take pictures of her. She just doesn’t like any of that,” she said during an Amazon Live session.
She continued, “She just wants to make music and all of a sudden I had a lot of guilt, you know, that I put her in this position. Of course I feel bad because it gave her anxiety, you know? Seeing these headlines, and like I said, just thrust into the spotlight brought her anxiety. Like myself, she suffers from anxiety, so I felt terrible to have put her in that position.”
4. Charlie Hunnam
Charlie Hunnam has been dating his girlfriend Morgana McNelis for over a decade but he admits he regrets some comments he made about marriage during their relationship. In 2020, Charlie publicly said he was “sort of indifferent” to marriage and didn’t have “any great romantic feelings towards it” -- despite the fact that Morgan wanted to get married. His comments didn’t sit well with Morgan and he later said he regretted his statements.
“I have to say that really hurt my girlfriend’s feelings. I really regretted saying that, cause I actually didn’t mean it at all. it was just, frankly, some stupid s--t I said in the heat of the moment,” Charlie explained.
He continued, “I’m like so romantic! The reality is I sort of consider myself married. I’ve been with my girlfriend for 14 years... I suppose what I was trying to articulate was that the official government sanctioning of it doesn't mean anything to me; but the romance of it means an enormous amount. I really regret saying that.”
5. Ryan Phillippe
Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon’s relationship ended in divorce and looking back, Ryan says he regrets that they got married so young. The couple was in their early 20s when they tied the knot and split after seven years of marriage.
“I think more of the problem was age. When we got together we were so young,” Ryan said on Larry King Now. “I think it can create issues with two people in this industry because there’s so much noise that goes along with it.”
6. Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman was just 23 when she tied the knot with Tom Cruise and looking back, she also admits she was too young to get married. While she knows it was what she wanted at the time, she says she can't help but to now compare herself to other people who are around the age she got married.
“I was so young when I got married. I look back now and I’m like, ‘What?’” she shared with Red magazine in 2016. “You look at Taylor Swift, I mean how old is she? She’s 26. I had two kids by the time I was 27 and I’d been married for four years. But that’s what I wanted.”
7. Vanessa Hudgens
When Vanessa Hudgens was still dating her High School Musical co-star Zac Efron, she says she let the pressure of their relationship being in the spotlight get to her. Reflecting on the situation, she says she regrets becoming a mean person because of all the attention on Zac.
“I went through a phase when I was really mean because I was so fed up,” Vanessa shared with the New York Times. “Girls were running after him, and I was giving them death stares. Then I realized that’s not what that’s about. ‘Spread the love, be a good person, they support you, be nice.’”
8. Jada Pinkett Smith
When Jada Pinkett Smith first began dating Will Smith, he was still married to his ex-wife Sheree Fletcher. Reflecting on the situation, Jada says she regrets beginning their relationship while Will was still married to someone else.
“Because I did not understand marriage, I did not understand divorce. I will say that I probably should’ve fell back,” she said on an episode of Red Table Talk with Sheree. “I would’ve fell back because I feel like when Will and I first started dating there was this thing in my mind you did that and that’s done but that’s where I was wrong…So when I think back to where I was, some of my insensitivities, some of my inconsideration, just in regards to you guys unwinding a marriage and me trying to get in there.”
9. Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis is now happily married to Ashton Kutcher but when she was a young actress, she dated Macaulay Culkin for eight years. Mila has never shared why their relationship came to an end but she admits she does regret the way things concluded for the couple.
“I was an ass in my 20s and I’ll be the first to admit it. And that’s something that took me a long time to come out and be like, ‘Yeah, you know what, I was a d--k,’ and accept it and I own it now,” Mila shared on the Armchair Expert podcast. “It’s f--ked up what I did and it’s f--ked up how I did it. When I got to be single I said, ‘I just need to figure myself out.’ I genuinely need to know why I did what I did, and, like, regroup myself as a human being.”
10. Kristen Bell
Early in Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard’s relationship, she says she acted a certain way whenever the couple fought, which she now regrets. Kristen explained that whenever things got hard, she would leave -- and Dax finally told her that she couldn’t put him through that anymore.
“We’d get in a fight, because we would fight a lot, and I’d, like, yell something then slam the bedroom door, then I’d slam the front door, then I’d get in my car and then I’d skid out the driveway and I would sit around the corner in my car and it felt so good and I realized how incredibly toxic it was only after he pointed it out,” she explained on Harry.
She continued, “Three months into our relationship he was like, ‘You can’t leave anymore during fights. I’m not going to do that.' I was like, ‘What?’ He’s like you can’t do that, I’m not going to have a relationship, he has a very high standard and a strong code of ethics. He was like, ‘No, I have more respect for myself, I love you but I'm not going to do that my whole life.’”
11. Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones may still be married but for a time, they took a step away from their relationship. When they reconciled, Michael admitted that he had regretfully taken his relationship with Catherine for granted.
“First you have to admit that you made a mistake, then dealing with it is easy. Of course it’s important to make mistakes, as long as you grow from them,” he told The Sun. “When you are younger you care what other people think and you take the person closest to you for granted. You waste a lot of energy on strangers to make a good impression. When you’re older you focus that energy on the people closest to you, on your family. And you’re courteous.”
12. Ben McKenzie
Before Ben McKenzie tied the knot with his wife Morena Baccarin, he says he had trouble listening in his relationships. Looking back on past romances, Ben says he regrets not paying more attention to his past partners and dropped his ego.
“It’s a bit of a cliché, but basically I wish I’d listened more. Get over your ego a bit. Listen to a different perspective and you almost always modify your position and realize you’re probably too dogmatic, too competitive, too jealous, too frustrated. I love women for being able to knock that sh*t out of you,” Ben told Elle.
