Why Celebrities Date Other Celebrities

Anyone with even a passing interest in popular culture will know that one of the characteristic behaviors of famous people is that at any given time they are probably dating someone else who is well known. This dating phenomena seems remarkably constant. It's also odd. Opposites are supposed to attract, remember! Yet in the rarefied world of celebrities it seems that like attracts like.

I have often wondered why this occurs. Here are a few possible explanations:

Because celebrities are egomaniacs, they only ever do anything if it will garner them still more attention. Obviously, dating another famous person is a very quick and efficient way of achieving this. The fact that a star has a new relationship is news, after all. If it's with another celebrity it is deemed even more newsworthy. It's as if the media coverage that results is greater than the sum of its parts. Definitely a good career move for both parties!

A celebrity breakup gets a lot of coverage, too. So both ex-lovers benefit here. Then they are each free to find another celebrity to date and do the whole thing all over again!

A less cynical motivation for celebrities dating each other might be that they don't get to know anyone else. Constantly on movie and television sets, on the road, or jetting across the globe, they just never get a chance to become romantically attached to normal, everyday people. So they fall in love with those who are around them most often. (Of course, many male actors and rock stars are notorious lady killers, sleeping with countless anonymous women. However, they don't get emotionally involved with them as a rule. That tends to happen most often with female stars - well, for a few months anyway.)

Then there's a phenomenon seen amongst famous actors which is a kind of "Method" approach to love. That's when two single actors are playing lovers in a film, and they end up in a relationship in real life. They have inhabited their respective roles so completely that they made the love real, and just couldn't let go of it afterwards.

Lifestyle could also be a major factor. It must be very strange to have every almost waking moment - both private and public - so heavily scrutinized. Only another famous person could really understand how it felt, and therefore not let it damage the relationship.

I think that out of all the reasons listed, the first is probably the most common. But each star coupling could involve a combination of these motivations.

Whatever the reason, relationships of this kind are a very frequent occurrence. They also seem to be doomed to failure in most cases. Sure, there are some stars who manage to stay together in long and happy relationships - for instance Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. But they are definitely the exception and not the rule.

That's kind of sad when you think about it. But the tabloids certainly aren't complaining. Without the constant turnover of glamorous new couplings, they would probably go out of business!