15 Celebrity Duos You Didnt Know Were "Friends With Benefits"

Posted by Martina Birk on Wednesday, October 2, 2024

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For many guys, it's the ultimate dream. Having a girl to hook up with on a regular basis – who you like, but don't have to like – takes the fun and sexual chemistry of a long-term relationship, and divorces it from the hassle and commitment that generally comes with it. You don't have to meet her mom, you don't have to talk about kids, and you don't have to move in together.

If you're happy and she's happy, then it's really a best-case scenario, and unless somebody starts developing some stray feelings on the side, there aren't really any downsides. Everybody's chasing that scenario – and this is one way in which celebrities aren't any different to us. It might be a little more awkward for somebody in the public eye to be clocked spending extra-friendly time with somebody they're not technically dating, but that doesn't seem to have stopped the people on our list. Check out our ranking. Some of these might just surprise you.

15. Nick Jonas and Kate Hudson

My, those Jonas boys sure have changed since they first emerged on the pop music scene. They started off my wearing purity rings and singing about innocent themes to pre-teen girls. Fast forward a decade or so later and Nick Jonas is no longer that cute, curly-haired sweetie. He is totally sexed up and ready for action, and he has perfected the art of the smouldering eyes. Even his older brothers are no longer the straight-laced guys they were perceived to be. As for Nick, he ended up becoming friends with something more with actress Kate Hudson. Who cares about the age difference? While it may have been a bit of a shock (or at least a bit bizarre) to people in the music world and beyond, the pairing was one that we should have seen coming. After all, the Jonas Brothers are known for getting wrapped up with different kinds of girls.

14. Adam Duritz and Jennifer Aniston

Say what? Yeah, this may have been back in the late 1990s (you know, when The Counting Crows were actually relevant and popular,) but it looks like Jennifer Aniston was the sweetie pie to frontman Adam Duritz. Well, she may have never been his "official" girlfriend, but the actress and the singer definitely had something going on way back in the day. This is a relationship that sort of just fell by the wayside, and most people don’t even know about it anymore, especially once Jennifer got mixed up with Ben Affleck. And we all know how that Ben-Jen thing worked out. Anyway, Adam also got some action from another lovely lady of Hollywood: Courteney Cox, who starred in a Counting Crows music video in 1997. After appearing on the set with Adam, Courtney started to get cozy with the frontman, which was interesting considering she was good friends with Jen.

13. Joe Jonas and Taylor Swift

Seriously, though, who hasn’t Taylor Swift been “friends” with? We need more than two hands if we want to count the relationships and flings that Tay Tay has gone through. Even so, she did have a period of about three months in which she and another singer, Joe Jonas, were getting hot and steamy. Granted, no one really expected it to last, although a Joe and Taylor pairing might have been an OTP for some people. Needless to say, the whole thing was a flop and Joe probably ended up as the subject for one or more of Taylor’s catchy pop songs. Now, Joe is working his singing chops in the new band DNCE, which recently had Ashley Graham make an appearance in the sexy music video for “Toothbrush.” And by sexy, we mean Ashley and Joe exchanging some major lip action. As for Taylor, she recently split from long-time boyfriend Calvin Harris.

12. Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev

Anyone who is a fan of the hit TV series The Vampire Diaries knows that the actors are totally hot, and they would go so well together if only they would kindle a romance in real life, away from the camera. Well, it did happen because actor Ian Somerhalder and his co-star Nina Dobrev ended up having a little something something going on between them. And it was like a one true pairing for this Hollywood elite duo. Yet things did not pan out too well, because Ian and Nina stopped seeing each other and no longer had romantic little flings going on. Instead, it was Nina’s own friend Nikki Reed from the Twilight saga who started getting serious with Ian. In fact, the two of them hit it off and the paparazzi ate it up and now they are a married couple. Poor Nina. If only she had fangs in real life!

11. Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz

Remember way back when during the time Cameron Diaz was starring as the female lead in Bad Teacher? Justin Timberlake played her buttoned-up, goody two-shoes teacher colleague. Cameron’s character was a leggy, sexy, pot-smoking teacher, and she tried to get Justin’s character to go to the dark side with her. Well, Cam and JT did end up getting hot and heavy, just not on the set of Bad Teacher. The two were an item and had a little romance going on, and eventually that spread into a high-profile relationship. Unfortunately they broke up and Kate Hudson started dating Justin just two days later. Um, can you say girl fight? It looks like Cameron took it in stride and ended up with her own boy toy; professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez. Hmm...in the end it was actually Jessica Biel who got married to Justin Timberlake, so what now, Cam and Kate?

10. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens

The media have been hounding these guys ever since it came out that they were dating during High School Musical – but years after they officially called it quits, rumor has it that these two still like to get together every now and again for a little, ah… friendly catch-up. Supposedly, those leaked photographs of Hudgens were intended to be sent to him. Say no more. Recently this set-up may have gotten harder for them, though; Efron's packed movie schedule meant that he couldn't even make the High School Musical reunion show recently, to fans' great disappointment. What a shame, Zac; we're sure you were really bummed to miss it...or maybe not, because now Zac was skipping around town with Sami Miro for the past two years, but the couple called it quits back in April. The entrepreneurial model sure was a catch, but she didn’t stack up to the five-year relationship Zac had with Vanessa.

9. Drake and Teyana Taylor

Drake's a busy man in demand these days, but unsurprisingly he was always willing to make time to spend with beautiful R&B singer Teyana Taylor. They always insisted they were never dating, but both heavily hinted they also weren't "just friends." Chances are this one's gone cold recently, as Teyana is now engaged and recently became a mom, but who knows? The world of celebrity is wild and fickle, and people spend a lot of time apart from each other, forging new connections, and drifting apart from others. Maybe at some time in the future, that hotline will ring again. For the time being, Drake has his own drama to deal with. In recent news, the R&B singer is involved in a court case that originated back in 2014. Drake’s producer is suing the singer for assault, which Drake allegedly organized for his bodyguard to carry out. Hmm...

8. Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid

The ex-boyband member and gorgeous fashion model are photographed together all the time, most recently as he carried her out of her birthday party at the end of April 2016, but have never actually said they're dating. Media chins have been wagging since they were seen together at an AMAs after-party, but Gigi's appearance in the raunchy video for Malik's first solo single, "Pillowtalk," kind of settles the have-they-or-haven't-they uncertainty once and for all. (Just in case you haven't seen it? Yeah. They definitely have.) We guess that answers the question of whether he's over ex-fiancee Perrie Edwards, too. Regretting that huge forearm tattoo, Zayn? We shouldn’t be too hard on him, since he is trying to break out of the One Direction mold and be his own person. Even so, people were absolutely crushed to find out that he and Gigi Hadid had called it quits. They both seem to be doing well though!

7. Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner

Selena Gomez was famously pissed off by Justin Bieber's closeness to the Jenners while they were still dating – and maybe this is why. It's all speculation, but Kendall and Justin always seemed pretty flirtatious together in public back when these rumors started in 2015. Besides, they're both at the stage in their lives when a relationship like this would be extra beneficial. They're both so in demand right now that chances are they'd only see each other every now and then at special events. Maybe they really did spice up those dry award ceremonies and industry parties with a little something on the side? We may never know. For the time being, the Biebs is pretty happy with his new main squeeze, Nicola Peltz, who are having regular sleepovers at Justin’s home in Beverly Hills, California. This comes after Justin split up with his ex-girlfriend Hailey Baldwin. Man, the guy is non-stop!

6. Harry Styles and Kimberly Stewart

At the time, 19-year-old Harry was famous for preferring older women, and 33-year-old Kimberly certainly fitted that bill, with a whopping 14-year age gap between them. Can't fault the guy, mind. The real weird thing about this pair is that not long after rumors they were getting it on started circulating, Harry was pictured having dinner with her famous father, Rod Stewart. That's got to take some balls, especially as the couple never confirmed they were dating. Maybe Rod actually gave Harry a talking-to, however, as the rumors seemed to die down after that. Awkward...but not as awkward as Harry’s newest film role, even if it is just a rumor for the time being. It is said that Harry Styles is set to star as Mick Jagger in a new Rolling Stones biopic. Oh, say it ain’t so! We don’t think we can handle that. The closest thing we were okay with was Maroon 5’s Adam Levine doing the “Moves Like Jagger.”

5. Drake and Rihanna

Drake's certainly got quite the back catalog, but you can't fault the guy. Rihanna frequently tops lists of the world's sexiest women, and for good reason. God only knows how they manage to find time in their packed schedule to see each other for five minutes, let alone the occasional night of friendly fun, but the rumors are relatively persistent – and in the celebrity world, that likely means there's at least a pinch of truth to them. While Drake certainly has a lot going on, what’s been going on with RiRi? The saucy singer recently had a strange occurrence at a concert in Dublin. It started great, with her performing on an awesome glass-floored stage. But then, Rihanna just burst into tears and had to walk off the platform! She didn’t touch on why she cried during “Love the Way You Lie,” but she did thank her fans for their support. Stay tuned for this one!

4. Niall Horan and Ellie Goulding

Any fans of Ed Sheeran might know this already – but his hit song "Don't"' is rumored to be about the time Ellie Goulding cheated on him with boy band member Niall… while they were staying in the same hotel. Yikes. Rumors about Ellie and Niall have been thin on the ground since, but if the rumors are to be believed, then it definitely happened at least once. There's nothing say it hasn't happened again out of the public eye. They'd probably try to keep it out of the public eye after being dragged by Ed Sheeran for it, after all… Still, we’re sort of on Ed’s side here. After all, Niall is only 22 years old, while Ellie is 29, and while the age difference is not a huge deal, and this point in their lives and can create an ocean between them. So we’re not sad about this relationship not working out.

3. Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock

After both of them split with their long-time partners, rumors were rife that these two Hollywood A-Listers were spending time comforting each other in a decidedly friends-plus way. You can't blame either of them. Sandra Bullock is both gorgeous and hilarious, and Ryan Reynolds frequently tops polls in women's magazines. If they can get away with it, then why not? Still, the two of them just didn’t have marriage in the cards, but things have gone quite swimmingly for them. First of all, Ryan Reynolds is married to the ever-lovely Blake Lively, who is starring in the new film The Shallows. It’s Blake in a bikini; enough said. And Ryan smashed it in Deadpool. As for Sandra, she is the 14th highest-earning actress, she has adopted two lovely children and she is in a dating relationship with Bryan Randall, a professional photographer. Now that is a Hollywood ending that we can be happy with!

2. Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki

Their characters may be committed on The Big Bang Theory, but they sure aren't in real life. Ex-couple Cuoco and Galecki have denied that they're getting back together again for real, but sources close to them suggest that there's definitely something between them. You can even see what appears to be a photograph of the pair kissing on Galecki's Instagram account – though it isn't confirmed, and it's certainly not clear. Besides, both of them have also been connected up to other people recently. If it is true, however, we can't blame these two for making the most of their relationship. If they're still friendly with one another and they still have a good sexual connection, why steer clear? We're all adults here. Good on them. But not good on Kaley’s divorce from Ryan Sweeting. We were sorry to hear about that, but maybe it paves the way for she and Johnny Galecki to rekindle their previous romance? Wink wink!

1. Harry Styles and Kendall Jenner

This story has been the tabloids' favorite over the past six months or so, and pictures showing them spending time on a luxury yacht together in the Caribbean only added fuel to the fire. Sources close to the pair claim they're more than friends, but Kendall and Harry themselves have kept mysteriously quiet on the subject. Mr. Styles is well-known for at least trying not to kiss and tell, refusing to confirm details of any of his relationships – but if they were genuinely dating, you'd think Kendall Jenner would be giving interviews everywhere. Any headline with a Kardashian in it only bolsters the family bank account, after all. Added to the fact that both these celebrities have appeared connected to other people on this list, this leaves some room to suggest they might not be dating at all – just enjoying a friends with benefits scenario. If so, there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

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