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10 celebs being totally honest about marriage: From Holly Willoughby to David Beckham

From overcoming infidelity to dealing with weaknesses

Nichola Murphy
Deputy Lifestyle Editor
April 20, 2022
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Their lives may look picture-perfect on the TV and on social media, but celebrities such as Coleen Rooney, Jamie Oliver and David Beckham experience the same relationship realities at home as everyone else.

READ: David Beckham jokingly reveals regret over wedding gift for son Brooklyn and wife Nicola Peltz

While some like to keep their marriages private, others have opened up about their partners. Take a look at when our favourite stars have been totally honest about their relationships…

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Coleen Rooney

Coleen and Wayne Rooney's relationship was thrust into the spotlight following their documentary, Rooney, which covered the football star's infidelities. 

Wayne told MailOnline: "There have been mistakes in the past, which I have always held my hands up to. It was tough for me to do it and for Coleen to do it.

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The Rooneys got married in 2008

"When tough moments have come up, we have sat down and spoke about them and figured out how we are going to get through it."

Mother-of-four Coleen also discussed continuing her marriage with Wayne, saying: "When you're making those decisions you've got to focus on what you want and not what else.

"Obviously, I listen to the people who matter to me - my mum and dad and they've always given me a positive outlook on things and there's nothing that we can't deal with."

She continued: "Hopefully he's learnt and he doesn't get himself into any of them horrible situations again. But it's happened and I've got to live with it and if I couldn't cope with living with it I would have ended the relationship."

Jamie Oliver

jamie jools oliver wedding

Jamie said marriage is "really hard"

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart Jools in 2000, and he described marriage as "really hard."

On The Joe Wicks Podcast, the star explained: "Marriage is really hard, you are going to spend a proportion of it not liking your other half and vice versa," he said. "So I think not holding grudges, being able to move on is really important. Just keeping at it."

He went on to say: "But I love Jools to bits and I'm really proud of the woman she has become, growing into. I think a lot of women struggle with ageing, but I've really enjoyed seeing Jools change throughout the years, I really have. She's definitely my best mate.

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"Also when you live in a big family, it's chaos, mate. We go from hugs and kisses one second to utter carnage and tears the next. You've just got to keep on going and hope it all works out."

When asked about keeping things harmonious, he advised: "I know this sounds really cheesy but try to be romantic with presents, be really thoughtful with things. As you get older you use up a lot of your old tricks, so you have to try things like cooking a meal."

David Beckham

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David and Victoria on their wedding day in 1999

David Beckham and his wife Victoria have gone through "tough times" but the former footballer said they are committed to putting in "hard work" to overcome any problems. 

"Marriage is always about hard work. You know your children - they want your time and they deserve your time, and difficult situations like travelling away, being away from each other you know, you make it work," David said on The Sunday Project.

He added on Desert Island Discs in 2017: "Of course, you make mistakes over the years, and we all know marriage is difficult at times. It's about working through it.

"We stay together because we love each other, because we have four amazing children. Do you go through tough times? Of course. That's part of relationships. It's part of marriages. It's part of having children. It's part of having responsibilities."

Michelle Obama

michelle obama wedding photograph© Photo: Rex

The former FLOTUS opened up about how she makes her marriage work

Michelle and Barack Obama tied the knot in 1992, and the former FLOTUS discussed their relationship in an episode of The Michelle Obama Podcast. She said: "There's no magic way to make [marriage] happen except getting the basics of finding somebody, being honest about wanting to be with them, to date them seriously, to plan on making a commitment, to date them, seeing where it goes, and then making it happen."

She added that their relationship was tested during Barack's Presidency but they came out stronger because of it. During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, TV host Ellen said: "A lot of relationships go through a lot of things to test it. I imagine your partner being President of the United States would be very stressful." Michelle jokingly replied: "That was a hassle. That was a thing."

She continued: "That time in the White House, because we were working on hard things all the time, it brought us closer. We had to be each other's best friends. 

"We lived in the bubble with each other, we had to learn how to get along because that was the person I was seeing all the time. We understand what we both went through and we have that unique experience."

Holly Willoughby

holly dan

The This Morning star has made a few comments about her marriage

Holly Willoughby previously opened up about her and husband Dan Baldwin's weaknesses and how they deal with them. "Support is everything in mine and Dan's relationship," the This Morning star said in 2020, according to Red Magazine.

"He’s very solid ground; he is where I fall. And he knows when something is wrong – it makes me feel emotional even thinking about it. But of course he has weaknesses; we both do. The key is holding up each other’s strengths and not poking at each other’s weaknesses.

"There are little moments that I really cherish when he tells me he's proud of me and vice versa."

MORE: Holly Willoughby discusses anger in marriage with Dan Baldwin

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Harry Redknapp

harry redknapp sandra wedding© Photo: ITV

Harry and Sandra got married in 1967

There's no denying that Harry Redknapp is besotted with his wife Sandra, whom he married on 30 June 1967 after meeting at their local pub aged 17. The 75-year-old ex-West Ham manager told HELLO! in 2019: "Keep calm. It's like people get road rage - 10 seconds and it will calm down. Don't argue."

Heaping praise on his beloved wife, Harry continued: "She is so placid you couldn't have a row with Sandra if you tried. If I ever do get uptight she goes, 'Look at you, calm down.' And then five seconds later I have calmed down, and that's it really."

He added: "I know it might sound corny, but we very rarely have an argument - we really don't, we get on great which is very lucky really. You are lucky to get on so well with someone and enjoy being with someone so much - I love being with Sandra - I love it, she's my life!"

Dolly Parton

dolly parton carl dean wedding© Photo: Getty Images

Dolly Parton commented on their star signs

Country music superstar Dolly Parton has been married to Carl Dean since 1966 and she put their long-lasting relationship down to their star signs.

"We are good friends, we respect each other. We like each other. And I'm a Capricorn and he is a Cancer and, if you follow that kind of stuff, [they] are compatible suns," she told Access Hollywood.

"I stay gone a lot so we aren’t in each other's face a lot, but more than anything we are good friends."

She continued: "We have a similar sense of humor, we are both funny [although] our sense of humors [can] differ, but we are very entertaining let’s put it that way. We are both able to find the humor in anything or make some humor for whatever it is."

Nicole Kidman

nicole kidman keith

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban don't want to be a "pin-up couple"

Keith Urban claimed that he and his wife Nicole Kidman are "as normal as you get". During an interview on Jessica Rowe's podcast series, The Big Talk Show, he explained: "We're just a couple who work things out, go through things together, life, and support each other the best way we can and try and raise our family.

"Underneath it all, we're as normal as you can get I reckon."

Big Little Lies star Nicole, 54, also admitted that she didn't want people to aspire to have a relationship like theirs. "We don't want to be a pin-up couple," she said, adding: "Everyone has the right to their own relationship. We are just very protective of our little bubble. What works for us is what works for us."

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Blake Lively

Blake Lively ryan

The stars got married in 2012

They are notoriously private about their home life, but Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds - who tied the knot in 2012 - have made a few comments about their marriage in the past. The former Gossip Girl actress said: "In other relationships, if something came up I would call my girlfriends or my sister, and say, 'Hey, this is what he did – what should I do?' Whereas with him, we were friends for two years before we were ever dating. And I treat him like my girlfriend."

Ryan also told Humans of New York: "She always responds with empathy. She meets anger with empathy. She meets hate with empathy. She'll take the time to imagine what happened to a person when they were five or six years old. And she's made me a more empathetic person. I had a very fractured relationship with my father. Before he died, she made me remember things I didn't want to remember. She made me remember the good times."

Hugh Jackman

hugh jackman wife

Hugh Jackman and his wife have been married since 1996

Since exchanging vows in 1996, Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness have always done what is "good for our family."

In an extract from The Father Hood: Inspiration for the New Dad Generation, published by WHO magazine, Hugh wrote: "Before we had kids, Deb and I made a pretty simple but powerful choice to look each other in the eye at every crossroads in life. Those crossroads are sometimes big, sometimes they're small, sometimes you don't even realise they're crossroads until you look back."

He continued: "But at those moments, we said we'd ask each other, 'Is this good or bad for our marriage?' Or, now that we've got kids, 'Is this good or bad for our family?' And as often as possible, we do the thing that is good for our family."

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