9 Celebs Who Survived Being Cheated On
These humiliated spouses came out looking like good guys after their significant others strayed.
Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock A look at a few famous spouses who came out on top after their honeys cheated. (After all, there has to be a bright side of getting cheated on, other than free rein to slash your ex’s tires — just kidding, hat-tip to Carrie Underwood — and complimentary drinks from sympathetic friends, right?)
1. Justin Timberlake
Remember when Britney Spears was America's Virginal Princess? Yeah, that was awhile ago (younger readers: It was in a magical time called the '90s!). She and Justin were a match made in Mickey Mouse Club heaven, until Britney allegedly dallied with her tour choreographer, Wade Robson.
Scorned Justin wrote "Cry Me a River" and shot a music video with a unfaithful Britney look-alike and began wearing fetching little hats. Point: Justin.
2. Kate Gosselin
The mom of eight's on-show nagging always struck us as obnoxious, until we found out about Jon's flings with family friend Hailey Glassman and Star reporter Kate Major, as well as his antics like cavorting on Christian Audiger's yacht and poolside in Vegas while his wife was home with their eight kids.
3. Shania Twain
Seriously, who cheats on Shania Twain?! She's a goddess.
But her husband of fourteen years, producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, allegedly had an affair with one of Shania's best friends, the family's assistant, Marie-Anne Thiébaud. "She was devastated," a friend of Shania's told People at the time. "This isn't just about her—it's her career, her life, her child, someone she thought was a close friend: Everything gets pulled out from underneath her."
4. Robin Wright Penn
The erstwhile Princess Buttercup deserves a medal, or perhaps some sort of battlefield promotion, for having stayed married to Sean Penn as long as she did. Their relationship, which produced two children, had been dogged by rumors that Sean has had flings with Jewel, Kate Moss, Natalie Portman and Sienna Miller.
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5. Elizabeth Edwards
Elizabeth and John Edwards had one of the sweetest love stories in politics — law-school sweethearts, their marriage survived the death of a beloved son and a run for president.
They celebrated their anniversary every year with dinner at Wendy's, and she still wore the $11 ring he bought her in 1977, even after he became a wealthy personal-injury lawyer.
So when news broke that John had not only cheated on his cancer-stricken wife but fathered a child with campaign staffer Rielle Hunter and then attempted to buy her off, we're not sure who was angrier, Elizabeth or every woman who'd swooned to her idyllic (pre-cancer) story.
6. Jerry Hall
Despite being in a fifteen-year relationship with Jerry Hall that had produced four children, Mick knocked up a Brazilian model and then swindled Jerry out of half his fortune by successfully claiming that their Bali wedding was not legal.
Jerry went on to star in the VH1 reality series Kept, on which she looked for a boytoy, while Mick kept on collecting knickers and breaking hearts. You have to admire his tenacity, but we'd rather have a cocktail with her.
7. Princess Diana
She may not have been innocent in the fidelity game either, but when the late Princess of Wales said in a 1995 television interview, "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded," Diana won the hearts of her entire country all over again.
In the same interview, she confessed to a fling with her riding instructor, but Charles's longtime affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles (herself also married at the time, and now his second wife) cast him as the villain in that particular story. Diana's popularity never flagged, even after her tragic 1997 death.
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8. Jackie Kennedy
The former First Lady endured not only her husband's pretty blatant affairs, but his horrific assassination and subsequent canonization by the entire country. That has to sting, especially when you might be a little conflicted about just how good a guy he was.
JFK's alleged extramarital lovers were legion, including Angie Dickinson and Marilyn Monroe; although Jackie almost certainly knew of her husband's unfaithfulness, her stoic dignity earned her the devotion of the American people for decades after his death.
9. Guy Ritchie
We have always kind of liked Guy Ritchie, even when he put Madonna in that god-awful remake of Swept Away.
He seemed to be a kind of grounding presence; when she would start rambling in her bizarre British accent and having delusions that she was some sort of royalty, his salt-of-the-earthiness would usually bring her back down to make pretty decent albums, like 2000's Music.
But then she started trying to out-Angelina Angelina, adopting a horde of kids and running around with progressively younger men: first Alex Rodriguez, now Jesus Luz. Guy threw in the towel, immersing himself in work on Sherlock Holmes and earning himself a new wingman in Robert Downey, Jr.
Sara Brady is a freelance writer and editor living in Manhattan.