1. Susan Sarandon
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The actor was born Susan Abigail Tomalin. She married fellow actor Chris Sarandon when she was 20 years old. During an episode of her ex-husband’s Cooking by Heart podcast, she recalled, “What happened was, we said, ‘Look, I wanna move out, and we’re gonna live together.’ And you definitely couldn’t do that unless you were married at that time, back in the Middle Ages at a Catholic college.” They divorced 12 years later.
2. Demi Moore
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The actor was born Demi Gene Guynes. She married musician Freddy Moore when she was 18. In her memoir, Demi recalled cheating on him before their wedding. “The night before we got married, instead of working on my vows, I was calling a guy I’d met on a movie set. I snuck out of my own bachelorette party and went to his apartment.” They divorced after five years.
Demi was later married to Bruce Willis for 13 years and then Ashton Kutcher for 6.
3. Tina Turner
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The singer was born Anna Mae Bullock. During an interview with CBS News, she recalled Ike Turner coming home with the record of their 1960 debut single together, “A Fool in Love.” However, their names were written as “Ike & Tina Turner” on the record. “I said, ‘Who’s Tina?’ He said, ‘You’re Tina.'” She made a face and continued, “It was really hard to say in the beginning.” Tina and Ike married two years later, then divorced after 16 years in 1978. She wrote about the abusive and tumultuous relationship in a memoir titled I, Tina.
She began dating German music producer Erwin Bach in 1986, and they married in 2013. They remained together until her death last year.
4. Faith Hill
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The singer was born Audrey Faith Perry. At 21, she married Daniel Hill. He reportedly said that despite Faith’s music career taking off, it was actually meeting her birth mother that led to the divorce (she was adopted when she was several days old). “Meeting her birth mother had a profound impact on Faith, which led to a profound failure of our marriage.” They divorced after six years of marriage.
Two years later, Faith and fellow country singer Tim McGraw tied the knot, and they remain married today.
5. Jack White
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The musician was born John Anthony Gillis. He started frequenting a coffee shop where barista Meg White worked, and they began dating. When they married a few years later, Jack took her last name. They started a band called The White Stripes and quietly divorced in 2000 after a three-and-a-half-year marriage.
In 2022, he proposed to his girlfriend, musician Olivia Jean, during a show. She said yes, and they married on stage.
6. Phylicia Rashad
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The actor was born Phylicia Ayers-Allen. She was married to dentist William Lancelot Bowles for three years, then singer Victor Willis for four years. She went on to marry former NFL player Ahmad Rashad, and they split after 16 years.
During an episode of Oprah: Where Are They Now?, she said, “People should marry so that they can build a life together.” However, she was less optimistic about her own love life. “I’ve been married three times, but I don’t feel that I’ve ever been married once. It’s like, ‘Okay, then, stop.'”
7. Joni Mitchell
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The singer was born Roberta Joan Anderson. Shortly after she gave birth to a daughter and gave her up for adoption, Joni started dating fellow singer Chuck Mitchell and quickly married him. “I was emotionally weak with a lot of things pulling me in all sorts of directions, and this was a strong pull, and something of a solution,” Joni said. “So we married, for all the wrong reasons. I made my dress and bridesmaid’s dresses. We had no money, I barely knew any of these people. I walked down the aisle brandishing my daisies thinking, ‘I can get out of this.'”
They divorced two years later. Joni went on to marry musician Larry Klein, and they divorced after 12 years together.
8. Lucy Lawless
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The actor was born Lucille Frances Ryan. At 20 years old, she married Garth Lawless; they divorced after seven years. She went on to marry Robert Tapert, executive producer of Xena: Warrior Princess, and they remain together 26 years later.
Lucy told Stuff that she kept her ex’s last name because it was part of her brand and became the name the world knew her by.
9. Kris Jenner
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The momager was born Kristen Mary Houghton. She took Robert Kardashian’s last name when they married, and she did the same when she married Caitlyn Jenner. On Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kris has contemplated changing her name back to Kardashian (but not her maiden name) several times over the years.
10. And finally, Brenda Blethyn
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The actor was born Brenda Bottle. At 19, she married graphic designer Alan Blethyn; they divorced after nine years. Two years later, she started dating Michael Mayhew. They officially tied the knot in 2010 after 35 years together.
While discussing her decision to marry again with the Radio Times, Brenda said, “We were getting on a bit, and it seemed the sensible thing to do. Neither of us were going anywhere so it just presents a problem if one of us pops our clogs.”
Any other celebrities who kept their ex’s last name? LMK in the comments below!
