Are celebs making divorce sexy?

Divorce was once quite the taboo, especially in respect of the women’s position whereby you could be branded as being ‘left on the shelf’ post-divorce. Women were also financially vulnerable given how many couples historically fell into the social role of the man being the breadwinner and the wife the homemaker. Until White v White in 2001, which addressed the principle of equality in dividing matrimonial assets there was a common assumption the breadwinner would receive a greater proportion of the assets on a divorce.

Throughout the years there has been a gradual shift in our social trends and equality, and divorce does not have the same stigma as before. In fact, the stats tell us that marriage rates are falling, and many couples do not consider marriage to have the meaning it once did.

However, in 2025 we seem to have gone one step further and the glossy magazines and newspapers are praising women in particular for taking control in their divorce and being financially savvy.

There is also an increase of the reporting of celebrities in general getting divorce. In recent months we have had Ben and Jen, Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas, Ferne Cotton and Jesse Wood and now Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City FC, and his wife, Cristina. I cannot, of course, not mention the highly reported separation of Molly-Mae and Tommy Fury, and the child arrangements and Schedule 1 application of Lauryn Goodman in respect of her children with Kyle Walker and the knock-on impact on his marriage, with rumours his wife, Annie Kilner said she wanted a divorce.

The press and attention surrounding divorce has increased in recent weeks due to the media self-labelled ‘Divorce Day’, but that aside, there does seem to be quite the coverage on how ‘fashionable’ divorce is. I have even read articles on parties throwing divorce parties.

All of this may make for good headlines, but much like the ultra-high-net worth cases that are reported, how can the average couple relate?

The emotional impact of divorce on the parties, children and the wider family can be utter heartbreaking and will be one of the most stressful times in someone’s life. Whilst the press of course look for the attention grabbing headlines of the A-listers, they too have feelings and will be going through an incredibly difficult time.

One positive of the media reporting about such celeb breakups is that it brings to issue of marriage, divorce, financial remedy and child arrangements to the forefront and raises awareness for the public.

We all know the law needs reform. This is at least now supported by the recent Law Commission scoping report. However, until the Government pursues reform of financial remedies, uncertainty in our discretionary system remains. Marrying parties may not be aware of the importance of pre-nups and how they will be viewed by the Court on divorce and there is still the misunderstanding of the ‘common law marriage’ myth.

We now have the media attention and should use this as a platform to educate the public on our discretionary legal system, the Court delays, NCDR and cohabitation rights, to name a few topics and highlight where reform is needed to gather support.

There are those celebs who attract positive press surrounding their break-up. The phrase ‘conscious uncoupling’ was used by Gwyneth Paltrow to describe her divorce to Chris Martin in 2014. Perhaps she was ahead of her time, because some 10 years on we have the introduction of Resolution’s, Resolution Together model, whereby one lawyer can advise and represent two clients. Many couples are now asking for this option, which is a natural progression from the joint application in divorce, introduced by the Divorce Dissolution and Separation Act 2000.

This article focusses on financial remedy but child arrangements are equally as important. Molly-Mae and Tommy are the latest celeb couple who are portrayed by the media as successfully co-parenting. Each of their media statements at the time of their famous separation and their continued social media posts have the same sentiment of putting their daughter, Bambi, at the forefront. Given their respective social media following of some 13,500,000 followers, I would hope the message of prioritising children in separation is adopted by them should they find themselves separated with children.

Is all press bad press, perhaps not if it gives us the forum to comment and raise awareness.

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