Many celeb couples often land themselves in the press for their scandalous behaviour. Whether it's cheating on their partners, age gaps, or questionable comments, barely a day goes by without reports of a celeb misbehaving.
But which celebrity couples are the naughtiest?
To find out, the team at Spin Genie UK has investigated the lives of some of the world’s most notorious celeb couples. Looking at Google searches for their controversial behaviour and news articles on their outrageous antics.
The most badly behaved celeb couples
1. Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel - 1.18 million controversial searches
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel top the list with 1.2 million searches, leading by a margin of more than 400,000. By far, the naughtiest of the pair is Justin Timberlake. He’s previously cheated on Biel with actress Olivia Munn, having a three-day fling back in 2010 and has been accused of infidelity by Britney Spears in her memoir The Woman In Me.
2. Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce - 733,240 controversial searches
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are in second place, with over 733,000 searches. Taylor Swift has faced several controversies over her career, including her infamous feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and the use of her private jet that some deemed to be excessive. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end faced backlash for his actions at the 2024 Superbowl when Kelce shoved his team's coach, Andy Reid.
3. Ariana Grande & Ethan Slater - 339,240 controversial searches
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater star together in the hit film Wicked, but this is the source of some of their controversy, most likely accounting for the majority of the 339,200 searches. Their romance grabbed headlines when fans learned about it shortly after Ariana split from her husband, Dalton Gomez, and Ethan separated from his wife, Lilly Jay. The drama kicked off as people speculated about whether their relationships overlapped, sparking quite the buzz on social media.
4. Justin Bieber & Hailey Bieber - 142,460 controversial searches
Justin and Hailey Bieber had 142,500 controversial searches, perhaps partly fueled by ongoing drama linked to Justin’s ex, Selena Gomez. Early in 2024, fans thought Hailey might have thrown shade at Selena by sharing a screenshot of Jolene by Dolly Parton, with the caption “whew”, and things quickly spiralled within the fan bases. The Team Selena vs. Team Hailey debate was everywhere, with fans digging up old videos and memes.
5. Prince Harry & Meghan Markle - 59,640 controversial searches
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were the subject of over 59,600 controversial searches, mostly thanks to their Netflix docuseries and Harry’s tell-all book, Spare. They shared their side of royal family drama, and people couldn’t stop talking about it. Some applauded them for speaking out, while others thought they shared a bit too much.
The celebs with the most negative press
1. Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce - 5,053 articles
It may come as no surprise that taking the top spot as the celebs with the most negative press are Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, with 5,053 articles. Swift is the focus of most of the negative press coverage, making up 75% of the total. Articles mentioning Kelce’s controversies total 1,238, with the majority mentioning a ‘breakup’.
2. Prince Harry & Meghan Markle - 2,525 articles
Next are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who have 2,525 articles, slightly less than half that of Swift and Kelce. The couple first became embroiled in controversy over Harry’s decision to step back from royal duties in 2020 due to media intrusion and security concerns.
3. Justin Bieber & Hailey Bieber - 907 articles
Justin and Hailey Bieber are no strangers to the spotlight, with 907 negative articles written about them. Like the controversial searches, many of these stories dive into the endless comparisons between Hailey and Selena Gomez, as well as rumours about their marriage and cheating allegations.
4. David Foster & Katharine McPhee - 629 articles
David Foster and Katharine McPhee were the subject of 629 negative articles, with many journalists talking about their age gap — 35 years. While age gaps in relationships aren’t always bad, they are sure to make headlines.
In 2024, there was also the story on a resurfaced video where David called Katherine “fat” while she was on American Idol. This caused outrage online with many fans coming to support McPhee while also opening up a wider discussion around body shaming.
5. Sam Taylor Johnson & Aaron Taylor Johnson - 524 articles
Another couple that gets a lot of media attention for their age gap is Sam Taylor-Johnson and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with 524 articles written about them. There are 23 years between the two, and they met on the set of Nowhere Boy in 2009, when Sam directed Aaron as John Lennon. They hit it off, got married in 2012, and have been together ever since.
Methodology
To determine the naughtiest celebrity couples, we created a seed list of couples involved in scandals using articles from sites including Cosmopolitan and SheKnows.
We then used Google Keyword Planner to search for each celebrity’s name, followed by words such as “scandal”, “controversy”, "breakup", "cheating", "affair", and "argument". We then combined the number of searches to get an overall number for each couple.
We used Buzzsumo to find the total number of articles featuring the name of each celebrity followed by words such as “scandal”, “controversy”, "breakup", "cheating", "affair", and "argument" and combined them to find the total number of negative articles for each couple.
All data was collected November 2024 and is correct as of then.
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