The 7 Best Celebrity Couplings of 2021 (2024)

It’s been a long and—to be frank—often exhausting year, with COVID-19 restrictions limiting our social interactions and new variants surfacing every time we thought life was finally getting back to normal. No matter how confusing and stressful things got, though, one thing we could always count on was the celebrity community and its propensity to mate. (I genuinely believe an asteroid could be headed for Earth and celebrities would still be papped “stepping out” together at date spots around Los Angeles.) Let’s take a look at some of the year’s best in celebrity coupledom, shall we?

Adele and Rich Paul

2021 was truly the year of Adele (again), with the singer releasing a new album and opening up about life after divorce to Vogue’s Abby Aguirre. She also let Aguirre in on the origins of her new relationship with sports agent Rich Paul, saying that the two originally met at a party: “I was a bit drunk. I said: ‘Do you want to sign me? I’m an athlete now.’”

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly

Technically, these two started seeing each other in 2020, but their dramatic couple style has been one of the surprise joys of the year. Whether they’re mixing and matching in Mugler and Balmain or chained together by their nails, they exude nothing so much as high school mall goths making out on the band trip, and we absolutely love it. As Vogue’s Christian Allaire wrote of the pair earlier this year, “This is a couple that wants to be seen!” (See also: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker.)

Kristen Stewart and Dylan Meyer

The Spencer star and her screenwriter love have been dating for at least two years, but they made it official with an engagement in November. “We’re marrying; we’re totally gonna do it,” Stewart told Howard Stern. “I wanted to be proposed to, so I think I very distinctly carved out what I wanted, and she nailed it. It was really cute; she did very well. We’re marrying; it’s happening.” I need to see pics of these nuptials ASAP!

Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles

There is, admittedly, quite an age gap between the 37-year-old Booksmart director and her 27-year-old pop star beau, but...who cares? As Vogue’s Michelle Ruiz wrote in January, “Wilde dating Styles is only a scandal if you believe 36-year-old women and mothers don’t deserve to move on after splitting from the person they procreated with. How dare Wilde’s life not be over? How dare she thrive?”

Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum

These two were spotted together in August after Kravitz told Deadline about collaborating with Tatum on her directorial debut, puss* Island: “I got the sense he’s a true feminist, and I wanted to collaborate with someone who was clearly interested in exploring this subject matter.” From there it was a quick jump to establishing a signature couple style—and making Citi Bikes cool, of course.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck

Bennifer is back, baby! There are, quite literally, so many theories about this newly rekindled A-lister couple, and while I personally choose to believe that they’re really in love, “doing it for PR” remains an equally credible explanation. More of these two making out through masks at the Met gala, please!

John Mulaney and Olivia Munn

Okay, this one is destined to be controversial, given that the two met soon after Mulaney completed a stint in rehab and split from his wife, Anna Marie Tendler, but I’m on board with the pairing (even if it’s reportedly on the rocks). They’re two funny, sweet-seeming people who are expecting a baby, and we don’t really know the circ*mstances of Mulaney’s divorce or of their connection, so why hate? Mazel to the happy couple!

Vogue’s Favorites

• What Gigi Hadid’s Open Letter to the Paparazzi Means for Celebrity Children
• The Best Romantic Comedies of All Time
• What I’ve Learned From Dating Every Sign of the Zodiac
• These Are the Best Books to Read in 2021
• Sign up for Vogue’s shopping newsletter, The Get, to receive the insider’s guide to what to shop and how to wear it