The Most Surprising Celebrity Hookups of 2021: Kim and Pete, Kourtney and Travis and More

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The Most Surprising Celebrity Hookups of 2021: Kim and Pete, Kourtney and Travis and More

The past year was full of shockers, especially when it came to celebrities and their love lives. Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker kicked off 2021 by sparking dating speculation with a trip to Kris Jenner's Palm Springs, California, home. “Kourtney and Travis are officially a couple,” an insider told Us Weekly in January. “They have been close friends for years and have been dating for a couple months. Travis is very smitten with Kourtney and has been for a while.” The pair's relationship progressed quickly, with the couple sharing plenty of PDA via social media and taking family-friendly trips with their children. The Poosh founder shares Mason (born December 2009), Penelope (born July 2012) and Reign (born December 2014) with ex-boyfriend Scott Disick, whom she dated on and off from 2006 to 2015. The Blink-182 drummer, for his part, shares son Landon (born October 2003) and Alabama (born December 2005) with ex-wife Shanna Moakler. He is also stepdad to Atiana De La Hoya (born March 1999), who is Moakler's daughter with ex Oscar De La Hoya. [jwplayer JvLFO1GW-zhNYySv2] Barker and Kardashian got engaged in October during a visit to the Rosewood Miramar Beach Hotel in Santa Barbara, California. The Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum announced the news via Instagram with a series of romantic photos. "Both Travis and Kourtney are on cloud nine,” a source exclusively told Us at the time. “The Kardashians, Jenners and Travis’ family are so happy for the two of them.” Another Kardashian sister generated her fair share of headlines this year: Kim, who filed for divorce from Kanye West in February after six years of marriage. Eight months later, the KKW Beauty mogul shocked fans when she was photographed with Pete Davidson after connecting on the set of Saturday Night Live. Less than three weeks after the duo were first spotted together, they confirmed their relationship when they held hands in Palm Springs. “Kim lights up when she’s around Pete,” an insider told Us in November. “Their chemistry is off the charts and getting stronger each passing day.” Later that month, the new couple celebrated the SNL star's 28th birthday with Kim's mom and rapper Flavor Flav. “Kim and Pete are getting serious. Things have definitely escalated quickly but in a healthy, fun way,” a source told Us the following month. “Right now, they are just enjoying their time together and seeing where things go.” Keep scrolling for a look back at the most surprising celebrity hookups of 2021: [podcast_block]

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The Most Surprising Celebrity Hookups of 2021: Kim and Pete, Kourtney and Travis and More

The past year was full of shockers, especially when it came to celebrities and their love lives. Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker kicked off 2021 by sparking dating speculation with a trip to Kris Jenner's Palm Springs, California, home. “Kourtney and Travis are officially a couple,” an insider told Us Weekly in January. “They have been close friends for years and have been dating for a couple months. Travis is very smitten with Kourtney and has been for a while.” The pair's relationship progressed quickly, with the couple sharing plenty of PDA via social media and taking family-friendly trips with their children. The Poosh founder shares Mason (born December 2009), Penelope (born July 2012) and Reign (born December 2014) with ex-boyfriend Scott Disick, whom she dated on and off from 2006 to 2015. The Blink-182 drummer, for his part, shares son Landon (born October 2003) and Alabama (born December 2005) with ex-wife Shanna Moakler. He is also stepdad to Atiana De La Hoya (born March 1999), who is Moakler's daughter with ex Oscar De La Hoya. [jwplayer JvLFO1GW-zhNYySv2] Barker and Kardashian got engaged in October during a visit to the Rosewood Miramar Beach Hotel in Santa Barbara, California. The Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum announced the news via Instagram with a series of romantic photos. "Both Travis and Kourtney are on cloud nine,” a source exclusively told Us at the time. “The Kardashians, Jenners and Travis’ family are so happy for the two of them.” Another Kardashian sister generated her fair share of headlines this year: Kim, who filed for divorce from Kanye West in February after six years of marriage. Eight months later, the KKW Beauty mogul shocked fans when she was photographed with Pete Davidson after connecting on the set of Saturday Night Live. Less than three weeks after the duo were first spotted together, they confirmed their relationship when they held hands in Palm Springs. “Kim lights up when she’s around Pete,” an insider told Us in November. “Their chemistry is off the charts and getting stronger each passing day.” Later that month, the new couple celebrated the SNL star's 28th birthday with Kim's mom and rapper Flavor Flav. “Kim and Pete are getting serious. Things have definitely escalated quickly but in a healthy, fun way,” a source told Us the following month. “Right now, they are just enjoying their time together and seeing where things go.” Keep scrolling for a look back at the most surprising celebrity hookups of 2021: [podcast_block]

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Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian

The comedian and the reality star were first linked in October after Kim made her SNL hosting debut earlier that month. After the twosome confirmed their romance, Davidson's SNL costar Kenan Thompson told Us that he and his fellow cast members were "surprised" by the pairing. "It kind of came out of left field, but I don’t know," he added. "It’s nice to see love if it can last.”

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John Hersey and Katie Thurston

In November, Us confirmed that the former Bachelorette had moved on with Hersey, who briefly competed for her love on the show, one month after splitting from Blake Moynes. Thurston and her ex-fiancé got engaged during the Bachelorette season 17 finale, which aired in August.

After the Washington native went public with Hersey, Moynes accused Thurston of "emotional" cheating during their relationship. “I really don’t think there was any physical cheating there, but there [was] clearly emotional [cheating] for it to transition as quickly as it did," he said on the “Talking It Out With Bachelor Nation” podcast in November. "I feel stupid and foolish for allowing it to happen, to some degree."

Credit: Courtesy of Meghan King/Instagram

Cuffe Owens and Meghan King

The Real Housewives of Orange County alum went Instagram official with President Joe Biden's nephew on September 25 — and less than three weeks later, they were married. The duo tied the knot in an October 11 ceremony held at the Pennsylvania home of Owens' parents. The president and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, were in attendance.

After two months, however, King announced that the couple had called it quits. “I am rattled. This situation is profoundly devastating,” she wrote via Instagram on December 27. “This is obviously not what I imagined when I made my vows — and I’m shocked and saddened by the way things turned out. I am moving forward with my children as we privately process our pain and begin to let go of shattered dreams.”

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Chrishell Stause and Jason Oppenheim

Selling Sunset fans got a shock in July when the Dancing With the Stars alum revealed that she was dating her costar and boss. “Chrishell and I became close friends and it has developed into an amazing relationship,” Oppenheim told Us at the time. “I care about her deeply and we’re very happy together.”

The duo called it quits in December, saying that they weren't on the same page about having children. “Jason was and is my best friend, and other than our ideas for family ultimately not being aligned, the amount of respect and love we have for each other will not change going forward," Stause wrote via Instagram after news of the split broke. “Men have the luxury of time that women don’t and that’s just the way it goes."

Credit: Courtesy of Porsha Williams/Instagram

Porsha Williams and Simon Guobadia

The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum set off a wave of drama in May when she announced her engagement to Simon Guobadia, the estranged husband of her costar Falynn Guobadia, after just one month together. “Falynn and I are not friends, and Simon’s divorce has been settled,” Williams said at the time. “Our relationship is a positive, loving step forward in everybody’s lives.”

In December, the Bravo personality told Us that she and her fiancé had settled on a wedding date — and were planning more than one ceremony. “We’re definitely doing one in Atlanta, and we’ll be doing one in Nigeria as well,” she explained. “And then we’re thinking about doing one at our home in Costa Rica.”

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John Mulaney and Olivia Munn

In September, the comedian confirmed that he and Munn were expecting their first child together after his split from wife Anna Marie Tendler earlier in the year. Us confirmed that Mulaney and the Newsroom alum welcomed son Malcolm "just before Thanksgiving."

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Adele and Rich Paul

The Grammy winner made her first public appearance with the sports agent in July when the duo attended an NBA Finals game together. While promoting her album 30 later in the year, the U.K. native offered unusually candid details about the romance. "I don’t feel anxious or nervous or frazzled. It’s quite the opposite," she told Vogue for a cover story published in October. “I’m a 33-year-old divorced mother of a son, who’s actually in charge. The last thing I need is someone who doesn’t know where they’re at, or what they want. I know what I want. And I really know what I don’t want.”

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Shailene Woodley and Aaron Rodgers

Us confirmed in February that the NFL star moved on with the Big Little Lies alum after his split from Danica Patrick. Later that month, Woodley confirmed that the pair were engaged during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

"Everybody right now is freaking out over it and we’re like, ‘Yeah, we’ve been engaged for a while,” she said at the time. “He’s, first off, just a wonderful, incredible human being. But I never thought I’d be engaged with somebody who threw balls for a living. Like, I never thought as a little girl … ‘Yeah, when I grow up, I’m gonna marry someone who throws balls! Yeah!’ But he’s really just so good at it.”

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Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde

The Grammy winner and the Booksmart director were spotted holding hands in January at the wedding of Styles' manager. An insider told Us at the time that the duo sparked a connection after meeting in 2020 on the set of Wilde's film Don't Worry Darling. “Harry and Olivia had chemistry almost instantaneously on set,” the source said. “It was only a matter of time before they got together.”

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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez

Bennifer lives! The "Jenny From the Block" songstress and the Oscar winner rekindled their romance in May after Lopez called off her engagement to Alex Rodriguez. In July, the pair made their relationship Instagram official, and two months later, they made their red carpet return with an appearance at the Venice International Film Festival in Italy.

“They are both madly in love and don’t want to let one another go this time,” an insider told Us in August, adding that the Argo director thinks of the Hustlers star as the “one that got away."

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Renée Zellweger and Ant Anstead

Shortly after finalizing his divorce from Christina Haack in June, the Wheeler Dealers alum moved on with Zellweger. The duo met on the set of Anstead's Discovery+ series, Celebrity IOU: Joyride. “They each feel like they’ve finally met their soulmate,” a source told Us in August. “[They're] really cherishing their time together.”

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Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz

The Divergent actress and the Magic Mike star became a meme in August when they were photographed riding a bike together in New York City. The following month, they attended the Met Gala separately but were spotted leaving together at the end of the night. In October, they celebrated Halloween with a couples costume from the movie Taxi Driver.

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Kylie Prew and JoJo Siwa

Siwa went public with her then-girlfriend just weeks after coming out to her fans in January. Eight months later, the Dance Moms alum called Prew "the most perfect girl in the world." In November, however, Siwa confirmed that the pair had called it quits but remain friendly. “I’m really lucky that I didn’t lose her completely because, you know, even though relationships end, friendships don’t have to end,” she said at the time. “I was very happy that it can be, because that’s all I wanted.”

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Kanye West and Irina Shayk

After his split from Kim, the "Stronger" rapper had a brief romance with the supermodel. The couple called it quits in August after two months of dating.

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Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian

The musician and the reality star kept fans hooked all year long with their unapologetic PDA and friendship with Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox. After the duo's October engagement, an insider told Us that Kourtney “believes to the bottom of her soul that she and Travis are soul mates."

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Jana Kramer and Jay Cutler

After splitting from husband Mike Caussin, Kramer briefly dated Cutler, who was previously married to Kristin Cavallari. In October, a source confirmed to Us that the romance was over almost as soon as it began. “She and Jay went on a few dates, but things seemed to fizzle out between them," the insider explained. "They’re not seeing each other anymore.”