While the summer of 2018 seemed to be the summer of celebrity engagements, the overall year was filled with a plethora of dramatic celebrity breakups. From captivating narratives like Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson‘s, to more under-the-radar relationship problems, like Miranda Lambert and Evan Felker‘s, there were plenty of drama to go around.
Continue on to read in-depth about some of the most marked celebrity breakups of the year.
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Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson
Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson’s whirlwind engagement was the focal point of the summer. Having dated for just a few weeks almost immediately following Grande’s breakup with longtime boyfriend Mac Miller and Davidon’s breakup with girlfriend Cazzie David, the two announced that they were engaged.
The two sent the summer getting matching tattoos, sharing suggestive social media posts and gushing over each other in various interviews. Meanwhile, Grande clapped back at a fan who said she should have stayed with Miller amid his struggle with substance abuse.
Grande and Davidson moved into a $16-million, five-bedroom apartment in New York City together and even adopted a pet pig. Davidson told The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon that their engagement was “f—ing lit, Jimmy. I feel like I won a contest.”
Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson (continued)
But in October, breakup rumors surfaced following the sudden death of Grande’s ex, Mac Miller. After Grande confirmed the breakup, one source said Miller’s overdose significantly affected Grande, who reportedly broke it off with Davidson, while another said that their relationship was “too much, too soon.”
The two covered up their respective tattoos about each other. After Davidson joked about their short-lived engagement on Saturday Night Live, Grande clapped by by posting a since deleted tweet that read, “For somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh.”
Grande quickly released a hit single “thank u, next” in which she called out Davidson, along with several other exes, by name. Davidson, who has been open about his struggle with mental health and borderline personality disorder, spoke out against Grande fans who were cyber bullying him. He ensured them that he “won’t” kill himself, “no matter how hard the internet or anyone tries to make me.”
John Cena and Nikki Bella
Just three weeks before WWE stars John Cena and Nikki Bella were due to tie the knot in a destination wedding, the couple announced in April that they had called it quits after six years of dating.
“While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of love and respect for one another,” Bella wrote on Twitter at the time.
Throughout the duration of Bella’s TV show with her twin sister Brie Bella, Total Bellas, it became clear that the breakup was brought on by Cena and Bella’s opposite viewpoints on parenting. Bella wanted kids; Cena did not.
John Cena and Nikki Bella (continued)
However, the former couple teased fans with false hope in the coming months when they attempted to reconcile. Cena told Bella on camera that he wanted to have children after all — but when it came time to plan the wedding, Bella had an ominous feeling about Cena’s longtime absence while he was overseas filming a movie.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan in October, Bella explained that the reason behind the split was because she realized that she had lost herself.
“I was lost for so many years,” she said. “That was all my fault. I’m the one who forgot about me. I have realized now to truly have a happy life, you have to give yourself so much love first and work on you in any way you can.”
Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley and Roger Mathews
Jersey Shore star Jenni “JWoww” Farley filed for divorce from husband Roger Mathews in September after nearly three years of marriage and several more years together. Farley cited “irreconcilable differences which have caused the breakdown of the marriage for a period of at least six months which make it appear that the marriage should be dissolved and that there is no prospect of reconciliation,” according to court documents.
The two, who share 4-year-old daughter Meilani and 2-year-old son Greyson, continued to spend time together and with their children. They celebrated their three-year wedding anniversary and even wore matching Halloween costumes.
However, in December, a judge granted a temporary restraining order against Mathews, who was removed from his and Farley’s New Jersey home by police in the early hours of Friday, Dec. 14.
Mathews then shared a tearful series of videos, some of which were from the back seat of a police car, where he appeared to break down, calling Farley “hate-filled” and accusing her of using their children as “pawns.”
Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley and Roger Mathews (continued)
Farley released a statement confirming that a judge had granted her the order of protection, while her longtime bestie and co-star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi came to her defense, sharing a video of home security footage of Farley speaking to a police officer about the situation.
“I don’t want to do that to him. He should be allowed to see them,” an emotional Farley said in the video, apparently hesitant to file the restraining order. “He’s not a bad dad.”
Polizzi said that Farley had been asking police to tell the judge involved to allow Rogers to see the children. “There is more to the story that’s being told,” she wrote. “Stop attacking her.”
Miranda Lambert and Evan Felker
The dramatic nature of country music superstar Miranda Lambert and musician Evan Felker’s relationship came about long before their August breakup. Weeks after Lambert’s break up with musician Anderson East, reports started to surface that Felker, a band member of the band opening for Lambert on tour (the Turnpike Troubadours), had been unfaithful to his new wife, Staci Felker, with Lambert.
Staci filed for divorce in February, just days after Felker filed and about a year and a half after she and Felker married in September 2016. The Turnpike Troubadours started touring with Lambert in January; in April, Us Weekly reported that a source said Felker and Lambert “started spending a lot more time together while on the road,” noting that things just “happened” between them.
Once reports of Lambert and Felker’s relationship surfaced in April, Staci shard a cryptic Instagram post, sharing a teary-eyed selfie on her Instagram that read, “PSA: If Staci Felker can make it through this week, so can you.”
Miranda Lambert and Evan Felker (continued)
Later in April, Staci and a friend seemed to enjoy a day drinking together and singing “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood. Her friend wore a “Team Staci” T-shirt and later called Felker’s alleged affair with Lambert “f—ing crazy.”
“Miranda is the biggest piece of s— on the face of the planet,” the friend said on April 27, going on to say that Staci was “a billion times hotter and smarter” than Lambert.
In August, Lambert conformed that she was “happily single” again. “Love is a hard road sometimes and it’s been a roller-coaster ride for me, but I’m definitely thankful for all the ups and downs because I’ve had some really good songs come out of it,” she told The Tennessean. “You’ve got to take the bad parts and put them on paper and then move on to the happy parts.”
