BREAKUPS are rarely easy but some celebrities have managed to keep their business relationships going despite suffering a nasty split.
Whether it be for a successful TV show or due to contractual obligations, the celebs found the motivation or the reason to continue their professional relationship post-breakup.
Here are the former celebrity couples who continued working together once their romantic relationships ended.
HGTV stars Christina Hall, 40, and Tarek El Moussa, 42, continued working together on their home renovation show, Flip or Flop, after their divorce.
The couple, who married on April 17, 2009, owned a real estate agency and found success flipping homes in Southern California after the 2008 financial crisis.
"Flipping" is a term used to describe purchasing discounted property, performing renovations and repairs, and then reselling the same property for a profit.
After years of successful flipping the then-couple decided to pitch the idea of a show documenting their finds and renovations to HGTV.
Flip or Flop debuted on April 16, 2013.
But after an altercation in May 2016, the couple announced in December of that same year they would be separating - ending seven years of marriage and threatening to end their TV show.
"Like many couples, we have had challenges in our marriage," the couple told People in a statement.
"We had an unfortunate misunderstanding about six months ago and the police were called to our house in an abundance of caution. There was no violence and no charges were filed.
"During the process, we are committed to our kids and being the best parents we can be. We will continue to work through this process civilly and cooperatively, and plan to continue our professional life together."
Christina and Tarek finalized their divorce on January 22, 2018, and the first episode of Flip or Flop, post-divorce, premiered later that year on May 31, 2018.
The pair continued working together for nearly four years but due to rising tensions, new romantic partners, and a nasty on-set fight, the ex-couple called it quits altogether on March 10, 2022.
Christina shared the news with an Instagram post.
In it, she wrote, "Bittersweet news to announce, it’s the end of an era. Next week’s episode of Flip or Flop will be the SERIES finale."
"I’m filled with gratitude to have done 10 seasons of a hit show. I remember filming the pilot and thinking, 'Wouldn’t this be crazy if is this actually made it to network TV?' And here we are, a decade later."
"I am beyond grateful for the support," she told fans before thanking her "amazing crew who worked so hard to make this show possible."
Tarek broke the news by sharing a photo of himself on set while calling the show's ending "bittersweet" and thanking fans for their support over the years.
He wrote, "You guys have been with us through it all—you watched me beat cancer, you’ve watched the babies grow up into the most amazing little humans, and everything in between but I’m not going anywhere and I can promise that you are going to love what comes next!"
The exes share children Taylor and Braydon, and Christina also has a son with her most recent ex-husband, Ant Anstead, while Tarek welcomed a son with his new wife, Heather Rae Young.
Christina now hosts the HGTV show Christina in the Country and Tarek stars in The Flipping El Moussas with his wife Heather and has appeared on Netflix's Selling Sunset.
The Real Housewives of Miami star Larsa Pippen, 49, is the ex-wife of NBA legend Scottie Pippen.
She began dating Scottie's Chicago Bulls teammate Michael Jordan's son, Marcus Jordan, 33, at the end of 2022.
The pair were spotted at the Rolling Loud music festival together and later the Trophy Room founder appeared alongside Larsa at the RHOM Season 5 premiere party.
Their relationship was confirmed at the beginning of 2023 and the couple launched the podcast, Separation Anxiety, on June 7, 2023.
Earlier this year, Larsa surprised fans when she abruptly unfollowed Marcus on social media and removed all evidence of their relationship from Instagram.
Marcus mirrored the actions of the Real Housewives star and on February 12, 2024, a source confirmed their split to People.
The day after the supposed breakup, Larsa and Marcus were spotted packing on the PDA on Valentine's Day.
In March, Entertainment Tonight reported that the pair had again called it quits and another insider told People, "They're moving in different directions."
The source added, "Larsa is focusing on her exciting next chapter now. She's always been someone who is ambitious and driven.
"She needs a match who has those similar qualities."
However, on April 18, 2024, the seemingly on-and-off couple was spotted holding hands on a beach in Miami, Florida.
The couple's podcast is still available on Apple Podcasts as they continue to figure out what the future holds for themselves as partners.
Ariana Madix, 38, and Tom Sandoval, 40, have continued working on Vanderpump Rules since Tom's cheating scandal was made public.
Last March, news broke that Tom had been having an affair with his long-term girlfriend Ariana's best friend Raquel (Rachel) Leviss, 29, since July 2022.
Ariana ended their relationship after finding out about the affair but continued living with her ex after the messy breakup.
The pair relied on assistants to pass messages between them due to no longer being on speaking terms.
In March 2024, Ariana purchased a $1.6 million Los Angeles mansion and sued Tom to force the sale of their Village Valley home.
While Ariana and Tom continue working together on VPR, many fans believe the Dancing with the Stars contestant will soon leave the show.
A fan discussed Ariana's seemingly inevitable exit on a Reddit board dedicated to the long-running series.
They wrote, "Even if this *isn’t* the last season of VPR… I hope it’s Ariana’s last."
The Redditor explained, "She has just outgrown it all. She is smart and genuinely talented, and I’d love to see her walk away from the drama and continue to level up on her own.
"She went through hell, and I can’t believe how people are treating her when they see scenes that were shot so soon after her world imploded."
"She doesn’t deserve that, and she’s just better than all of it," they concluded.
Ariana joined Broadway’s Chicago as Roxie Hart on January 29, 2024, and Variety recently announced that she is replacing Sarah Hyland as host for the sixth season of the dating reality series Love Island.
Vanderpump Rules stars Brittany Cartwright, 35, and Jax Taylor, 44, married in June 2019, four years after meeting at a Las Vegas, Nevada, bar.
Fans witnessed Jax admit to cheating on Brittany in 2017 then watched as the couple reconciled and later broke up in 2018 - all while working together on the show.
The pair married in 2019 before getting axed from Vanderpump Rules in 2020 due to a resurfaced controversial 2017 tweet in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.
As of April 2024, the couple is once again separated.
Recently, Brittany opened up about their split in an interview on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast.
She asserted that cheating wasn't a factor, despite rumors that infidelity was the motivation behind their decision.
"Ever since we've been married, I really don't think he's cheated," the reality TV star insisted.
Podcast host Amanda Hirsch asked whether or not the Vanderpump star "investigated" the rumors, to which Brittany claimed she did, as she has access to all of his social media accounts.
After listing a number of reasons that led to their breakup, she confessed that she didn't see them rekindling anytime soon.
In February, Brittany confirmed she and Jax had parted ways on their own joint podcast, When Reality Hits.
But while appearing on Not Skinny But Not Fat, she revealed that she had moved out of their shared California home in early January.
The former couple has continued working closely together, promoting the recent release of their new Hulu series, The Valley.
They also own a bar, Jax's Studio City, in Los Angeles, which opened in October 2023.
Rachel Bilson, 42, played Summer Roberts on The CW hit teen drama The OC
Her character was the love interest of Seth Cohen, played by Adam Brody, 44, with whom Rachel was actually dating off the screen.
The OC premiered in 2003 and Rachel and Adam split in 2006 - while they were still filming the show together.
The show would be canceled in 2007 after four seasons, a total of 92 episodes.
In March 2021, Rachel opened up about continuing to work on the TV series after her breakup with Adam during an interview on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert.
The Jumper star told Dax, "We still got along really well. I had so much, and still do, love and respect for Adam.
"We went through so much together, being so young and everything with the show. And I'm so happy for him with his family and his beautiful wife and kids and everything."
Rachel shares a son, Briar, with Star Wars actor Hayden Christensen, 43.
Adam is married to actress Leighton Meester, 38, who starred in another CW hit series, Gossip Girl.
The couple share two children.
On the subject of Gossip Girl, Blake Lively, 36, and Penn Badgley, 37, are another ex-couple who continued working together after splitting up.
Blake's Serena van der Woodsen and Penn's Dan Humphrey would eventually tie the knot in the show's 2012 series finale but the real-life couple ended their offscreen relationship during Season 2 (which was released between fall of 2008 to spring of 2009) of the hit series.
Executive producer Joshua Safran spoke with Vanity Fair for Gossip Girl's 10th anniversary in 2017 and said, “I found out on the set of the Season 2 finale that Blake and Penn had broken up months before."
“They kept the breakup hidden from the crew, which you could never do now. I don’t even know how they did it," he continued.
Joshua added, "They kept it from everybody which is a testament to how good they are as actors. Because they did not want their personal drama to relate to the show."
In October 2010, Us Weekly confirmed that Blake and Penn had ended their romantic relationship of three years.
A source told the outlet, "They’re professionals,” before adding, “They’re still good friends and hang out on the set.”
Penn revealed, "We were very much caught up in the show, which itself was a six-year endurance test," when asked about managing their professional relationship after the breakup during an interview with Elle in 2013.
He continued, "Our relationship was a part of that and helped us through it.
“I mean, like anything valuable, it was good and it was bad and it was a learning experience.”
Penn expanded on dating a co-star as he told Elle, “As an actor being in a relationship, you have this opportunity to have something really exceptional, because you don’t have a regimented schedule or lifestyle.
"But then it can also be very warped."
"You have on-camera romances, which ordinarily I don’t have a problem with. There are complications being an object of attention. I’ve found it’s a double-edged sword. But I’m happy to wield it," he added.
He told Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen, “We were consummately professional,” when questioned about any behind-the-scenes drama between himself and Blake.
“And I think we should both pat ourselves on the back for getting through it," he asserted.
He also jokingly told Andy that Blake was both his best, and worst, on-screen kiss.
"I’d say best… I’ll say it was Blake because we actually had a relationship at the time,” he said before adding, "[Worst is] maybe Blake after we broke up.”
Penn is now married to singer Domino Kirke - the pair share a son together as well as another son from her previous relationship with musician Morgan O'Kane.
Blake married actor Ryan Reynolds on September 9, 2012.
The couple share children James, Inez, Betty, and a fourth child - whose name they have yet to reveal to the public - together.
