Jennifer Aniston is no stranger to love. The Friends star has been in very high-profile relationships and marriages, and doesn’t have complicated feelings towards her former lovers.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, she attributed how she handles her love life to her parents. “It was always a little bit difficult for me in relationships, I think, because I really was kind of alone,” she told the outlet.”My parents, watching my family’s relationship, didn’t make me kind of go, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to do that. Her parents, John Aniston and Nancy Dow, divorced when she was young.
She also doesn’t regret any of her relationships. She told Elle: “My marriages, they’ve been very successful, in [my] personal opinion. And when they came to an end, it was a choice that was made because we chose to be happy, and sometimes happiness doesn’t exist within that arrangement anymore.”
“Sure, there were bumps, and not every moment felt fantastic, obviously, but at the end of it, this is our one life and I would not stay in a situation out of fear,” The Murder Mystery star continued. “Fear of being alone. Fear of not being able to survive. To stay in a marriage based on fear feels like you’re doing your one life a disservice.”
So, is there a new man in Jennifer Aniston’s life? Read more below to find out.
Jennifer Aniston sparked dating rumors with hypnotist Jim Curtis after the two were spotted leaving in a Sprinter van in Mallorca in photos obtained by the Daily Mail. Aniston has liked several of Curtis’ Instagram posts, including one where he rehearses affirmations about love and healing.
Jennifer Aniston and Pedro Pascal stirred up dating rumors after the two was spotted by Page Six. The two had a three hour dinner at West Hollywood’s ultra-exclusive Tower Bar. The duo was later photographed leaving the Sunset Tower Hotel together on Saturday night. However, the two laid the rumors to rest by saying that they’re just friends.
Theroux and Aniston married in 2015 in a backyard wedding after they dated for two years. ““We felt married for so long,” Aniston said in 2016. “Married life is so normal and fun and not much different.”
Theroux said of their relationship at the time, “I understand the curiosity, but other than saying I am happy, I am not going to indulge it,” he said. “That’s building your own torture device.” He also shared that the couple had adopted a boxer-pitbull puppy named Sophie, of whom Aniston shared photos later that month.
The couple later announced their split in 2018. “In an effort to reduce any further speculation, we have decided to announce our separation,” they said in a statement. “This decision was mutual and lovingly made at the end of last year. We are two best friends who have decided to part ways as a couple, but look forward to continuing our cherished friendship.
The two still remain close and friendly with Theroux telling The New York Times, “Again, neither one of us is dead, neither one of us is looking to throw hatchets at each other. It’s more like, it’s amicable. It’s boring, but, you know, we respected each other enough that it was as painless as it could be.
Jennifer Aniston briefly dated musician John Mayer in 2008. The two kept their relationship private until John delivered an impromptu speech towards the paparazzi. “It’s the most normal thing in the world,” he said. about the relationship. “There’s no lying, there’s no cheating, there’s no nothing. People are different, people have different chemistry, different lives. You’re either a cheater or you break up and I’m not the first one, I’m the second one. I ended a relationship to be alone, because I don’t want to waste somebody’s time if something’s not right.”
He went on: “Jennifer Aniston is the smartest, most sophisticated person I think I have ever met. I think she’s great. She’s one of the most lovely people I have ever met in my life. I’m truthful on the way into a relationship, truthful in the middle and truthful on the way out. I guarantee you there’s 20 per cent of people on this street that are in a relationship they wish they could get out of and don’t know how.”
After the breakup, Aniston cleared up about her feelings towards her “Gravity” songwriting ex to Vogue. “I feel seriously protective of him and us. Trust me, you’ll never see that happen again from that man. And it doesn’t take away from the fact that he is a wonderful guy. We care about each other. It’s funny when you hit a place in a relationship and you both realize, We maybe need to do something else, but you still really, really love each other. It’s painful. There was no malicious intent. I deeply, deeply care about him; we talk, we adore one another. And that’s where it is.”
Aniston swiftly moved on to fellow actor Vince Vaughn following her Brad Pitt breakup. The two split amicably in 2006.
The Morning Show actress then recalled that her relationship with Vaughn helped revive her. “I call Vince my defibrillator,” she told Vogue. “He literally brought me back to life. My first gasp of air was a big laugh! It was great. I love him. He’s a bull in a china shop. He was lovely and fun and perfect for the time we had together. And I needed that. And it sort of ran its course.”
The one where he married Jen. Jennifer Aniston met Brad Pitt in 1994 after they were introduced to each other by their managers. “He was just this sweet guy from Missouri, you know? A normal guy,” Aniston told Rolling Stone in 2001. At the time, Pitt was dating Paltrow, so it wasn’t until 1998, a year after he and Paltrow had split, that Pitt and Aniston’s managers set them up on a date. “Primetime,” Aniston said on Diane Sawyers’ Primetime in 2004. “It was weird…That was a really easy evening. It was really fun.”
Pitt proposed to Aniston in November 1999 on stage at a Sting concert, and July 2000, the two tied the knot in Malibu, California. “I had those typical jitters the day before my wedding, but the day of, I was just excited in a good way,” Aniston told Rolling Stone in 2001 of their wedding. However, the marriage didn’t last. In January 2005, Pitt and Aniston announced that they had broken up, a year after rumors circulated that he had cheated on her with Angelina Jolie on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2004. The two finalized their divorce in October 2005.
“We would like to announce that after seven years together we have decided to formally separate,” Aniston and Pitt said in a statement at the time. “For those who follow these sorts of things, we would like to explain that our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media. This decision is the result of much thoughtful consideration. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair in September 2005, Aniston opened up about her split from Pitt. “We exited this relationship as beautifully as we entered it,” she said.
In January 2020—after Pitt’s divorce from Jolie and Aniston’s divorce from Justin Theroux—the two reunited for the first time in public at the Golden Globes. Their reunion came after reports that Pitt and Aniston started texting again and that Pitt had attended Aniston’s 50th birthday party in February 2019. Though the two went on to share a moment at the 2020 SAG Awards, where they briefly held hands backstage, the two didn’t reunite romantically.
The two still remain friends and even in light of her having a stalker, Pitt offered her a place to stay. A source revealed to RadarOnline: “Brad told her, ‘If you need a place to feel secure, my doors are always open.'”
Jennifer Aniston dated Tate Donovan from 1995 to 1998. The star recalled to The Independent about the Friends frenzy that they endured as a couple. “Jen and I dated for two years – when we went to England together, it was like being with a Beatle. We had to say we were having reservations at one restaurant and then go to another. There were fake cars and everything, all to avoid the paparazzi.”
Donovan went on to star as Aniston’s on-screen love interest as they were breaking up. “We were just breaking up and I, for some weird reason, thought that maybe working together would ease the breakup,” he recalled. “Maybe we’d become friends quicker. I just wanted to go gently into the good night – we both did.”
Jennifer Aniston briefly dated Counting Crows frontman Adam Durwitz after they met at The Viper Room in 1995. “I met Jennifer Aniston there, ’cause a bunch of my friends lied to me and told me she had a crush on me. Those same friends lied to her and told her I had a crush on her,” he recalled to Entertainment Tonight. “It didn’t last very long, but she’s a nice girl.”
Jennifer Aniston considered Broadway actor Daniel McDonald to be her first love. The two dated before her big break on Friends. She told The New York Times, “He would have been the one. But I was 25, and I was stupid. He must have sent me Justin [Theroux] to make up for it all.”
A source told the Globe that the two split because of their career aspirations. “She knew Friends was the chance of a lifetime and she had to stay, while Dan pursued his dream on Broadway,” a friend said. “Jen and Dan kept in touch — but with time, they drifted apart.” McDonald died after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2007.
Jennifer Aniston briefly dated her Ferris Bueller co-star Charlie Schlatter in 1990. GQ’s former editor-in-chief served as a comedy assistant on the NBC adaptation of the film and spilled the tea. “GQ can exclusively report that everyone on set thought she was hot, including Schlatter, with whom she had a brief, torrid romance—while playing, it must be said, his older sister,” Nelson recalls of the costars. Aniston played his on-screen sister Jeannie. “To we immaturions on the show, this seemed extra-hot. Like performative incest.”
