When two celebrities start to date, paparazzi and fans start to obsess over the relationship, following their every move and analyzing every big step the couple takes. When a celebrity dates a sports star, the combination of two people with very different talents is sometimes the best of both worlds.
When these relationships form, the celebs often become power couples across both industries. Take a look at 30 celebrity-athlete couples who have redefined relationship goals to (hopefully) go the distance.
Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade
Gabrielle Union gained notoriety in 1999’s Bring It On. For five years (2001-06), she was married to Jacksonville Jaguars running back Chris Howard, but the relationship that inspires envy today is the actress’ marriage to three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade. The couple first met in 2007 and kept their relationship private until making their formal debut in 2010.
They briefly split in 2013, and Wade had a son, Xavier, with Basketball Wives cast member Aja Metoyer. Ultimately, Union and Wade rekindled their romance, “slam dunking” all their differences to tie the knot in 2014. In November 2018, the couple welcomed a daughter, Kaavia, via surrogate.
Ciara and Russell Wilson
Singer Ciara rose to fame in 2004 when her first studio album, Goodies, topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She continued to release new music during the same timeframe that her future husband, Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl champion quarterback Russell Wilson, was scoring touchdowns. Wilson probably enjoyed quite a victory dance when he met Ciara.
The couple first started dating in 2015 and impressed fans with their announcement to remain celibate until marriage. They got married in 2016 at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, England. In 2017, they welcomed a daughter, Sienna, and their relationship has remained strong since then.
Shakira and Gerard Piqué
Shakira had her first big break in 2001 with the release of her hit single “Whenever, Wherever.” Then, in 2005, the Colombian singer released “Hips Don’t Lie,” which became her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. After that, Shakira was a household name.
In 2011, Shakira met professional Spanish national team soccer player Gerard Piqué. He appeared in the music video for Shakira’s “Wake Wake (This Time for South Africa),” which served as the official anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In 2013, Shakira gave birth to the couple’s first son, Milan. Another son, Sasha, was born in 2015. Although the couple hasn’t married, their relationship appears to be quite strong.
Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann
Kim Zolciak rose to prominence in 2008 as one of the original housewives on the popular Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of Atlanta. It was through this stardom that she met NFL Atlanta Falcons defensive end Kroy Biermann in 2010. The couple met during a charity event, Dancing with Atlanta Stars, and began dating. They married a short time later in 2011.
Zolciak had her own spin-off reality series, Don’t Be Tardy for the Wedding, which focused on the preparations for the couple’s wedding ceremony. Together, the couple has four children — Kroy Jagger, Kash, Kane and Kaia — and Biermann adopted Zolciak’s two daughters, Brielle and Ariana. In its seventh season, Don’t Be Tardy continues to follow the celebrity-athlete power couple in all their adventures in Atlanta.
Kerry Washington and Nnamdi Asomugha
Scandal actress Kerry Washington met former Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha in 2012 when he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. The couple kept their relationship under wraps, and even the paparazzi didn’t know they were dating. When it was announced they had gotten married in 2013, fans were certainly surprised at the news.
The couple has one daughter, Isabelle, and a son, Caleb. Since retiring from football in 2013, Asomugha has decided to follow in his wife’s footsteps and pursue acting and producing. He received praise for his role as Carl King in the 2017 film Crown Heights. Washington continues to act, starring in the upcoming Hulu drama Little Fires Everywhere.
Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird
Megan Rapinoe helped lead the United States women’s national soccer team to wins in the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments. For her performance in 2019, she was named the FIFA World Player of the Year. Rapinoe has also gained international attention as an advocate for numerous LGBT organizations.
Her partner, Sue Bird, knows what it’s like to be in the spotlight in the world of sports. The Seattle Storm basketball player helped the team win two WNBA championships. The couple has been dating since 2016 and were the first same-sex couple to appear on the cover of ESPN’s The Body Issue.
Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete
Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete probably have one of the strongest marriages in the industry. They certainly have one of the longest marriages. The former NFL quarterback married 21 Jump Street actress Holly Robinson in 1995. The couple has four children: Ryan, Rodney Jr., Robinson and Roman.
The Peete family currently star in their own reality TV series, For Peete’s Sake. The OWN network series follows the couple’s lives as they juggle their careers with their busy family life. It might be challenging at times, but their marriage has survived nearly 25 years. Apparently, nothing can keep these two apart.
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are tennis’ first couple, and they’re both dynamic athletes. Agassi, whose career spanned from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, won the 1996 Olympic gold medal and is an eight-time Grand Slam champion. Not to be outdone, Graf has won 22 major singles titles as well as a 1988 Olympic gold medal.
The couple met after the 1999 French Open and were married in 2001, with only their mothers as witnesses. They have two children: Jaden and Jaz. The family resides in Summerlin, a community in affluent Las Vegas Valley. Graf’s mother and brother also live with the family, making it one big happy residence.
Erin Andrews and Jarret Stoll
Erin Andrews knows more about sports than most people. Serving as a sideline reporter for Fox NFL and a co-host of College GameDay on ESPN, she has met more football players than she can probably count. But if you expected her to fall for one of the many players she encounters, that wasn’t the case. Instead, she fell in love with a hockey player.
The TV personality started dating Minnesota Wild center Jarret Stoll in 2012. The couple got engaged in December 2016, following Andrews’ treatment for cervical cancer. They tied the knot at Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana, in the summer of 2017. According to the couple, they are planning to start a family through in vitro fertilization (IVF) due to Andrews’ cancer history.
Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher
In recent years, it seems like a lot of celebrities are marrying hockey players. This trend continued with Carrie Underwood and Nashville Predators center Mike Fisher. The country music icon met her future husband in 2008 when they were set up on a blind date. It seemed to work for them because two years later, they married in an intimate ceremony.
The couple has always supported each other’s careers. Before his retirement in 2018, Underwood attended as many Predators games as possible. Likewise, Fisher supports his wife’s music. The couple has two sons, Isaiah and Jacob, and they frequently inspire others with their commitment to faith and family.
Jessie James and Eric Decker
Country pop singer-songwriter, reality TV personality, fashion designer and entrepreneur Jessie James has had many accolades in her career, but nothing has been more rewarding than her marriage to retired NFL wide receiver Eric Decker. The football star, who played for the Denver Broncos, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots, contributed to Peyton Manning’s historical passing season in 2013.
That same year, Decker scored another touchdown — marrying Jessie James. The wedding planning and nuptials were documented on their E! reality series Eric & Jessie: Game On. The series went on hiatus in 2014 but returned in September 2017 for a third and final season. Together, the couple has three children: Vivianne, Eric II and Forrest.
Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich
Dancing with the Stars judge Julianne Hough has had many relationships in the public eye. Most notably, she dated TV personality Ryan Seacrest for three years (2010-13). However, in December 2013, she began dating retired NHL Ottawa Senators center Brooks Laich.
The couple has managed to keep their relationship mostly private. They got hitched in 2017 and have remained committed to their relationship since then. Laich supports Hough’s dancing career, and Hough loved supporting Laich’s athletic career until his retirement in 2018. Maybe Laich will someday join Hough on the dance floor. Stranger things have happened!
Tony Romo and Candice Crawford
In the summer of 2009, retired NFL Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo started dating 2008 Miss Missouri USA and former Dallas journalist Candice Crawford, the sister of Gossip Girl actor Chace Crawford. The couple married in 2011 and have kept their relationship mostly private. Romo probably learned that lesson the hard way after his very public relationship with singer Jessica Simpson.
Romo and Crawford have three sons: Hawkins, Rivers and Jones. Since his 2017 retirement, Romo has worked in broadcasting for CBS Sports, and he is an avid amateur golfer. No matter what he decides to do in the future, Crawford will hopefully be by his side.
Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson
Jessica Simpson may have publicly dated Tony Romo from 2007 to 2009, but she ended up falling in love with another NFL player, Eric Johnson. The “I Wanna Love You Forever” singer-turned-designer met the retired San Francisco 49ers tight end in 2010. Four years later, in 2014, they said “I do” during a ceremony at San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California.
The couple has three children: Maxwell, Ace and Birdie Mae. The pair also has a mostly private relationship out of the public eye, unlike her first marriage to 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey, where they shared their relationship on a reality series called Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica.
Lindsey Vonn and P.K. Subban
Lindsey Vonn has won another gold medal with her relationship with NHL New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban. The Olympic skier, who won gold in downhill skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics, has been gushing over her relationship with her now-fiancé Subban since they met in 2018.
“We’re very happy, we’re very much in love,” she said. “I’m going to support him in his hockey career as much as I can. He has a lot of games! It’s hard to keep track of them, but he’s an amazing guy, and I’m very lucky to have him in my life.”
Derek and Hannah Jeter
Derek Jeter has had many public relationships, including with Mariah Carey, Jordana Brewster, Jessica Biel and Minka Kelly. The retired MLB shortstop, who spent his entire 20-year career with the New York Yankees, kept looking for happiness but wasn’t successful for many years. He eventually hit a home run with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model Hannah Davis.
The couple started dating in 2012 and tied the knot in 2016. They have two daughters: Story and Bella. Today, the couple stays busy with their family. Meanwhile, Jeter manages day-to-day operations as chief executive officer and part-owner of the Miami Marlins.
Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova
Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova have proven that you don’t have to get married to spend forever with your best friend. A couple since 2001, the King of Latin Pop singer and the Russian former professional tennis player have never rushed to get engaged.
“I’ve never really thought marriage would make a difference,” Iglesias said. “Maybe it’s because I come from divorced parents, but I don’t think you love someone more because of a piece of paper.” The duo behaves like a married couple and has two children, Nicholas and Lucy. They inspire each other to lead active lives, most likely stemming from Kournikova’s former athletic career.
JoAnna Garcia and Nick Swisher
When JoAnna Garcia and Nick Swisher met in August 2009, it was a whirlwind courtship. The Reba actress and the former Cleveland Indians outfielder and first baseman were engaged nine months later in May 2010 and tied the knot that December. Bridesmaids included Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Garcia’s Reba costars Melissa Peterman and Reba McEntire.
The couple has two daughters, Emerson and Sailor. Swisher isn’t shy when it comes to gushing about his wife. He commented in 2013, “I’ve been cruising along. I’ve got a beautiful wife. She’s my best friend. I’ve got a great job and a beautiful home, and now it’s time to be a dad…I want her [Emerson] to be exactly like my wife.”
Kate Upton and Justin Verlander
The year 2017 was a big year for supermodel Kate Upton and MLB pitcher Justin Verlander. The couple, who had been dating since 2014, got married in November in Tuscany, Italy, just two days after Verlander’s team, the Houston Astros, won its first-ever World Series title. The pair had plenty to celebrate that fall — but that’s not all.
The good news continued in 2018 when the couple welcomed their first child, Genevieve. During Verlander’s off-season, they reside together in Lakeland, Florida. Upton continues to have her successful modeling career, and the couple seems to be as happy as ever.
Brooklyn Decker and Andy Roddick
When Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model and actress Brooklyn Decker met professional tennis player Andy Roddick in 2007, she thought it was a chance meeting. In reality, Roddick arranged for his agent to contact her agent to set them up on a date. The former No. 1 tennis player and winner of the 2003 U.S. Open knew she was special, and he wasn’t wrong.
The couple had an intimate wedding ceremony in April 2009. Since tying the knot, Decker insists not much has really changed in their relationship. She commented, “It’s great, it’s wonderful. Nothing’s changed…in a good way! So, it’s nice.” The couple, who resides in Roddick’s hometown of Austin, Texas, has two children: Hank and Stevie.
Jeff Gordon and Ingrid Vandebosch
Jeff Gordon is one of the most famous NASCAR racers of all time. He is a four-time Winston Cup champion and has also won the Daytona 500 three times. Despite those wins, Gordon always needed someone to wait for him at the finish line. After his first marriage to Miss Winston Cup model Brooke Sealey ended in 2002, Gordon began dating Belgian model Ingrid Vandebosch.
In 2002, the couple was introduced during a dinner party in The Hamptons by a mutual friend. They started dating in 2006 and married in a small, private ceremony in 2007. Together, they have two children, Ella and Leo. The family resides in the SouthPark neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Tim and Elizabeth Hasselbeck
Celebrity couples don’t always have long marriages, but that’s not the case for Tim and Elizabeth Hasselbeck. The retired NFL quarterback met Elizabeth when they were both students at Boston College. In 2001, Elizabeth rose to prominence as a contestant on Survivor and later joined the panel of The View, where she co-hosted the show until 2013.
Throughout both of their careers, Tim and Elizabeth remained committed to each other. In 2002, the couple married, and they have remained in love ever since. They have three children: Grace, Taylor and Isaiah. The Hasselbecks continually remind us of what it takes to make a marriage survive, redefining relationship goals every year as they celebrate another year of marriage.
Pete Sampras and Bridgette Wilson
Pete Sampras is known as “Pistol Pete” for his precise and powerful serve on the tennis courts. The retired tennis player, who won the 2002 U.S. Open and is regarded as one of the best players of all time, has so many No. 1 rankings, it’s amazing he found the time to meet his wife — actress, model and former Miss Teen USA Bridgette Wilson.
The couple married in 2000 and has welcomed two sons, Christian and Ryan, into their family. The family resides in Lake Sherwood, California, where they live a relatively private life. You don’t see much of the couple, presumably because they prefer their privacy.
Candace Cameron Bure and Valeri Bure
D.J. Tanner grew up and married a hockey player! The Full House star was introduced to her future husband, Russian NHL hockey player Valeri Bure, by her Full House co-star, Dave Coulier. The couple met and got married in 1996, when Candace was only 20 years old and just a year after the beloved family sitcom ended.
The couple has three children: Natasha, Lev and Maksim. After the birth of their children, Candace took a self-imposed hiatus from acting to devote her time to her family and children. After Valeri’s extensive injuries and retirement in 2005, Candace returned to acting and launched a popular career with the Hallmark Channel. Both stars are devout Christians.
Stephen and Ayesha Curry
Stephen “Steph” Curry is one of the most popular and talented NBA basketball players in modern history. The Golden State Warrior is a six-time NBA All-Star and has won three NBA championships with the Warriors. He is “hot,” and we’re guessing his wife, Ayesha Curry, would agree. In 2011, the longtime couple married, and they have three children: Riley, Ryan and Canon.
They reside in Alamo, California. Although Ayesha wasn’t a big-name celebrity before their marriage, she has always been an aspiring actress. Now, she’s a celebrity cook, cookbook author, television personality and YouTube content creator. The Currys are a power couple in the world of basketball, and they are ready for their next slam dunk.
Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler
Kristin Cavallari, one of the leading ladies of Laguna Beach and The Hills, began dating Jay Cutler, retired NFL Chicago Bears quarterback, in 2010. It didn’t take long for them to decide they were ready to get hitched. In 2013, Cavallari walked down the aisle to her football star, and they have been happily married ever since.
The couple has three children: Camden, Jaxon and Saylor. The family currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee, where they appear on their own E! reality series, Very Cavallari. You can follow their lives and envy their adorable, everlasting relationship.
Aaron Rodgers and Danica Patrick
Aaron Rodgers is one of the most recognizable names in NFL football. In 2010, the Green Bay Packers quarterback helped lead the team to a Super Bowl championship against the Pittsburgh Steelers, earning him the Super Bowl MVP title. These days, he’s dating another famous name in sports, IndyCar and NASCAR racer Danica Patrick.
Patrick, who is the most successful woman in the history of open-wheel racing, met and started dating Rodgers in 2018. Although no wedding bells are ringing yet, fans can’t wait for the day when the couple crosses the finish line — or scores in the end zone — and gets married.
Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez
Jennifer Lopez and Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez first met at a New York Yankees game in 2005, but they didn’t start dating then. At the time, Lopez was married to singer Marc Anthony, and Rodriguez was married to psychology graduate Cynthia Scurtis. As we know, both marriages ultimately ended in a divorce.
Lopez and Rodriguez started dating in 2017 and got engaged in 2019. They are currently planning a wedding, and fans love the seemingly perfect relationship between the singer and the former Yankees player. Will they get married at Yankee Stadium? Or will it be a private ceremony? Fans will just have to wait and see.
David and Victoria Beckham
David Beckham, a now-retired professional English footballer, met singer and model Victoria Beckham in 1997 when she was breaking records as a member of the famed music group Spice Girls. She attended a Manchester-United match, and the couple said their romance was “love at first sight.” They just knew they were meant for each other.
They married in 1999 and have since had four children: Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper. The couple of 20 years is reportedly worth nearly $900 million and is jokingly referred to by some as Britain’s “other royal family.” It would be a sad day if the Beckhams ever announced their separation.
Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen
Although the Beckhams may be the most famous celebrity-athlete couple in the UK, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen are the most royal-like celebrity-athlete couple in the U.S. The unstoppable New England Patriots quarterback and Brazilian model wed during a small ceremony in 2009.
That same year, the couple welcomed their first child, Benjamin. In 2012, they added their daughter, Vivian, to their superstar family. To this day, Bündchen supports her husband’s winning NFL career, which still may not end anytime soon.
