Where's there's smoke there's fire, and where there's no smoke, there's the Jennifer Lopez-and-Marc Anthony shocker.
Back in February, when this piece originally ran, it was Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Pete Wentz's uncoupling that stunned.
Fact is, surprising splits never get old. Consider these out-of-the-blue, blast-from-the-past breakups:
1. Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds: So rarely were Mr. and Mrs. Bigfoot seen in public, we kinda forget they were married, and then—bam!—they were over. So much for " crazy in love " sightings.
2. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise: Today, there is nothing that the post-Oprah Cruise could do that would surprise anyone. But a decade ago? His seemingly hair-trigger decision to pull the plug on his marriage to Kidman shortly after their 10th anniversary and a pregnancy (that would end in miscarriage) was fairly shocking—to the world, and, according to her lawyers, to Kidman.
3. Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins: No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus—and there is no guarantee that 23 years of togetherness won't come apart in a single tersely worded press release. So, grow up.
4. Janet Jackson and Rene Elizondo: It may have slipped our minds that Johansson and Reynolds were married, but we had no idea, none, that the pop star and her handyman were hitched for nearly a decade until the day—boom!—Elizondo filed for divorce. That's not flying under the radar; that's not being on the radar.
5. Laura Dern and Ben Harper: Are famous people who aren't as famous as the superfamous happier? Call us naive, but we thought so. Until, that is, this manageably famous and apparently happy couple called it quits last year.
Call us cynical, but we now presume everyone is miserable.