Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Raj Nidimoru to Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster: Celebrity romances that started out as affair rumours

Some of the biggest celebrity romances didn’t begin with grand declarations of love, but as denials. What now seem like obvious relationships often had far more controversial beginnings with whispered rumours, unverified social media posts, blind items and paparazzi spottings that left fans and the media playing detective.
Somewhere between the blurry timelines and scandalous link-up chatter, a handful of these rumours evolved into full-blown romances.
From Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Raj Nidimoru, whose link-up set the gossip mills spinning, to Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster being linked while the actor was still married, these love stories walked straight off gossip columns, to the red carpet and even down the aisle.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu married filmmaker Raj Nidimoru on December 1, after mere months of speculation that the two were more than just collaborators on hit series like 'The Family Man 2' and 'Citadel: Honey Bunny'. Following their highly publicised press tour for their spy series, unverified reports claimed that Sam and Raj were “getting close”, however, nothing much was made of the buzz, considering that the director was reportedly still married to longtime love, Shhyamali De, and the actress was fresh out of her divorce and recovering from a major health condition. While their many appearances together kept rumours alive, both maintained their hush-hush relationship status until finally giving fans and the media a confirmation in a marriage announcement.

Rumours linking Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala began in 2022, promptly after his shocking and sudden separation from wife, Samantha Ruth Prabhu. With Tollywood's golden couple keeping mum about the reason for their split, rumours soon took over. One of these claimed that the hunk allegedly 'cheated' on his wife, a rumour he later denied. Around the same time, old clips from a 2018 interview, where Chaitanya admitted to two-timing in a relationship, went viral, further adding fuel to the vicious rumours.
Amid all the chatter surrounding their low-key romance, Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita eventually announced their engagement in August 2024 and married later that same year in December.

Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster were long-time friends before they co-starred in The Music Man in 2021. At the time, Jackman was married to Deborra-Lee Furness and Foster to screenwriter Ted Griffin, which is why early whispers of an on-set romance were largely dismissed as idle celebrity chatter. However, when Jackman stunned fans, and reportedly even Deborra-Lee, by announcing a divorce after 27 years of marriage, speculation about an alleged affair quickly resurfaced. A source told Us Weekly in 2024, “Deborra-Lee was blindsided when she found out about the affair through the run of the show. Many people were shocked Hugh could do this to her.” The rumours only intensified until January 2025, when Jackman and Foster finally went public with their relationship, shortly after Foster ended her own decade-long marriage.​

Ariana Grande and her boyfriend, Ethan Slater created quite the stir on social media when they began dating while filming 'Wicked'. The controversy erupted after it came to light that not only were both actors married at the time, but Slater welcomed his first child with wife Lilly Jay just months before. Daily Mail reported that the 'Wicked' co-stars were seen packing on the PDA while enjoying time out in March 2023, much before Slater officially filed for divorce from his wife, Jay on July 26, 2023.
In an interview with Page Six, Slater’s ex-wife Lilly slammed the singer, saying, “Ariana’s the story, really. Not a girl’s girl. My family is just collateral damage.”

One of Hollywood’s most scandalous relationships in Hollywood, began on the sets of 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith', when Angelina Jolie was linked to co-star Brad Pitt, while he was still married to America's sweetheart, Jennifer Aniston.
Although both actors initially denied the rumours, their photographs together on a date with Jolie's son, tagging along, seemed to erase all doubts. With the romance confirmed, Aniston filed for divorce in March 2005, and by the end of that year, Pitt and Jolie had gone public. After dating for a decade and raising six children together, the couple finally wed in 2014, but sadly, their relationship ended 2 years later with Jolie filing for divorce in 2016. The divorce settlement was finalised in December 2024.

Malaika Arora and Arjun Kapoor went public with their romance in 2019, years after rumours first began linking them together. As the tabloids tell, speculation about the two being an item surfaced during the period leading to Malaika’s separation from Arbaaz Khan.
Though both remained discreet initially, their appearances at private gatherings kept the gossip mill running. They finally made their romance Instagram official on the occasion of Arjun’s birthday, with the actress writing a caption that confirmed what fans had long suspected. Since then, the two continued to share their romantic pics together, until finally calling off the relationship in 2024.