Good for Minka Kelly.
The dating world is tough enough without having all eyes on you every time you go out, and the film and TV star hasn't had a relationship all to herself in 10 years. But she hasn't let any awkward headlines stop her from being with whom she wants to be with, and when, as she navigates the pitfalls of DWF (dating while famous).
She also barely ever talks about such things, and she never dishes specific details, preferring to keep the conversation focused on her career and various philanthropic endeavors. Even when interviews have been decidedly not about the craft, such as when Esquire named her the Sexiest Women Alive in 2010, she would only reveal so much, and never referred to her boyfriend at the time—New York Yankees superstar Derek Jeter—by name.
"I think it comes with the territory. It's a small price to pay for the extraordinary life that I live," she said in a 2016 radio interview, taking a rare moment to acknowledge the existence of her personal life, and the mixture of true and untrue stories that have circulated over the years. "I think if they're paying attention, that must mean there's something [I'm doing right]."
"Look, if it's true and it's out, then it's true and it's out," Kelly added. "When it's not true and it's out, it's really frustrating. You just have to find the comedy in all of it."
And she's had plenty of opportunities to laugh.
Since scoring her breakout role on Friday Night Lights in 2006, Kelly has made a habit of playing her cards extremely close to the vest, pre-marriage Cameron Diaz-style, about who she's dating—and she's almost always dating someone people would want to know more about.
On the flip side, almost as though they're living up to their end of the bargain, no guy has ever spilled the beans about Kelly, either. Not even John Mayer.
But while the red-carpet-couple life hasn't been her thing, it's not as though she doesn't go out in public on dates as she pleases. In fact, over time she's gotten her date-a-movie-star-like-he's-just-anyone game down to a science.
The actress began dating the Daily Show host in mid-2020. The two broke up around May 2021 but weeks later, appeared to be back on when they were spotted walking in NYC together. In December 2021, he brought her home to Johannesburg, South Africa for a holiday trip.
Before going on to have her perfect cheerleader world turned upside down as Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights, Kelly dated Faison right after his first marriage, to Lisa Askey, ended in 2005.
Aside from photographic evidence that she and the Scrubs star were cuddly in public, however, neither actor ever went on to kiss and tell, and Faison met future wife CaCee Cobb not long after he and Kelly broke up.
She found another discreet partner in crime in FNL co-star Taylor Kitsch, whom she was rumored to be dating in real life just as Lila and Tim Riggins were falling for each other on the show.
Well, at least fans got to see them steam up the screen. "I think [Tim] is probably the love of [Lyla's] life. I don't know, maybe they do end up back together, maybe he gets his s--t together, and they work things out," Kelly mused to Vanity Fair last year for the 10th anniversary of FNL's premiere.
She said of her fellow cast mates, "It's not like we are texting each other all the time, but we certainly check in with each other every so often, and we're like a little family. It's not hard to hear about what's going on with any of them."
Kelly first dated Evans in 2007, back when he was just the Human Torch—albeit an impressive Human Torch. Dueling schedules prompted an amicable split.
With Kelly firmly established as the toast of young Hollywood, it was time for the age-old rite of passage: dating John Mayer. She had a brief fling with the musician in the fall of 2007 that was over by New Year's, but they reportedly remained friendly. Maybe that's another reason why she never has a cross (or kind, or any) word to say about her exes—she prefers to avoid the stress of a public feud and keep it amicable.
Also, you get a free pass to go on about Mayer after the fact, but...nope. Not a word from Kelly.
"Minka told a couple friends that she and John had broken up but she really didn't want to tell anyone," a source told People in early January 2008, at least a month after the breakup.
Mildly thickening the plot for a hot second was Kelly's pizza date with the That '70s Show star in May 2008—but her rep actually denied that they were dating, a rare nugget of information.
Not an actor or singer, but easily one of the biggest sports stars in the world and perhaps the sporting world's most endearing bachelor. When not involved in a relationship with a fellow bold-faced name, the New York Yankee handled his off-the-field playtime like a champ, leaving fellow athletes like Alex Rodriguez to make the more salacious headlines.
Jeter made headlines with Kelly, of course, whenever they were out on dates, or on vacation or when she was in the stands at a Yankees game. Yet somehow...they had a relatively low-key adventure together, so they were kindred spirits in that respect.
It wasn't shocking in hindsight when they broke up for good in 2011, as they were based in different states and Jeter's career was priority No. 1 (he put off even getting engaged to Hannah Davis until after he retired in 2014), but apparently Kelly was a little blindsided after they had maintained a steady off-and-back-on status for more than three years. But no muss, no fuss on the surface.
"They kept their relationship very, very quiet—there are no rumors of cheating, nothing," a source told E! News at the time. "And Minka is handling this the way she handles everything. She's a down-to-earth, real person, a sweetheart, and this took her by surprise."
She must have also found Jeter's eye-on-the-prize attitude to be most attractive, having told Men's Health in 2009, "A man has to be passionate about something. He has to be focused and genuine. He has to have drive. I really believe that our careers are our first loves. And I think a career should be as important for him as it is for me. And that we should be able to understand that we come second."
So breaking up with the 14-time All-Star didn't put her off of famous, ambitious guys, nor did her most high-profile relationship to date snap her streak of moving on with utmost discretion. It would've been her prerogative to give a big post-split, "I'm fine now!" interview, but that's not her style.
With Jeter out of the picture, the timing couldn't have been better to link Kelly to her Charlie's Angels co-star, but as the show fizzled upon arrival, so did the romance rumors.
About seven months after Jeter flied out to right, Kelly was spotted in Australia with the That '70s Show star in April 2012, while he was on the outs with Demi Lovato.
They didn't get serious, though, and Wilmer reconciled with Demi later that year.
Now a full-fledged Captain in the Marvel Universe, Evans popped back into the picture in late 2012—and he stayed there for another year, before busyness once again prompted an undramatic split in 2013. But they stayed friends, sparking rekindling rumors in 2014 and again in 2015.
Though Evans has talked about other ex-girlfriends (he sang Jenny Slate's praises, for instance), he has been no help in cracking the code of what it's like to date Minka Kelly.
And Kelly had once again proved herself right to not autopsy a relationship in public, because you never know when you might want to give it another shot.
After the barely single Oscar winner was spotted at Kelly's 35th birthday dinner in July 2015, headlines were awash in speculation that the pair, who knew each other from past charitable endeavors, were a new item.
This one proved to be a little much for the actress.
"Not my nature to address gossip but hoping this last one goes away already. Not dating a friend I had a group dinner with. #sillymedia," she tweeted.
It's funny, really, that she has such a connection with the onetime king of kissing and telling.
Kelly and Valderrama, newly single again, picked up where they left off four years prior and took off for Mexico together in September 2016.
Yet Kelly insisted that looks were entirely deceiving—both times! "He's a good friend to me," she said in a Power 106 interview just days after spending Labor Day weekend with Wilmer in Cabo. "And it's funny—he's not my ex. We are good friends, and we always have been. We're not exes!" She added, "Wilmer's a really, really good person, and any woman would be lucky to have him."
According to Us Weekly, these two had a blinked-and-you-missed-it romance after things ended (or didn't end, because nothing was ever going on) with Wilmer.
They met doing voice-over work for the video game Detroit: Become Human earlier this year and are now "dating exclusively," according to a source.
And while mum has been the word for Kelly, of course, as they've only just progressed to being spotted together in public, Williams was compelled to provide a little clarification since he just filed for divorce from his wife of almost five years in April.
"I was in a relationship 13 years, 13 real years, not 5 years, not 7 years, 13 years and all of a sudden mother f---kers are writing think-pieces that I somehow threw a 13-year relationship," the Grey's Anatomy star opened up in Footnotes for 4:44, a companion video to Jay Z's latest album just released via Tidal. "Like thee most painful experience I've had in my life like with a person I've loved with all of my heart—that I threw a person and my family in the trash because a girl I work with is cute."
So if Williams would like to have a decidedly undramatic relationship in the wake of his divorce, he probably couldn't have picked a better person to fall for than Minka Kelly, a Sexiest Woman Alive type who also keeps it classy.
"I really don't like dating," Kelly admitted to Men's Health in 2009. "I think it's awkward and uncomfortable and inauthentic. You're on your best behavior, trying to impress the other person.
"If you want to date me, just be my friend and ask me if I want to hang out."