While there are always new hookups, fairy-tale engagements and lavish weddings to get excited over, so too must love die a little bit each year.
It's important. Part of the circle of life, if you will. If one thing doesn't fade, how else to make room for something better to bloom in its place?
Time and again, we see relationships of all durations and levels of seriousness implode, be it after 10 months or 28 years. The reasons are endless ("irreconcilable differences," "irretrievably broken" and "still friends" cast a wide net). Some exes part ways as friends, while others may never speak again without the assistance of an attorney.
But no matter the tenor of the breakup, no one ever has to feel that he or she is walking the split road alone. In fact, that road is positively littered with celebrities—some who will be rebounding tomorrow, while others are due for some restorative alone time.
There were rebounds that fizzled, long-time partnerships that dissolved, marriages that ended in a flurry of paperwork.
Ultimately, it's been a long year, and while we know you're still barely over Chris Pratt and Anna Faris splitting up, we bet you forgot about a lot of these breakups. So, it's time to pay our respects to the couples of yesteryear, so we can better appreciate all the new love that's waiting just around the corner in 2018.
The Girls star attributed her divorce after seven years and two kids together to the process of acting—"and just asking myself, 'Is this really me?'" she explained to ES Magazine.
The Oscar winner filed for divorce from his high school sweetheart in January after 22 years of marriage—and almost three years after Kapfer filed for a legal separation, though they had reunited since and in fact attended Golden Globes party together just days beforehand. They have three children.
Though they technically split up toward the end of last year, no one knew about it till January. Johansson filed for divorce in March.
Pell filed for divorce from the Olympic medal-winning figure skater in April after four years of marriage, calling the decision "a sad and difficult turn of events" for their family.
The Friends star and his wife announced in April that they had "decided to take some time apart" while they figured out their next step. Married since 2010 and together for about a decade, they're parents of daughter Cleo together.
The NFL star and the actress called it quits this spring after three years together, with a source telling E! News that they were "just on two different pages in life."
Just a few months after son Eissa was born, the couple of almost seven years pulled the plug on their five-year marriage.
Almost 10 years after they quietly married and four months after their officially cited date of separation, the former Spice Girl filed for divorce in April—and there has been nothing quiet about the ensuing explosion of mudslinging.
Before the Knicks traded Carmelo Anthony to Oklahoma City, his wife of seven years (and girlfriend for seven years before that) had already started reconsidering their marital contract. But the parents of 10-year-old son Kiyan haven't rushed into any more definitive step since their split was confirmed in April, with La La telling Latina this fall, "Only I know what's going on with my relationship and that's what matters to me, not what everybody else thinks."
The Grey's Anatomy star filed for divorce in April after five years of marriage and an overall 10-year relationship. They have two children together.
A day before their first anniversary, Kaplan filed for divorce from the Originals star.
Call us shocked when the parents of two announced they had separated after 17 years of marriage.
The French actress filed for divorce from the "Uptown Funk" artist after five years of marriage.
The former Real Housewives of Miami star and her husband divorced relatively quietly after four years of marriage.
The Colombian athletes announced in July that they had separated after six years of marriage. They have a 4-year-old daughter, Salomé.
Engaged, then not, then on Marriage Boot Camp, then disengaged for good. Just a few months after their summer split, Baier up and married someone else.
The announcement in August of the actors' separation after eight years of marriage sent a shock wave across social media as fans mourned the end of all that was righteous in this godforsaken world. The parents of 5-year-old Jack have since filed for divorce.
The Justice League actress and the billionaire Tesla founder ended their relationship this summer after about a year. "I was really in love," the thrice-divorced (twice from the same woman) Musk lamented to Rolling Stone, admitting that the breakup was Heard's idea.
We hardly knew ye, couple who met (and married) while shooting the fifth season of Married at First Sight last year and then announced your divorce in August.
The marriage that maybe never should've been came to an end after only seven months.
Together for 13 years and married for eight, the parents of 4-year-old Axl went public with their split in September.
After "a gradual buildup of issues and problems," the couple confirmed in September that they broken up after 10 years together. They welcomed daughter Briar Rose Christensen in 2014.
The former star of The Hills filed for divorce and secured a temporary restraining order against Bohan 10 months after marrying her longtime boyfriend. They have a year-old daughter together.
Chapman left a Georgina-shaped hole in the door five days after the New York Times reported on allegations of sexual harassment going back decades against her husband of 10 years. They have two children together.
One day they were still "sort of" engaged, and the next, they had gone their separate ways.
"It's heartbreaking for me and my daughters that this is the road that had to be taken but it's the only way," the Real Housewives of Orange County star told People about separating from her husband of 17 years.
And they seemed so perfect for each other when 2017 began! But the crazy schedules eventually weighed on them, and Selena has since started spending more time than any boyfriend would have approved of with her ex Justin Bieber.
Braxton filed for divorce a month shy of their ninth wedding anniversary.
The parents of three are divorcing after 11 years of marriage.
It got ugly fast when the Oscar winner broke up with her longtime fiancé and father of her 8-year-old son, Daniel. News of their months-in-the-making split after 10 years together broke as Hudson filed for an emergency order of protection against Otunga.
But just as some doors close, others will open, and we bet we'll see more than a few of these celebs starring in stories about newfound love next year.