From DNA tests to a £470m row… celebs like Megan Fox & Machine Gun Kelly who broke up just days after revealing baby joy
WELCOMING a baby can be one of the most magical times in a couple’s relationship, but it can also be one of the most stressful too - and even lead to some painful decisions.
Yesterday it was revealed that Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly have become the latest celeb pairing to split just weeks after announcing joyful pregnancy news.
The Transformers actress, who is due to give birth in March 2025, announced her pregnancy in November.
But according to , she ended things over the period last month after finding "upsetting" material on 's phone.
Kelly, 34, and Megan, 38, got together in 2020, shortly after the actress split from her ex-husband Brian Austin Green, with whom she shares three sons.
In a sad echo of her latest news, she originally filed for divorce from the Beverly Hills, 90210 actor while she was pregnant with their third son Journey in 2015.
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Megan dropped the filing after “changing her mind a little bit,” according to US Weekly, but they split for good in 2020, after 10 years of marriage.
And the Hollywood star isn't the only celebrity whose relationship has surprisingly crumbled during pregnancy.
From bitter DNA tests to inheritance rows, some have led to long and bitter disputes... but it's not all doom and gloom, with some happily rekindling their romances after working through their problems.
Laura Anderson and Gary Lucy
Laura Anderson and Gary Lucy met while filming Celebs Go Dating in 2022, and quickly hit it off.
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But a year later, on the day the Love Island star was planning to announce she was pregnant, former Hollyoaks actor Gary revealed they were no longer together.
Speaking to Zoe Hardman and Georgia Dayton on Laura said it was especially difficult because he didn't tell her “that he was going to tell everyone" that they “weren’t together”.
Laura added: “I was so excited to become a mum, but it probably was the hardest time.
“Even though we weren’t together I was hoping that we’d work it out because as soon as you put into the public domain that we are not together, it kind of felt a bit of an attack.
“He did that the day that we were supposed to announce that I was pregnant.”
Lydia Bright and Lee Cronin
Lydia Bright first split from Lee Cronin in January 2019, around a year and a half after they first started dating.
But they were soon back together and planning a baby.
However, just two months after Lydia found out she was pregnant with their first child, it was over for good, leaving the former TOWIE star to have a very bittersweet pregnancy announcement in August 2019.
Speaking to Hello, Lydia explained: "It's not the ideal situation. I waited quite a long time to try for a baby, waited until I thought it was perfect.
"I've always wanted the fairytale. And it's obviously not worked out exactly how I wanted.
"I'm not closing the door on it completely, but I feel like I just keep getting knocked back. I can't beg somebody to be with me, and I can't beg somebody to love me.
"I know this baby will be the best thing that has ever happened to me."
Lydia did take Lee back again, shortly after giving birth to Loretta, now four.
Why couples break up mid-pregnancy
By psychologist and relationship expert Jo Hemmings
Heightened Emotions
Pregnancy can be an emotionally and physically demanding time especially for celebrities, who often juggle demanding careers, travel, and public scrutiny, and heightened emotions can be a real relationship issue. Conflicting expectations or priorities about parenthood may also be a cause for difficulty.
Incompatible Schedules
The entertainment industry often requires long hours, travel, and unpredictable commitments. Balancing these with the demands of a pregnancy can lead to feelings of neglect or lack of support – on both sides - contributing to friction in a relationship.
Changing Priorities
Expecting a child often leads to a re-evaluation of personal goals and priorities. Celebrities, with their high-stakes careers, might struggle to reconcile their professional ambitions with the demands of parenthood, leading to disagreements.
Existing Relationship Issues
For some couples, pregnancy might not cause issues but magnify existing ones. Underlying problems can come to light when navigating the big decisions and changes that come with preparing for a child. Sometimes celebrities rush to have a baby together to ‘cement’ their relationship, or meet the expectations of their fan base, but it often does the opposite, exposing concerns that were dismissed or went unacknowledged.
Mood Swings
Pregnancy can bring challenges like prenatal or postnatal depression, anxiety, or mood swings. These can strain even the strongest of pre-baby relationships especially if the mum-to-be doesn’t feel unconditionally supported.
She told The Sun: ";By the time of the birth, we’d got to a really good stage and we had the discussion that we were going to try to make a go of things as a family again."
But they were over yet again by 2021, as Lydia opened up about life as a single parent.
She said: "It’s a big responsibility and at times overwhelming juggling being a full-time mum and working full-time.
“But I am so proud of myself. Raising Loretta is my greatest ever achievement.”
Heidi Klum and Flavio Briatore
Italian billionaire businessman Flavio Briatore broke up with Heidi Klum right after he found out she was pregnant with her first child, Leni, in 2003, after a year of dating.
The supermodel met singer Seal soon after, and he treated Leni, now 20, as if she was his own, even legally adopting her when he married Heidi in 2005.
Heidi and Seal eventually split up in 2012, but Flavio has admitted Seal “raised” Leni and once confessed he didn't have a relationship with his daughter.
When Leni was 12, Flavio said: “It's hard to miss a baby that you never see. But I know that Leni is not an abandoned child.”
These days Flavio and Leni are on much better terms.
She was even seen enjoying a luxury holiday on her dad’s yacht, travelling around France and Italy last year.
Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen
After meeting on the set of Two and a Half Men, Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen got married in 2002.
They went on to have a daughter Sami, now 20, together in 2004, but the following year, while six months pregnant with their second daughter, she filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences”.
Speaking in 2022, Denise told Dear Media's Divorced Not Dead podcast: "The behind-the-scenes stuff was way worse than what was out there. It was really bad.”
Denise and Charlie gave their relationship another go shortly after Lola, now 19, was born - but it only made things clearer for Denise.
She said: "It made me also know I could one day tell my girls that I did everything I could possibly do to make this family unit.
“I felt the most guilty splitting up the family unit. I struggled with that for years."
Liz Hurley and Steve Bing
Liz Hurley had been dating multi-millionaire Steve Bing for around a year when she became pregnant with their son Damian, now 22, in 2001.
At the time, he insisted the child was not his but after a DNA test later proved he was the biological father, Steve made it clear he wanted nothing to do with his son.
Steve even excluded both Damian and his other daughter Kira Kerkorian from his will, despite the Hollywood investor amassing his fortune via a $600million (£470m) inheritance from his grandfather when he turned 18.
In 2020, Steve tragically killed himself, but Liz revealed she healed the rift with him before his suicide.
She told : "It’s very sad… just terrible.
"Horrific that it happened but there is some comfort to know we had made up and there was no bad feeling.
"We hadn’t been friends for a very long time, but about a year and a half ago he came back into our lives."
Chanelle Hayes and Matthew Bates
Chanelle Hayes first got together with Middlesbrough footballer Matthew Bates in 2010 but split just three months after she fell pregnant with their son.
After giving birth to Blakey, now five, they became embroiled in a very public custody battle.
And even as recent as September of this year, the former Big Brother star revealed she's in a battle with Matthew over changing their son’s name, slamming her ex for “letting him down”.
Taking to Instagram, Chanelle shared an "open letter,” calling out Matthew's parenting and his alleged lack of support when it comes to their son - claiming he only provides £12 a month for the child.
Nathan Massey and Cara De La Hoyde
Nathan Massey and Cara De La Hoyde won Love Island way back in 2016, and are now happily married with two children, Freddie, six, and Delilah, three.
But one year later they briefly parted ways after discovering they were expecting their first child.
"As soon as I found out I was pregnant we split up," Cara said on MadebyMammas podcast. "Could not stand each other, hated each other, we were just together for work."
At the time, Nathan spoke about the break on an episode of TOWIE, saying: "It's completely over now. Sadly. We were just under each other's feet too much."
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Their split only lasted six months, and they gave things another go just before Freddie was born.
“We've always said that was the best thing for us - to have that space and then come back together,” Cara told .