Jordan Karlesson
On the face of it, Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney couldn’t appear more different. Sure, they’re both titans in the entertainment industry. But that would seem to be all that they have in common.
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Defying all odds — all right, that’s a bit hyperbolic, but you get the idea — Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney struck up a romantic relationship in the early 2000s.
Fans of both the actor and musician almost lost their minds when the odd couple tied the knot in 2005. They also took some heat off Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett, another actor-and-musician couple who wed about 10 years before Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney did.
2005: The Year Zellweger and Chesney Broke
When the mismatched couple made it official and wed in 2005 when each spouse’s career was exploding. was at the top of their game as entertainers.
That year, Zellweger starred alongside Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man. The boxing biopic scored a dizzying number of awards and nominations, including three nods from Oscar.
The Cinderella Man also furthered Renée Zellweger’s impressive streak — or uncanny ability — of acting in at least one major blockbuster and/or critically beloved film each year. They included Me, Myself & Irene (2000), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Chicago (2002), Cold Mountain (2003), and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.
For his part, country singer/guitarist Kenny Chesney had a huge 2005 as well. The first album he released that year, Be as You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair), immediately topped the Billboard 200 upon its January.
“Little Gravy” might have decided it would be wise to strike again quickly, while the iron was still hot. Accordingly, in November 2005, The Road and the Radio immediately topped the Billboard 200 and US Top Country Albums charts upon its release.
Zellweger and Chesney’s Doomed Whirlwind Romance
Sandwiched between those two platinum records, Kenny Chesney managed to squeeze in marrying Renée Zellweger in May. The announcement was an even bigger deal because the couple had only met about four months prior to their marriage, at a humanitarian relief event.
It may have seemed romantic, but two people immediately following so hard for each other that they couldn’t shake their desire to get married pretty much right away. But unfortunately, the marriage flamed out as quickly as it had caught fire.
A mere four months after becoming husband and wife, Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney annulled their marriage after realizing they weren’t a match made in heaven after all. The matter got ugly too, with the actress accusing the country-music star of engaging in fraudulent activities.
Don’t shed any tears over Zellweger, though. After splitting from Chesney, she dated Bradley Cooper for two years. Moreover, before the Chesney disaster, her male companions included musician Jack White and Jim Carrey. In fact, Zellweger and Carrey got engaged in 1999 before calling it off the following year.
Common wisdom says that couples who fall madly in love with each other from the get-go don’t last. Love is blind, another saying goes, which means romantic partners overlook or don’t see red flags in their partner because they romanticize them so deeply.
