An English High Court Judge has issued a warning about the dangers of celebrity couples being viewed as role models by today’s young people. The warning comes as a report from the Marriage Foundation has revealed the divorce rate of celebrity couples (40%) to be double that of non-celebrity couples (20%).
High Court Judge Sir Paul Coleridge, who founded The Marriage Foundation, described young people’s aspirations for happiness built on celebrity lifestyle as “dangerously flawed.”
He went on to say that, “unfortunately all men and women, glamorous or not, are riddled with the same weaknesses and shortcomings which surface even quite soon after the excitement of the wedding has died down.
“Coming down to earth with a heavier than usual bump must surely create added pressures. And material plenty, as they know only too well, does nothing to alleviate the stress except in the very short term.”
The Marriage Foundation report argues that the celebrity culture absorbed from magazines like Hello! give people unrealistic, fairy-tale expectations about marriage and relationships, when in fact, “…the glamour of celebrity weddings is a poor indicator of future marital success.”
The report examined 572 well-known celebrity couples who have tied the knot since the year 2000. It highlights the weddings of celebrities such as Britney Spears, whose marriage to Jason Alexander lasted just 55 hours, and concludes that people should have more accurate expectations of how much hard work it takes to keep a marriage together.
