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Jennifer Aniston Loves Love—And Even Her Exes! Inside the 'Friends' Star's Dating History, Husbands and More
Jennifer Aniston is one of the most beloved stars around, so it makes sense that over the course of her adult life, she's been pretty irresistible to a bevy of Hollywood hunks.
The Morning Show actress has been married twice, to actors Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux, and has been linked to several other showbiz suitors. While her romances have been the stuff of tabloid fodder for decades, the star maintains a healthy outlook on relationships as a whole.
"I would not stay in a situation out of fear. Fear of being alone. Fear of not being able to survive. To stay in a marriage based on fear feels like you're doing your one life a disservice," she said in 2018. "When the work has been put in and it doesn't seem that there's an option of it working, that's okay. That's not a failure. We have these clichés around all of this that need to be reworked and retooled, you know? Because it's very narrow-minded thinking."
Back in 2008, after she'd split from Pitt but before she met Theroux, she similarly said, "I feel like I've been unbelievably lucky in love,. It just might not look the way it's supposed to look at this point."
Preach! Get to know Jennifer Aniston's husbands and dating history and find answers to the most burning questions about her love life.
Related: Jennifer Aniston's Net Worth Is So High, She Could Definitely Afford Monica's Friends Apartment Now!
Who is Jennifer Aniston's husband?
The star is happily single at the time of this writing. Though each of her two unions ended in divorce, she sees no reason to paint them as failures.
"My marriages, they've been very successful, in [my] personal opinion. And when they came to an end, it was a choice that was made because we chose to be happy, and sometimes happiness didn't exist within that arrangement anymore," she once told Elle. "Sure, there were bumps, and not every moment felt fantastic, obviously, but at the end of it, this is our one life."
Aniston has also said that she's still open-minded to finding love... just not on a dating app.
"I'm going to just stick to the normal ways of dating," she told PEOPLE in June 2021. "Having someone ask you out. That's the way I would prefer it." That said, she's in no rush to tie the knot again, explaining, "It's not on my radar. I'm interested in finding a fantastic partner and just living an enjoyable life and having fun with one another. That's all we should hope for. It doesn't have to be etched in stone in legal documents."
Related: Brad Pitt's Dating History and Marriages
Did Jennifer Aniston date David Schwimmer?
Don't we all wish? But alas, Aniston's lobster is not Friends co-star David Schwimmer. The pair were rumored to be an item after an August 2021 report said they were spotted on dates at her favorite winery in Santa Barbara, Calif., and that Aniston had hosted Schwimmer for dinners at her home. However, Schwimmer's rep said there was "no truth" to the romance rumors.
That said, maybe they're just "on a break!" and it could still happen someday? After all, they used to have the hots for each other!
On HBO Max's Friends reunion in May 2021, Schwimmer and Aniston confessed to having major mutual crushes while playing on-again-off-again couple Ross Geller and Rachel Green, and that they used their real-life, ill-timed affection to make their onscreen love feel all the more real.
"The first season I had a major crush on Jen," Schwimmer said. "And I think we both, at some point, were crushing hard on each other but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship and we never crossed that boundary. We respected that."
Aniston replied, "It was reciprocated! I remember saying at one point to David, 'It's going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I actually kiss is gonna be on national television!' Sure enough, the first time we kissed was in that coffee shop. So we just channeled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel."
Did Jennifer Aniston date Paul Rudd?
Aniston once told GQ about fellow ageless wonder Paul Rudd, "I've kissed him for years," but that's just because the platonic pals also frequently star opposite one another onscreen. (In real life, Aniston has said that Rudd actually once dated her producing partner when they "were like, 12.") They've appeared together not just on Friends (where he played Phoebe's eventual husband, Mike), but also shared top billing in two rom-coms, 1998's The Object Of My Affection and 2012's Wanderlust, where Aniston met future husband Theroux.
Related: The Many Onscreen Loves of Paul Rudd
Did Jennifer Aniston date Ben Affleck?
Nope, although Aniston is one of the few mega-famous Jennifers who's never been linked to the Argo star. Ben Affleck is married to Jennifer Lopez after they were previously engaged from 2003 to 2004; he was also married to Jennifer Garner from 2005 to 2018 and shares three children with her. However, Aniston and Affleck did play a romantic couple in the 2009 rom-com He's Just Not That Into You.
Related: Like Us, Matt Damon Hopes Bennifer Is Back On: 'That Would Be Awesome'
Did Jennifer Aniston date Charlie Schlatter?
Aniston starred in the short-lived 1990 sitcom Ferris Bueller (based on the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off), during which she briefly dated co-star Charlie Schlatter. The pair reportedly had a "torrid" romance, with Aniston playing Schlatter's big sister on the 13-episode series.
Who was Jennifer Aniston's first love?
In 2015, Aniston revealed to The New York Times that an unnamed man she dated before she became famous may have been the love of her life.
"He was my first love—five years we were together," she said, noting that her ex later passed away from brain cancer. "He would have been the one. But I was 25, and I was stupid." It was later revealed that the man was television actor Daniel McDonald, and his widow didn't take kindly to Aniston waxing poetic about their past.
Did Jennifer Aniston date Counting Crows' Adam Duritz?
Counting Crows singer Adam Duritz had a brief romance with Aniston in 1995. They didn't last, and he later went on to date Friends co-star Courteney Cox in 1997 after she appeared in the band's "A Long December" music video.
Was Jennifer Aniston engaged to Tate Donovan?
Jennifer Aniston and Tate Donovan
Aniston dated Tate Donovan for three years from 1995 to 1998. The couple got engaged but didn't make it down the aisle. When Donovan appeared for a six-episode arc as Aniston's love interest Joshua on Friends, they were actually going through their split.
“I was just happy to be on the team. The only bummer was Jennifer and I were breaking up at the time,” Donovan told Us Weekly. “And so that was tricky to sort of act, and act like we are just meeting each other, and falling in love, or whatever, interested in each other, when we’re sort of breaking up. That was just tough.” He added, “It was just six episodes. I mean, only because we were breaking up. We were like, ‘Hey, can we not keep doing this? ‘Cause this is really painful and tough.’ The people that know that we dated think that we met on Friends. But in fact, we had dated for two years before then, and it was over by the time we were on Friends together.”
Related: Jennifer Aniston’s Net Worth Is So High, She Could Definitely Afford Monica’s Friends Apartment Now!
Did Jennifer Aniston marry Brad Pitt?
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt