Whatever your thoughts on Kanye West, the Kardashian family, or the attention they receive on Instagram, there’s no denying that Kimye – the “ship name” used to describe Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s relationship – used to be, and still is, an omnipresent couple in pop culture. Constant updates on social media, a little scandal from time to time and generally a very mediatised relationship ensured that they were talked about very often – in both good and bad terms. And their recent breakup and upcoming divorce was all that gossip magazines and fans on Instagram could talk about for a long time. Sometimes, even more serious news outlets picked up the story (I’m not kidding: the BBC thought that Kim officially asking for a divorce was important enough to send me a Breaking News notification.)

As a self-professed non-fan of the Kardashians who has never watched a single episode of their show (and probably never will), I often still see drama relating to their lives appear on my Instagram feed. And while I have often wondered what goes on in the private lives of celebrities, I’ve never quite expressed a fascination for it. Sure, I’ve discussed breakups or unexpected celebrity relationships with some of my friends after seeing a post on social media, but I’m also a firm believer in the importance of having a private life. And although I’m no expert, I’m pretty sure that having a couple’s dirty laundry aired out in public isn’t healthy for their intimacy or their relationship. But celeb couples, and the dating lives of celebrities in general, are inescapable today – so why do people even care?

The idea of a “celebrity couple” is not new. Power couples of yesteryear include Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Cleopatra and Marc Anthony, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour, and even Henry VIII and his six wives. People have always been fascinated by the lives of famous people, and relationships / marriages were a major aspect of said lives. This indicates that there might be something inherent in human beings that makes them curious about the lives of people leading a completely different lifestyle to theirs.  An especially important element of the fascination seems to be the idea that celebrities, just like royalty in the past, have the means to live in luxury compared to the common man. Some might also think that gossip about people they don’t know is acceptable. For one, celebrities don’t even really feel like real people and the world tends to forget the emotions behind their ever-so glamorous image. And those “perks” of being a celebrity warrant the scrutiny their love lives go through, or so some people think.

Some couples share their intimacy pretty much all the time via social media and other platforms that have made oversharing extremely easy to do. Others, for example Eva Mendez and Ryan Gosling, or Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn, prefer to keep quite anonymous – and how a couple chooses to share information about themselves always draws all types of judgement. The main aspect of a publicized relationship is that it will garner constant criticism as well as praise, regardless of  the decision made by the couple. There is a clear double standard, especially online, when it comes to celebrity couples: a couple can be praised for something another is shamed for. A lot of people on the internet tend to be unfairly vocal about their opinions on any subject and some trolls think it fun to criticise people “just because”, therefore not seeking to be logical, or fair, in their criticism. And this kind of arbitrary critique does not help any kind of relationship, romantic or otherwise.

So is there a point of love under the public eye? This is debatable. A public relationship often garners more media, tabloid and social media attention, helping couples (especially influencers) gain more followers and thus more income. Some just like the attention, I guess. There is no way for me to figure out exactly what these people get from it, but the truth is that public relationships happen so often that the publicity aspect of such a relationship is normalised, even when it is clearly toxic. It is impossible to mention tabloid culture without bringing up the late Princess Diana, whose death is blamed on the paparazzi that chased her down the Pont de l’Alma in Paris. And the recent Framing Britney Spears documentary has also ignited a discussion on the methods sensational media uses to obtain a morsel of information on any celebrity about every detail of their life, from the clothes they wear to their eating habits to their relationships. This toxic environment has led to many breakups and other issues concerning celebrities, leading a lot of people to question the ethics of such practices.

The level of scrutiny from the media into the lives of celebrity couples also raises the question of “fake relationships” to garner attention, for promotional reasons or to distract from scandal. None of these have ever really been confirmed, but they often concern child-stars or younger celebrities considered to be “products of the media”, who often have strong managements that pull the strings of their public (and private?) lives. Every former One Direction and/or Taylor Swift fan will remember the infamous month everyone was debating whether Harry Styles and Taylor were dating. It’s also very often the case seen with reality TV stars, and here Kim Kardashian becomes a point of interest again: her marriage to Kris Humphries is quite memorable, not only for the over-the-top wedding ceremony that was broadcast on E! but also for the fact that it lasted all of 72 days. Therefore, it is hard to quantify the authenticity of a “celebrity couple”, which makes that topic very complicated to discern, define and analyse. What does celebrity coupledom even really mean? Are romantic relationships just a marketing tool past a certain degree of celebrity? How has social media impacted the idea of coupledom nowadays, and will that translate into our society in general? So many questions I’d write full academic essays on if I could. But what’s for certain is that the idea of a romantic relationship under the limelight has evolved over time, and that now more than ever, in an age of social media influencers, the idea of “celebrity power couples” is extremely culturally significant. But that value goes beyond the cultural – it’s monetary too.

Some say that scrutiny is a price to pay in order to make it as a celebrity. Yet, the fact that some manage to stay as far from the spotlight as they can shows it is possible to maintain a healthy, authentic relationship, even if we don’t know the price of said secrecy. But it is clear that maintaining a loving, stable relationship in the public gaze can be tough, and many “forever” couples have demonstrated that — who would have ever thought that Brangelina would end? What about Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin and their “conscious uncoupling” that no one saw coming? Nonetheless, we still have quite a few epic romances that are still a thing: Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are still going strong, as are Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, and Victoria and David Beckham. As for the future of these couples, no one knows. But at the end of the day, it’s frankly none of our business.