Hollywood’s 2006 hook-ups & break-ups
From Kati Johnston

NEW YORK—2006 has been a roller coaster ride for Hollywood couple watchers — the crazy hook-ups, the heartbreaking splits, the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it rebounds. A few of the most memorable romances — and kaputs — of 2006:
Britney Spears & Kevin Federline: From “Chaotic” to closure, this was one break-up that invited more sighs of relief than gasps of surprise. Just two months after welcoming her second child, Jayden James, with her virile but rap-challenged former back-up dancer, K-Fed, the Britster rang down the curtain on their three-ring marriage. Even her post-split partying with Paris Hilton couldn’t tarnish the superstar’s endangered image any more than her tabloid-friendly marriage.
Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes: You’d think anything this constantly spotlight couple did after the couch-jumping and the Baby Suri mystery would have been anticlimactic, but they managed to make their $2-million-plus Scientology wedding at an Italian villa in November an affair to remember. Oprah was slighted! Posh Spice was the stylist! Baby Suri was the guest of honour! And the TomKat prenup? Airtight. Somewhere, L. Ron Hubbard is smiling.
Kate Hudson & Chris Robinson: One moment they were young Hollywood’s golden couple (wed in December 2000), and the next, a seemingly sudden split in mid-summer. Robinson, lead singer of the rock bad boys The Black Crowes, filed for divorce in mid-November. The two share a son, Ryder. As for Kate, she has apparently set her sights on...
Kate Hudson & Owen Wilson: The Butterscotch Stallion, Owen Wilson. Wilson, one of Hollywood’s most notorious ladies’ men, appeared over the summer and fall to be quite smitten with Hudson, his costar in the romantic comedy “You, Me and Dupree.” The press-shy couple has since been spotted in Los Angeles and Hawaii. Can the stallion be tamed? Stay tuned.
Whitney Houston & Bobby Brown: And they said it wouldn’t last. Well, they were almost wrong — Whitney stood by her man, and his anger-management problem, for years longer than many thought she would. But perhaps watching the train wreck that was “Being Bobby Brown” was the impetus to get Houston back on her own. She filed for divorce in the fall. The couple shares a daughter, Bobbi Kristina.
Jim Carrey & Jenny McCarthy: They’re so adorable, we can only imagine how much fun they have together. The centrefold and the comedian started making waves in the summer, and their reps finally confirmed they were an item. Good thing, too, ‘cause otherwise their PDA’s around town would have been really hard to explain.
Travis Barker & Shanna Moakler: When will pop stars realize that starring in a reality show does not help the marital bottom line (see Whitney & Bobby, Nick & Jessica, Britney & K-Fed)? The “Meet the Barkers” stars — blink 182 drummer Barker and former Miss USA Moakler — wed in 2004 and produced a daughter and son. Their split was so acrimonious that Moakler threw herself a flaming “divorce party” in November, featuring a ghastly murdered “groom” bloody at the bottom of a wedding cake.