1 | Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham

Though Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham have been together for over 30 years, it wasn’t until January 2020 that the talk show host explained why they didn't tie the knot after he popped the question in 1993: She didn’t want to give up the freedom she had to put her work first.

"I realized I didn't actually want a marriage. I wanted to be asked," Winfrey wrote in an essay for her magazine, O. "I wanted to know he felt I was worthy of being his missus, but I didn't want the sacrifices, the compromises, the day-in-day-out commitment required to make a marriage work. My life with the show was my priority, and we both knew it."

2 | Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn

"It’s been almost 40 years since Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn first fell in love, but they’re not married—and at this point, it doesn’t seem likely that that’ll ever change. Why? In a 2015 appearance in the British talk show Loose Women, Hawn said she believes that she and Russell would be divorced by now if they had decided to get married, and much like Winfrey, she likes her freedom.

"If you have independence, if you have enough money and sense of independence and you like your independence, there’s something psychological about not being married because it gives you the freedom to make decisions one way or the other,” she explained. “For me, I chose to stay. Kurt chose to stay, and we like the choice."

And for more attention-grabbing duos,  This Was the Biggest Celebrity Couple the Year You Graduated.

3 | Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling

After nearly a decade of dating, Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling have two daughters together, Esmeralda and Amada. Though some fans might believe the couple got secretly married at some point since they first met in 2011, that’s not the case—they’ve never been hitched. If that ever changes, though, we’d probably never even get to see Mendes’ wedding dress, considering how private they both are about their relationship and personal lives.

4 | Shakira and Gerard Pique

Shakira and professional soccer player Gerard Pique have been together since 2011, and they have two children, Milan and Sasha. And though Shakira did say in an interview with Glamour that if she ever got married, it would be to him, she didn’t say that it’s necessarily something they’re planning on.

"We already have what's essential, you know?” she told the magazine in 2014. “We have a union, a love for each other, and a baby. I think that those aspects of our relationship are already established, and marriage is not going to change them.”

And for star relationships of the past, check out Celebrity Couples From the 2000s You Totally Forgot About.

5 | Vin Diesel and Paloma Jiminez

Fast and the Furious star Vin Diesel likes to keep his long-running relationship with model Paloma Jiminez (the mother of his kids, Pauline, Vincent, and Hania) as private as possible, only occasionally sharing photos of them together on Instagram. No word on why they’re not married after reportedly dating since 2007, but maybe someday?

6 | Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson

Despite the fact that they’ve been together since 2001 and have four children, Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson aren’t actually married. But as the Saturday Night Live alym told The New York Times, she still refers to him as her husband anyway, because calling him her boyfriend after they had become parents for the first time just didn’t feel right.

“It means he’s the father of my child, and I live with him, and we are a couple, and we are not going anywhere,” she said.

And for star pairs in the honeymoon stage, check out 13 Photos of Celebrity Couples When They First Got Together.

7 | Tilda Swinton and Sandro Kopp

Though Tilda Swinton and artist Sandro Kopp have been together since they met on the set of The Chronicles of Narniain 2004, they aren’t married—and they also aren’t part of an open marriage, as has been rumored in the past. In an interview with Bust magazine (via Express) back in 2010, Swinton explained that that wasn’t the case.

"I have never been married. I have two children with John Byrne... and we've not been a couple for many years, and we're very close friends, and we bring up our children together,” she said at the time. “For the last five years, I've been in another relationship. It's very boring and it's important to rectify because there's some fantasy about us all living in a big hut together."

And for more couples who met when working together, here are 50 Celebrity Couples Who Met on Set.

8 | Lauren Graham and Peter Krause

After playing siblings on Parenthood, Lauren Graham and Peter Krause have been dating in real life since 2010, but they’re actually not married—or even engaged. The couple has never shared whether or not they have plans to change that in the future, though they seem pretty happy with where they’re at without rings getting involved.

9 | Evangeline Lilly and Norman Kali

Evangeline Lilly and Norman Kali, who worked behind the scenes on her show Lost, have been together for over a decade, but as Lilly told Ocean Drive back in 2014, she doesn’t believe in “forever promises,” but might be willing to get married on paper sometime down the line if it makes sense for them.

"I have an American son and an American partner, so marriage might logistically make sense at one point,” she told the magazine, via The Daily Mail. “My partner is a stay-at-home father, so if he wants to be on my health plan, or tax-wise, or maybe on paper we want to have our I’s dotted and our T’s crossed, but emotionally neither of us really feels the need for it."

10 | Ricky Gervais and Jane Fallon

Comedian Ricky Gervais and author Jane Fallon have been a couple since they met in college, but they’ve never gotten married and have no plans to. As Gervais told The Daily Telegraph (via Express) in 2011, they may as well be married, and they don’t need to have a wedding to prove it.

“We are married in everything but the ceremony. We share everything and everything is in both names,” he said. “We've lived together for 29 years—how are we not married except in the eyes of God? It's just irrelevant. Our 'marriage' has lasted longer than most marriages."

11 | John Corbett and Bo Derek

After 18 years of dating, in August 2020, Bo Derek explained in an interview with Fox News that she and John Corbett have no plans to walk down the aisle.

“When you’re beginning a young family and you’re going to have children and set up this new family tree branch, it’s obviously a wonderful commitment and it’s meaningful,” she said. “But for us in our lives, it hasn’t been yet.”

For onscreen pairs who didn't get along in real life, check out 11 Beloved Movie Couples Who Clashed Behind the Scenes

12 | Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Though action star Jason Statham and model and actor Rosie Huntington-Whiteley have been together for a while—and they’ve even been engaged for four years—they don’t plan on getting married just yet. A wedding is in their future, but according to what Huntington-Whiteley told Extra, they’re waiting for their son to get older first.

“We’ve been so focused on our work for so long, and Jack came along,” she told the outlet in 2018. “We definitely talk about it. We’re looking forward to that time. It’s also not a huge priority for us; we’re so happy. I think it will be fun to do it when the baby’s grown up a bit and he can be involved in the wedding.”

13 | Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale

Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale have been together since 2012 and have two children, Rocco and Rafa. But despite their lengthy relationship and the fact that they call each other husband and wife, they’re not officially married yet, though Byrne admitted they could end up taking the plunge in the future in an interview with Evening Standard.

"He’s practically my husband, so calling him that is easier," she said. "The formality isn’t a draw for me, but we’ll do it one day. Once you have children, I just think, why not?

For celebs who couldn't make things work, here are 15 Celebrity Couple Breakups You're Probably Still Mourning.

14 | Sandra Bernhard and Sara Switzer

Sandra Bernhard and journalist Sara Switzer have been together for over 20 years and have a daughter together named Cicely, but they aren’t married. In 2016, Bernhard told EDGE it just didn’t make financial sense for them to tie the knot.

“We became domestic partners before the whole marriage thing. It is all based on finances for us and me,” she admitted. “And so far it doesn't make sense. The economics don't work out. So we are not married. But we're good. We're good as gold.”

15 | Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb

After meeting in 2007, actors Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb are still going strong, but marriage hasn’t been on the table—at least, not yet. That doesn’t mean the love isn’t real! In 2018, Rockwell gushed about Bibb in an interview with Us Weekly.

She’s my beloved,” he said at the time. “She keeps me laughing. … She’s really talented and funny herself. She reminds me of a young Mary Tyler Moore."

16 | Robin Roberts and Amber Laign

Good Morning America host Robin Roberts and Amber Laign have been together for more than a decade, with Laign seeing Roberts through her cancer diagnosis and treatment. They aren’t married, though, and there’s no word on whether or not they plan to change that… but Roberts does often share how much Laign means to her with sweet posts on Instagram.