The celebrity world can sometimes be quite a confusing one, which means that sometimes stars are thrown together that would never be seen in a relationship under different circumstances.

In Hollywood, it seems that age is definitely just a number, since many aspiring actresses end up in short-term relationships with men who are much older than they are. There have been a number of child stars who have grown up in the spotlight and then gone on to date stars who are almost double their age. Sometimes it's seen as the women looking for a father figure in all the wrong places, while other times it seems that these women are just looking for new and creative ways to make headlines.

Many of these relationships are seen as ones of convenience as well, since some couples in Hollywood are seen to be together for a while so that they gain some kind of attention while they are portraying a couple in a movie, and then suddenly their romance ends when the time comes to stop promoting the movie.

The public has become wise to these tactics, but it doesn't mean that they don't happen anymore. It seems that there are still a number of younger female stars in the spotlight who are dating much older men. Of course, for every forced relationship in the eyes of the public, there is also a happy relationship between two stars despite their differences in age and in the end, these are the ones that last longer than all of the others.

Hayden Panettiere And Wladimir Klitschko

Hayden Panettiere has been seen as an actress ever since she was 11 months old when she was cast in an advert for Playskool. Since then, Hayden has been part of some popular tv shows over the past few years, including Heroes and more recently, Nashville.

Whilst growing up in the spotlight, she has gained herself quite the reputation for dating men older than her, a trend that began back in 2007 when she began dating Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia. Hayden later moved on to a relationship with Heavyweight World Champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko. The couple began dating back in 2009, before they ended their relationship just two years later. The couple decided to get back together in 2013 and announced their engagement later that year, before Hayden gave birth to the couple's first child in 2014. Klitschko is an incredible 13 years older than his fiancée, but it doesn't seem to have had much of an effect their relationship.

Taylor Swift And Jake Gyllenhaal

Taylor Swift has been thrust into the spotlight over the past decade when her songwriting skills led her to create some of the best-selling records of the current generation. It seems that breakups helped Taylor with her music and she has been through her own fair share of them.

Taylor's relationship with One Direction boy band member Harry Styles was one of her most publicized romances; Harry was five years younger than Taylor at the time when they dated and it seems that this experience then saw Taylor move on to much older Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake was nine years older than Taylor, and it seems that their dating history was only brief and lasted around three months from October 2010 until January 2011. Taylor's taste in men hasn't improved very much over the past few years, but it seems to be working wonders for her singing career.

Kat Dennings And Nick Zano

Kat Dennings does a good job of keeping her private life out of the news, considering the fact that she has become a household name over the past few years because of her role in 2 Broke Girls.

Kat has appeared in a number of teen movies over the past few years as well, but it was her most recent role in the comedy sitcom that has seen her fame increase. Kat is another star who has a habit of dating older men, which began back in 2014 when she revealed that she was dating singer Josh Groban, who is five years older than she is. The couple broke up back in 2016 and it seems that Kat has since moved on to date 2 Broke Girls co-star Nick Zano, who is eight years older than The House Bunny star.

Demi Lovato And Wilmer Valderrama

Demi Lovato rose to fame as one of many Disney stars from the early 2000s and has since gone on to have a successful singing and acting career ever since. Demi has quite a reputation for dating stars who are much older than her, so it didn't come as much of a shock when Demi announced that she was dating That 70s Show star Wilmer Valderrama back in 2010.

The couple didn't seem to be affected by the age gap between Lovato, who was just 20 years old, while Valderrama was 32. Shockingly, after six years together fighting the stereotype, Lovato and her much older beau announced on social media that they had decided to go their separate ways back in 2016. More than a year later, both stars are still said to be single, which means that it must have been one hell of a breakup for both stars.

Dakota Fanning And Jamie Strachan

Dakota Fanning has literally been forced to grow up in the public eye, after gaining worldwide attention for her role in I am Sam when she was just seven years old. She went on to star in movies alongside Tom Cruise and Robert De Niro in her early years, as she became one of the most famous child actresses of her generation.

Dakota has continued to work a lot over the past decade and it was revealed back in 2013, when she was just 20 years old, that she was dating 33-year-old British model Jamie Strachan. Dakota had never had a public relationship before and many fans thought it was a reaction to her becoming 20 years old and wanting to be taken seriously, but despite the 13 year age gap, the couple are still going strong after four years. Once again, Dakota has proved that she is so much more than a stereotypical child star of the early 2000s.

Selena Gomez And Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom has been slowly rising through the ranks in films over the past few years, but it was his portrayal of Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise that really put him on the map.

Selena Gomez, on the other hand, rose to fame along with a number of other Disney stars a few years ago and has since had a successful acting and singing career. Unlike many women on this list, Selena doesn't have a history of dating older men, since she dated Nick Jonas, who was the same age as her, back in 2008. She then dated singer Justin Beiber up until 2015, and he was two years younger than her. Last year, it was reported that Selena had gone on to date Orlando Bloom following her break-up with Bieber, despite him being 16 years her senior.

Hayley Williams And Chad Gilbert

Paramore singer Hayley Williams has become a well-known star over the past few years and was linked with co-founder of the rock group New Found Glory, Chad Gilbert, for almost a decade before the couple announced their split back in July.

Hayley was just 16 years old when Paramore released their first single and met her future husband just four years later in 2008. The couple finally married in Nashville in 2016, after just over a year together. They decided to go their separate ways in 2017, after stating that "marriage isn't for the faint-hearted." Gilbert is seven years older than Williams, but it doesn't seem as though the age gap became much of a problem throughout their relationship, since it did manage to last for almost a decade. The duo has since remained good friends after their split was announced this summer.

Mary-Kate Olsen And Olivier Sarkozy

Mary-Kate and her sister Ashley were two of the biggest child stars on TV when they were growing up. The duo has had their own fair share of problems from being in the spotlight for their entire life, and many fans think that the best days are already behind the famous twins. Mary-Kate has been the twin who was most affected by health problems over the past few years; it was reported that she was struggling with anorexia back in 2004.

In 2012 Mary-Kate began dating Olivier Sarkozy, who is the half-brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Despite the 16-year age gap between the couple and the obvious generational differences, the couple announced their engagement back in 2014, and they married in a private ceremony in New York in 2015. It seems that Olivier has been the mature head that Mary-Kate has needed in her life over the past few years.

AnnaLynne McCord And Dominic Purcell

AnnaLynne McCord is best-known to many fans for her role as Naomi Clark in 90210. Over the past few years since the end of the popular series set in Beverley Hills, McCord has branched out into acting in movies, as well as a number of other popular TV shows.

AnnaLynne began dating Dominic Purcell back in 2011. Purcell is perhaps best known for his role as Lincoln Burrows in Prison Break. The couple has dated off and on for the past six years. The 16 year age gap was never seen as a problem for the two popular TV stars, and AnnaLynne was there for Dominic when he was diagnosed with skin cancer back in 2015. Despite having such a strong bond and being close friends, the couple decided to call quits on their relationship in 2016 and are yet to decide to rekindle their romance.

Paige Butcher And Eddie Murphy

38-year-old Australian model Paige Butcher became the latest in a long line of women to become the love interest of comedy legend Eddie Murphy back in 2012. Murphy's relationship history reads like a "who's who" of famous women over the past decade, starting with his relationship with former Spice Girl Melanie Brown back in 2006.

The couple has a daughter together, but Murphy still moved on to date film producer Tracey Edmonds. It seems that this was another relationship that didn't work out since Eddie then moved on to date Paige in 2012. The couple has a daughter together, and she is Eddie Murphy's ninth child to five different women. Paige and Murphy have remained happy together for the past five years and it seems that the 18 year age gap isn't bothering their relationship.

Stacy Keibler And George Clooney

Former WWE star Stacy Keibler was known throughout her time in the wrestling business for her impressive 42-inch legs. It seems that these worked their purpose and managed to turn the head of Hollywood legend George Clooney back in 2011, and it was revealed that the two stars were now one of the most unlikely Hollywood couples.

Clooney was 50 years old when he began dating Keibler, who was just 31 years old at the time. It's obvious that their near 20-year age gap caused problems throughout their time together, as they eventually called it quits in 2013. Stacy has since moved on to marry Future Ads CEO Jared Pobre and the couple now have a daughter together whilst Clooney married British-Lebanese human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin.

Lea Michele And Matthew Morrison

Both Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison rose to fame after they were cast in the popular musical show Glee back in 2009. Morrison played Lea's high school glee club teacher in the show, but it seems that in real life, the couple might have had a much closer relationship.

It seems that before Lea became well-known for dating Cory Monteith, she was actually dating the much older Morrison, who is seven years her senior. Lea would have been just 23 at the time, whilst Morrison was 30 years old. Morrison later began dating Renee Puente in 2011, before Michele then began a relationship with Monteith in 2012. It seems that the romance between the teacher and student was a short-lived one. Lea is currently dating AYR Women's Fashion Brand President Zandy Reich, while Morrison recently revealed on his Instagram page that he and Renee are expecting their first child together.

Nina Dobrev And Ian Somerhalder

Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder were pushed into the spotlight when they were cast as the main characters in The Vampire Diaries. The couple didn't start dating until a year after the show had started, but they were one of the most popular TV couples for a number of years.

Despite the 10 years age gap, it seems that fans of The Vampire Diaries just wanted the couple to find their happy ever after. Sadly, this didn't happen, and the couple announced that they had split back in 2013. Somerhalder quickly moved on to begin a new relationship with actress Nikki Reed and the couple were then engaged and married in 2015. It was rumoured that the breakup and quick marriage between Somerhalder and his new wife was one of the reasons why Nina didn't return to Vampire Diaries for a number of seasons, before finally gracing fans with her presence in the final episode of the show.

Hayden Panettiere And Milo Ventimiglia

Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia were both part of the main cast of Heroes. Fans of the show collectively hoped that Peter Petrelli and Claire Bennett would finally end up together as he fought against time to "save the cheerleader and save the world," until it was later revealed that they were actually related.

Since fans of the show were unable to have the ending that they hoped for, Ventimiglia and Panettiere began dating in real life, just a year after filming for the show had begun. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and in 2009 the couple went their separate ways after just two years together. It is unknown if the 12 year age gap was the problem, or the fact that filming for Heroes finished that year and the duo then moved on to very different separate projects.

Blake Lively And Leonardo DiCaprio

Blake Lively has become a well-known teen actress over the past few years, after portraying Serena Van Der Woodsen in Gossip Girl. This role put Lively on the map, and over the past few years, she has been able to show that she is attracted to much older men.

Back in 2010, it was reported that Lively and The Notebook star Ryan Gosling were casually dating before Blake was later linked with Hollywood legend Leonardo DiCaprio. The age gap between the duo was just 12 years, but it seems that it wasn't a relationship that was going to last, since the couple called it quits after a five-month whirlwind romance. Blake has since moved on to marry Green Lantern co-star Ryan Reynolds, who once again is 11 years older than 30-year-old Lively.