Undoubtedly celebrities have much greater pressure on them then we ordinary folk, which would likely have a significant effect on marriages and relationships. The stress of lack of privacy and the pressure to be young, thin and gorgeous must weight heavily and then there are the many temptations of love struck fans and spunky other celebrities to contend with. However as far as divorce, a 30 year study by researches from University of California, Harvard and Brown University found that divorce is 'contagious'. It was found that when close friends break up the separation risk for other married friends rises by a staggering 75% and people who have divorced friends in their larger social groups have a break up risk 147% higher then those who have friends which are still married. So the separation of Katy Perry and Russell Brand could be looked on as a kind of epidemic phenomena within celebrity circles.

While celebrities have some pressures that the majority of people don't such as lack of privacy it doesn't make them more likely to divorce. Many marriages have long periods of separation and stress due to jobs where one or more spouses travel. When you add in kids, activities, financial concerns, and job stress it can lead to divorce. It is hard but important to always find a way to make time for each other. Marriage is work it's not easy to stay together or get along all of the time. This is true whether you are a celebrity or not. My husband and I both travel for work and have children. We have to coordinate schedules so someone is in town to take care of the kids, we both have jobs that can have high stress and we don't get much time alone. What we do though is communicate. If we see that things aren't going well we talk about it. We make time for each other by having date nights without the kids. It's work, it's not always easy, it would be easier to ignore it, but, like I said marriage is work. We work at it and that is why we get along really well, we are still in love and we haven't gotten divorced. I can see if we let things just go it would be easy to find reasons to leave or to cheat. So do I think celebrities have it harder than the rest of us? No, I don't. I think it is just an excuse for not communicating and taking the time to work through things. It could also be that they didn't treat marriage as seriously as they should have upfront and just jumped in.

I feel that some celebrities see marriage as yet another level of self promotion. I do think that some celebrity marriages are genuine, but fold under the stress of media, schedules and being apart far too often.
I do think Katy Perry and Russel Brand where genuinely in lust for each other, but for what ever personal reasons, it just did not work. My opinion on the couple is simply that two characters and personalities that are that big, have no room for each other to live with a partner of the same characteristics.

Any marriage involving celebrities or even those with ample financial resources have additional stresses. Stars are stars because they are in the limelight and many depend on this exposure to stay current in the public's eye. But that additional scrutiny cuts both ways.

Celebrities are bound to have plenty of people eager to get a piece of the action, even if that means they are coming between a married couple. In addition, film stars are often cast in "romantic" roles where all too often, acting tends to become reality. Consider Elizabeth Taylor and how often she "fell in love" with her co-star.

I agree with the assessment that if your close social circle tends to include divorced couples, divorce does not seem like such a bad option. If you hang out with gamblers, and do not gamble, eventually you may pick up the habit because eventually it loses it's tarnish.

I think that maintaining a marriage is much harder for celebrities, especially celebrity couples.

First, you have the tabloids and papparazi following their every move. If they are seen publically with a member of the opposite sex there is suspicion of adultery or hanky panky. (I really just love typing the words hanky panky. ;-) Can you imagine having your personal life under such an unkind microscope? Horrible.

Second, even the friends and family of the celebrity couples may be used as a source for these ridiculous and constant news stories. That is additional hurt on many levels that could contribute to a divorce.

Then there is the money factor. Many of us may consider divorce as a last resort because it is so darn expensive. Some celebrities can get a fast and cheap divorce and be on to the next partner. For others, many millions of dollars are lost on that pricey celebrity divorce, especially in California, where the no-fault divorce with the 50/50 split is the norm.

I think that celebrities make the same bad choices and can be just as impulsive in marrying as the rest of us, but the chances of divorce and the risks involved are much, much higher. It all makes me very glad to be...anonymous.