Celebrity Throuples Who Thrust The Relationship Type Into The Mainstream
The term "throuple" has been gaining traction in the landscape of dating media, as people seek to explore new kinds of relationships. While we're sure it's not a modern concept in and of itself – humans have been exploring different configurations of intimacy since the dawn of time – the interest in "throupling up" has increased considerably.
Throuples are relationships where three people come together to form a consensual, romantic relationship. They are not threesomes, where three people come together for sex, nor are they technically polyamorous, where individuals have multiple relationships with other people. Throuples are the coming together of three individuals who have an equal commitment to the other two individuals. Clinical psychologist Ann Rosen Spector told Women's Health that they "are intentional partnerships of three people," with no particular pattern of gender. As the relationship type has become more visible, more and more people are coming forward to share their own experiences of being in a throuple. One group shared their relationship story with Newsweek, while others shared how they make it work on The New York Times' "Modern Love" podcast. The concept is growing, and naturally, some celebrities have also jumped on the idea, making it even more mainstream.
Bella Thorne opens up about navigating throuples
Bella Thorne has shared about her experiences in throuples a few times. One year after confirming her relationship with YouTube sensation Tana Mongeau in 2017, she told the LA Times that she was also in a relationship rapper Mod Sun. However, the trio called it quits sometime in early 2019. First confirming her breakup from Mongeau, Thorne wrote on Twitter: "Tana and I aren't together anymore, pls stop asking. We love U guys." She then broke up with Mod Sun in April of the same year, sharing a mirror selfie on Instagram with the rapper in the background, writing the caption: "I will always love you. All good things must come to an end."
Thorne later entered a throuple with production assistant Alex Martini and Italian singer Benjamin Mascolo of B3N in 2019. However, the relationship with Martini ended.
Despite her breakups, Thorne has remained candid about her experiences navigating the relationship type. In November 2019, Thorne spoke to Cosmopolitan and said, "Obviously, dating two people at once is a little difficult. I'm just with Ben now, so I'm not seeing any girl currently... It's like, it really depends on finding the right mesh of two people." Thorne and Mascolo became engaged, but they ended their relationship in June 2022. "It's a really fun experience and I have been able to capture that a couple times, and I just love that idea. I love loving two people at once."
David Haye talks about his throuple
Former professional boxer David Haye has been very open about his throuple relationship. Kicking off 2023, Haye posted a New Year's Day image on Instagram with his two partners, The Saturdays vocalist Una Healy and Sian Osborne, and set his intention for the year. "I've [started] Jan first with the correct energy, surrounding myself with understanding beautiful human beings, who do not judge, but instead accept me for my authentic self," he wrote. He shared his relationship again. On Instagram on February 14, 2023, he posted a photo of himself with his and captioned it: "Happy Valentine's Day to the beautiful Queens in my life, making my world a better place to live in!"
Podcaster Katherine Ryan of "Telling Everybody Everything" told her listeners that she reached out to Haye to discuss his experience of being in a throuple, according to The Sun. However, Haye declined the invitation. "He's happy, he's living his best life, and he appears to have two girlfriends," Ryan reported, adding: "He was actually very nice, he wrote me back like, 'No, the details of me and the queens are totally under wraps.'
Scheana Shay and John Mayer's throuple
Scheana Shay of "Vanderpump Rules" admitted to being in a throuple with John Mayer and her then-roommate Stacie Adams of "The Hills." Shay said that the relationship began in 2008, shortly after Mayer split from Jennifer Aniston. On the podcast "Flashbacks," Shay said that the relationship was brief. "This went on for about six months, that we hung out," she said, (via People). "We would go to his house... It just became, you know, kind of the three of us. We had a little throuple going on. But then there was, like, me and another her. Everyone always had attention."
However, things started to fall apart when Mayer drifted closer to Adams. "I definitely got a little jealous towards the end of it because I knew he liked her more," Shay explained. "And I was like, 'Wait, I brought you into this, like and now you're getting more attention than I'm getting, like what's up with that?'"
Shay said that after she and Mayer split, the "Gravity" singer kept in contact with Adams, which led to conflict between her and Shay. Thankfully, the relationship was restored. "[Like] her and I had like a year of just awkward friendship falling out, but then came full circle a year later and ... have never been closer," Shay noted, so everything's good between her and Adams.
Jada Pinkett Smith speaks about being in a non-sexual throuple
Although not quite the same as other trios, Jada Pinkett Smith has self-described her relationship with husband Will Smith and his ex wife, Sheree Zampino as a kind of throuple. Will Smith and Zampino were married from 1992 and 1995, sharing one son, Trey Smith.
Meanwhile, Smith married Pinkett Smith in 1997. Although the early years of Pinkett and Smith's marriage caused some tension between Pinkett and Zampino, today, the trio considers themselves part of one big family (via Red Table Talk).
A discussion of the ongoing relationship between the three of them came up during a later episode of "Red Table Talk," after Pinket Smith's daughter, Willow Smith, asked if she would ever consider being a part of a throuple.
After admitting she was open to the idea, Smith declared she already had experience with one, likening her current dynamic with Zampino and Smith that of a nonsexual throuple. "When you have your husband that is taking care of another woman and spending time with another woman, it's the same thing." Pinkett-Smith has previously shared that Zampino and Smith have their own relationship she respects, noting that they take vacations together.
Still, Smith has never confirmed this throuple relationship himself. But Pinkett Smith's willingness to describe their shared dynamic with Sheree beyond co-parenting discussion demonstrates their three-way bond is unique.