Red Flags In Giuliana And Bill Rancic's Marriage We Just Can't Ignore

We love long-time couple Giuliana Rancic and Bill Rancic. The two have displayed several green flags over their lengthy marriage (they tied the knot in 2007) and were so confident in their relationship that they even released their own marriage advice book in 2010, titled "I Do, Now What?: Secrets, Stories, and Advice from a Madly-in-Love Couple." The former "The Apprentice" star also made it clear he and the ex-"E! News" host know the importance of evolving and communicating, telling "Good Morning America" in 2014, "We constantly are improving as partners. Our trick is something we simply call 'checking in.' Every couple weeks or every month, we talk about the marriage and things that may be bothering us, but also things we like. When I know she likes something, I'm committed to doing more of it."

But, unfortunately, Giuliana and Bill are also proof that even couples that seem perfect from the outside aren't without their red flags. Or, in this case, five. From lies to long-distance love, these are the red flags in the Rancics' marriage we just can't ignore.

For several years after tying the knot, Giuliana Rancic and Bill Rancic didn't live together full-time. Giuliana stayed in L.A. while working on "E! News," while Bill was based in Chicago. The couple's long-running debate about where they should live was a huge storyline on their reality show "Giuliana & Bill," with Giuliana explaining on the pilot episode, "Neither of us wants to move because of our jobs and our families."

In 2015 (eight years after they got married and following the birth of their son, Duke), Giuliana moved to Chicago full-time. Referring to her book, "Going off Script: How I Survived a Crazy Childhood, Cancer, and Clooney's 32 On-Screen Rejections," Giuliana told "Good Morning America" of the move, "I start one of the chapters with, 'When is enough, enough?' It's a question I pose to myself in the book. It's also something Bill and I ask each other all the time." She added, "[It's] something Bill and I decided on a long time ago. It was a conversation I had with my bosses at E! a long time ago. That was always the understanding, and I'm excited about that. That, in itself, will slow me down a bit. I just want to be more settled."

If Giuliana truly wanted to move to Chicago, it may not be a red flag. But if she felt she had no other choice, that could be. There are a lot of things to consider before moving for a partner, and we'd always recommend having a solid, practical plan about where you'll live before walking down the aisle. Long-distance relationships can be incredibly difficult, and a 2023 Survive LDR study found that, on average, they last just 14 months.

Though prenuptial agreements aren't for every couple (and that's okay), Bill Rancic made it clear to "Good Morning America" that he wanted one signed before marrying Giuliana. That came on the advice of his "The Apprentice" mentor, Donald Trump, who has a few red flags of his own with Melania Trump. Bill recalled Giuliana originally told him she was happy to sign on the dotted line, sharing, "So, my lawyers went back and forth with her 'legal team' and a month into the negotiations, my lawyer calls me and says, '... They want to put a cheating clause in the prenup. If you get caught cheating, Giuliana wants 110 percent of your net worth.'" Bill added, "I was confident I'm not a cheater, so I told them to put it in. About two weeks before the wedding, I called Giuliana because she still hadn't signed the prenup. She says, 'Didn't I tell you? My lawyer told me to tell you Italian girls don't sign prenups.' There's more — It turned out her lawyer was her older brother, who of course never went to law school!"

The two got married anyway, but Giuliana's response is certainly eyebrow-raising. Rather than playing with her then-husband-to-be and making a joke out of something so serious, it would have been far healthier for her to open up to Bill about why she felt uncomfortable with the legal agreement. That could have helped them better understand the other's point of view, and, in some cases, a prenup can actually positively impact a marriage. "Sitting down and drawing up a prenup before marriage avoids bitter disputes later. Couples who prepare together are often demonstrating trust, not doubt," relationship counsellor Christine West told Hitched.

Giuliana Rancic's bold prenup move is even more controversial, considering she and Bill Rancic had a stern conversation about lying early on in their relationship. In her book, "Going Off Script: How I Survived a Crazy Childhood, Cancer, and Clooney's 32 On-Screen Rejections," Giuliana admitted she told Bill she was 29 when they started dating — but she was actually 31. To make things worse, it wasn't Giuliana who came clean, as Bill only found out when Giuliana's sister let her real age slip. After learning the truth, Bill told his then-girlfriend (via Radar Online), "Either we're going to be honest or we're not going to be together." Giuliana wrote, "I swore I'd never lie to him again (occasional misleading for the greater good doesn't count, for the record)."

Though a little white lie about age may not seem like a huge red flag, it can have bigger repercussions. Any lie, even a small one, could cast doubt in a partner's mind and make someone appear untrustworthy. There are ways to move forward after lying to a partner, but it's vital to embrace honesty to make a relationship work. "Since honesty carries the risk of creating discomfort and conflict, one has to have faith that the relationship is strong enough to handle it and the other person is willing to accept them as they are," Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD, a clinical psychologist who specializes in relationships, told Verywell Mind.

Though "Giuliana & Bill" ran for seven seasons, Bill Rancic wasn't sold on the idea. Writing in "Going Off Script: How I Survived a Crazy Childhood, Cancer, and Clooney's 32 On-Screen Rejections," Giuliana confessed that her husband didn't initially want to make their relationship into a reality show. "From the get-go, 'Giuliana and Bill' was a major bone of contention between us, and we argued about it constantly," she said (via Radar Online).

The series (which debuted on Style Network and later moved to E!) was such a sore subject that she even admitted to faking some scenes that showed them looking loved-up and happy. "We'd have to pretend we weren't pissed off when the crews arrived, and sit and talk about our day," she shared. Though things clearly worked out for these two, and compromise is a key part of any relationship, it could be a red flag that the two continued to do something for so long that caused so many arguments between them.

Taylor Strecke didn't have the nicest things to say about Giuliana and Bill Rancic's relationship in 2024 after previously having the couple on her "Taste of Taylor" podcast. Strecke told Page Six, "Giuliana Rancic was a nightmare" and claimed, "You know when a couple is fighting and you're, like, in the middle of it? That's what happened. I was in the middle of a wasp's nest." The host continued, "She was almost, like, using me to take potshots at him. It was the most uncomfortable podcast ever."

Though Strecke clarified it didn't seem the twosome were in such a bad place they were headed for divorce ("[They were] like any couple having a fight," she said), Giuliana and Bill having so much tension in a professional environment that it was palpable to those around them is a red flag. Equally, very publicly calling one another out during an argument instead of taking the high ground isn't the best idea. We're sure Giuliana regretted taking such public shots at her husband once she and Bill smoothed things over.