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Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas -

Sophie Turner gave her then-boyfriend Joe Jonas a rather bizarre ultimatum. She told him: "If you are going to date me, you have to watch the Harry Potters." Jonas dully complied.

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Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas -

But before they tied the knot, Jonas issued an ultimatum to Turner, who was struggling with her mental health. He told her, "I can't be with you until you love yourself, I can't see you love me more than you love yourself." The ultimatum worked. "I think he kind of saved my life, in a way," admitted Turner.

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Vanessa Lachey and Nick Lachey -

Beginning in 2022, the couple hosted a dating series about, well, marriage ultimatums, called 'The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On.' It turns out, Vanessa and Nick Lachey went through a similar process back in 2011.

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Vanessa Lachey and Nick Lachey -

"I had now moved in with him. I renovated his entire bachelor pad. There was a bar in the pool. ... I'm like, 'Okay, now I want to put kids in the pool," recalled the 'NCIS: Hawaii' star. But the ultimatum didn't work right there and then, and the two split for a while, before getting back together. "Psychologists agree an ultimatum is not a good way to get somebody else to do what you want," said Lachey.

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Cardi B and Offset -

Cardi B pushed Offset to walk down the aisle. According to an interview, Cardi B told Offset that she was going to have his baby one day, so he had to marry her. To which he replied, "Alright, let's get married."

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Cardi B and Offset -

And this is exactly what happened in 2017. They did separate for a period, but then reconciled. The couple now have two children together. Offset also has another three children from previous relationships.

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Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell -

Bell and Shepard used to argue a lot at the beginning of their relationship, and the actress had the habit of dramatically storming away during discussions. "I'd get in my car, and then I'd skid out the driveway. And then I'd just go sit around the corner in my car, and it felt so good," she explained.

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Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell -

But Dax Shepard wasn't having it. He told her, "You can't leave anymore during fights. No, I have more respect for myself. I love you but I'm not going to do that my whole life." It turns out the ultimatum worked. "I realized how incredibly toxic it was only after he pointed it out," she said. The couple has been married since 2013.

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Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves -

The actor and the model had been together for years (and even had children), when Camila Alves gave McConaughey a marriage ultimatum.

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Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves -

"It took her going, 'C’mon, Big Boy, Mr. Easygoing-We’ll-Get-to-It-When-We-Get-to-It. Either s*** or get off the pot,'" said McConaughey in an interview. The couple got officially married and had another child.

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Faith Hill and Tim McGraw -

Faith Hill didn't issue a marriage ultimatum to Tim McGraw. In fact, the two had already been married for years and had kids together when she gave him one. Hill's ultimatum was about McGraw's lifestyle choices. Faith Hill told her husband: "Look, you're not living up to what you need to be living up to with your family."

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Faith Hill and Tim McGraw -

"You're not respecting your career; you're not respecting yourself; you're not respecting the life that you have. And you just need to take a long look in the mirror and figure out what you want to do," she added. The ultimatum worked. "When your wife tells you it's gone too far, that's a big wake-up call. That, and realizing you're gonna lose everything you have. Not monetarily, not career-wise, but family-wise," confessed McGraw.

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Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna -

Harry Hamlin didn't like the idea of his wife joining the cast of 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,' and threatened to divorce her. "He literally said to me, if you do this show, I will divorce you,'" said Rinna. She took the threat seriously and decided not to go ahead. Rinna did, however, mention how the show helped Bethenny Frankel launch her business.

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Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna -

Hamlin eventually had a change of heart and told Rinna, "You know, I have been thinking about Bethenney Frankel and her business, and I think this might not be a bad idea for you."

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Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre Elba -

The early days in the relationship between Idris and Sabrina weren't easy. The actor confessed that he used to have temper tantrums and give Sabrina ultimatums all the time.

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Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre Elba -

He'd say things like, "Hey, if you're not happy, leave. Move." But the couple eventually found a way to work through their differences and tied the knot in 2019.

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Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster -

When the couple started dating, the former model wanted to make sure she was the one and only woman in the singer's life. Lancaster didn't want to "play games," so she gave Rod Stewart an ultimatum.

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Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster -

Lancaster told him: "Look, if you mess it up—I understand if you want to go out with other girlfriends. Tell me and I’ll find someone else, but please don’t do that to me. I made the rules pretty clear, and if you’re happy to live under the terms that I want to have a relationship with, then great." The couple has been married since 2007.

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Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson -

In the '90s, there were talks between producer Barbara Broccoli and Liam Neeson about him starring as James Bond. The actor's then-girlfriend Natasha Richardson, however, wasn't too happy about it, so she gave him an ultimatum.

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Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson -

"My dear, departed wife did say to me, 'Darling, if you're offered James Bond and you're going to play it, you're not going to marry me,'" shared the actor. The couple were married for nearly 25 years and had two children together, before Richardson passed away in a tragic skiing accident in 2009.

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Diane Keaton and Al Pacino -

The two fell in love after playing a couple in 'The Godfather' movies. But at one point, Diane Keaton decided to issue her boyfriend an ultimatum: marriage, or the end of the relationship.

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Diane Keaton and Al Pacino -

Al Pacino walked away. "I don't think a long-term happy marriage would be easy for him," said the actress. Thus far, Pacino and Keaton have never been married to anyone.

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Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford -

After dating for four years, one of the most famous supermodels in the world issued one of the most coveted actors in Hollywood an ultimatum. "I was a holdout at age 42, and this woman who I was crazy about and loved very much said, 'I can't wait. I gotta move on if it ain't happening,'" recalled Gere.

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Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford -

The couple tied the knot in 1991. Then in 1993, Crawford wanted to start a family, but the actor didn't respond to the ultimatum the way she wished this time. The couple divorced two years later.

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Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan -

The two met while working together on 'Step Up' (2006). Jenna Dewan, however, was looking for a serious relationship at the time and she made that very clear to Channing Tatum. Dewan told him: "Look if you want to date other people and be free, that's totally fine, but we're not going to 'hang out' and 'watch movies' and all this stuff."

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Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan -

"You've got to figure out what you want, because I know I want to be in a relationship," she added. Three days later, Tatum knocked on the actress' hotel room door at 2 am, and it was game on. The couple were together for nearly a decade, and had a daughter together.

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Paulina Porizkova and Ric Ocasek -

The late front man of The Cars and the model were married from 1989 to 2019. They started drifting apart and Porizkova decided to give Ocasek an ultimatum before breaking up.

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Paulina Porizkova and Ric Ocasek -

The ultimatum backfired. "He just looked at me really coldly and said, 'Well, it seems like your mind's made up, so, whatever.' And that was it," Porizkova said.

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Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley -

Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley got married in 1994. MJ really wanted to have a child, but Presley, who already had two kids from her previous marriage, was still pondering the decision.

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Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley -

According to Presley, Michael Jackson was so invested in the idea that he found someone who would carry his child if his wife didn't want to. The couple eventually divorced, childless. Shortly after, MJ married the woman he mentioned in the ultimatum—Debbie Rowe, with whom he had two children.

Sources: (BuzzFeed) (Nicki Swift) 

See also: Celebrity relationship advice that is actually useful

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