Hollywood's celeb split epidemic: Why now?

In Hollywood, at least, love does not appear to be in the air. A wave of high-profile actor couples split up this week: Scarlett Johansson, GQ's "Babe of the Year," and Ryan Reynolds, People's "Sexiest Man Alive," have separated after two years of marriage; High School Musical stars Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens ended their "Disney-facilitated romance"; and married "Dexter" stars Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter are calling it quits. Overseas, actress-model Elizabeth Hurley — who's been spotted kissing a cricket player — announced that she and husband, businessman Arun Nayar, were also parting ways. Why are so many celebrity couples breaking up at once?

It's a question of destiny, not timing: Face it, "very few Hollywood couples last," says Jenna Goudreau in Forbes. Typically, their jobs force them to travel all the time and "long-distance relationships rarely succeed," even for "these shiny people."

"Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Reynolds divorce: Why work and love don't mix"

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Sorry, there is simply no adequate explanation: Some breakups are easy to understand, says Brittny Drye in The Stir. But Scarlett Johansson and "that hot, hot hubby of hers"? "When you're [respectively] the Sexiest Man Alive and Babe of the Year, what the heck do you have to fight about?" The tabloids are buying the "conflicting schedules" explanation, but there has to be a better reason for this "shocking" news. These two erstwhile lovebirds "just bought a house together," after all.

"Scarlett Johansson & Ryan Reynolds divorce: Hollywood split #3"

They just want a fresh start in 2011: At the risk of sounding callous, maybe these couples are all splitting at once because they want to start the new year without the old baggage, say the editors of Anything Hollywood. "How do you meet the right person if you don't drop the wrong one?" But look at the bright side: "There have been lots of celebrity hook-ups during the year as well!" And that should continue at a reassuring rate in 2011.

"More celebrity breakups for 2010!"