Second shot at love! Christina Aguilera and Matthew Rutler have been going strong for more than a decade.
The “Fighter” songstress started dating the MasterClass executive in 2010 amid her divorce from Jordan Bratman. The exes, who share son Max, wed in 2005 and announced their breakup in October 2010, with a source telling Us Weekly that they “have been separated for a few months.”
“Our relationship changed. I’ve grown as a woman and he’s grown as a person. We were both looking for different things. We just weren’t right for each other. I couldn’t face living another five years together and feeling that I wasted that time being unhappy,” Aguilera told People at the time. “Things were so unhealthy and unhappy for both Jordan and me, I knew I had to end it. It wasn’t good for us, and it wasn’t good for Max to witness our arguments. Children can feel when things aren’t right in the home. I had bouts of extreme anxiety. I really didn’t want to hurt Jordan, and I felt torn about splitting our family up.”
The Grammy winner’s divorce was settled in February 2011 and finalized that April after Aguilera had gone public with Rutler in late 2010.
“There is a love there. I’m dating and it’s something I haven’t had in a really long time,” she told the outlet, adding that Rutler is “the kind of person you could spend hours with on the phone talking to and all of a sudden it’s daylight.”
By 2012, insiders told Us that their relationship had “turned into something special.” That same year, she gushed about his support amid self-esteem issues.
“I’ve been through my highs, I’ve been through my lows; I’ve been through the gamut of all things in this business. Being too thin. Being bigger … It’s noise I block out automatically. I love my body. My boyfriend loooooves my body,” she told Marie Clare. “My son is healthy and happy, so that’s all that matters to me.”
Nearly four years into their romance, Aguilera and Rutler got engaged on Valentine’s Day in 2014. They welcomed their daughter, Summer Rain, the same year but made it clear they weren’t rushing down the aisle.
“We discuss it when we’re snuggling in bed, but it’s a casual conversation,” she told Women’s Health of wedding planning in 2016. Aguilera went on to gush about their baby girl, telling the magazine: “I swear if I hadn’t called her Summer I would’ve called her Joy because she just lights up a room and she illuminates brightness and happiness.”
Years later, an insider told Us that the twosome were still content without being married.
“There are no wedding plans at the moment. [Christina] and Matt are happy the way they are. They’re one of those couples who don’t need a document to prove their love for each other,” the source said in August 2022, adding that they are “very much in love” and “true homebodies.”
The insider added, “They like to relax at home together just like any normal couple but also love going out and having date nights.”
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