THE GOOD
U.S. President Barack Obama and wife Michelle brought star power back to the White House in 2009.— CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS
Michelle & Barack Obama
Mr. and Mrs. President of the United States generated headlines – and smiles – this year simply by organizing regular date nights, proving that a seemingly normal, happy marriage was perhaps the most revered concept in the cheaters' decade.
Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres and actress Portia DeRossi were the toast of Hollywood after getting hitched in 2008.— FRED PROUSER/REUTERS
Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi
The couple-of-the-decade award goes to the dancin' talk-show host and the sexy actress, who made it legal on Aug. 16, 2008. They ooze well-adjusted charisma and set a great example for sanity in Hollywood.
THE BAD
Ryan Reynolds and Alanis Morissette: Canada's favourite couple, if only for a second.— Getty Images
Alanis Morissette & Ryan Reynolds
These humble homegrown stars became engaged. Then Reynolds succumbed to the song of Hollywood's top siren, and now Scarlett Johansson is his wife. You oughta know that's gotta sting.
Madonna continued with her ever-changing ways by ditching husband Guy Ritchie in 2008 for a new adopted baby and a new man named Jesus. — KIERAN DOHERTY/REUTERS
Madonna & Guy Richie
Many a celeb watcher breathed a sigh of relief when Her Madgesty's many incarnations finally led her to a stable marriage in 2000. Of course, true to Madonna form, she did a spectacular about-face this year, filing for divorce and turning to Jesus (Luz, that is, a 22-year-old runway model-slash-DJ).
THE UGLY
Peter MacKay and Belinda Stronach shared happier times in April, 2005, only months before a breakup and a (literal) shift in power.— JACQUES BOISSINOT/CP
Belinda Stronach & Peter MacKay
We've all heard of crossing the room to avoid an ex, but Stronach took it a step further: She crossed the floor to create one. A Conservative MP back in 2005, she was dating MacKay, the party's deputy leader, when she suddenly bolted to join the Liberals. Ouch.
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer addressed the media with his wife Silda Wall Spitzer in 2008 after it was revealed that he was a client of an escort service.
John Edwards & Eliot Spitzer
An odd couple, but perfect symbols of a decade rife with cheaters – and cheaters never prosper. Edwards, of the smug smile and $400 haircut, lost his sheen after running around on his cancer-survivor wife, while Spitzer's love of escorts destroyed his squeaky-clean rep.
