He was a boy, she was a girl … and they were a pretty unlikely match. But singer Avril Lavigne and reality star Brody Jenner were deadly serious about each other for a couple of years there — so serious, that they even got matching tattoos.
Now, as Jenner marries surfer Tia Blanco this weekend (Saturday, July 12) and celebrates 15 years since The Hills finale, let’s find out why they had to go and make things so complicated …
How it Began
It was 2010 and these two stalwarts of the L.A. party scene of the era — and what a party scene that was — were spotted kissing at a nightclub. Lavigne, then 25, was finalizing her divorce from Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley after splitting in 2009, while Jenner, then 26, had been throwing himself into single life for a while, regularly being linked to his costars on The Hills, amongst other Hollywood socialites.
In a case of life imitating art (“Sk8r Boi” is art, OK?), Lavigne seemed a little more alternative than Jenner’s usual type, but soon he was matching his skinny ties to the lime green streaks in her hair.
How Long it Lasted
This was no casual fling: they were together for two years. And it was a busy two years: they went on double dates with Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, enjoyed paddle-boarding trips in Malibu, did raucous karaoke in Vegas and even got caught up in a bar fight at L.A’s Roosevelt Hotel, with Jenner filing a police report of assault with a deadly weapon. “My face is f***ed,” Lavigne tweeted. “As in, black eye, bloody nose, hair ripped out, scratches, bruises and cuts. So not OK to be abusive to others. Violence is NEVER the answer.”
Plus, Jenner regularly supported his girlfriend with her music commitments, cheering her on at concerts and public appearances.
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And then there were the tattoos. In April 2010, just a few months into their relationship, the couple cemented their love by getting matching lightning bolts etched onto their bodies (Jenner’s on his neck; Lavigne’s on her wrist.) They didn’t stop there: they also both got “F***” — Lavigne’s favorite word, then at least — tattooed on their ribcages, as well as each other’s names: yup, Lavigne had “Brody” written under her breast. The things you do when you’re 20-something, rich, famous and in love, huh?
How it Ended
In January 2012, rumors began circulating that the couple were on the rocks. They denied it at first — Jenner tweeted: “It really upsets me to read all the FALSE!! stories. Avril has always been there for me and is the closest person to my heart. I love her” — and were seen having dinner together, but soon it was confirmed: they were over.
“It was mutual, but Brody really broke up with her,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. “He told her he was tired of always being her plus-one, and always going on tour with her.” They added: “Every time he wanted to come back and take meetings to get his career back in order, she would make him go to Asia and Europe. He hasn’t worked, and he wants to. They were both unhappy because he wants to have his career. She wants him to stay with her.”
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Despite the tricky circumstances, they stayed friends — a happy habit of Lavigne’s when it comes to her exes. “I’ve had really great relationships and good connections and bonds,” she told SiriusXM in 2019.
What They Said About Each Other
This relationship was peak Twitter. Instead of declaring their love in interviews during their time together, they did it over social media. In one cute/cringe exchange — depending on how you feel about these things — Lavigne wrote “I love you eyelashes,” with Jenner replying “kisses.”
Jenner’s The Hills costar Audrina Patridge also did some on the record chatting about the relationship in a 2010 interview. “They’re very happy together, they’re really good together,” she told Bang Showbiz. “A lovely couple. I first met her a couple of years ago, and thought she was such a nice girl then. She’s still a really nice girl now, and is really very talented. She’s so great.”
What They Say Now
Like MySpace and peplum dresses, this one seems to be lost to the millennial mists of time, with neither party talking about it much since its untimely demise — partly because they’ve both been in more serious relationships since.
In the end, the relationship was bookended by Lavigne’s two marriages: she was also married to Chad Kroeger from 2013 to 2015, before dating (and getting engaged to) Mod Sun, and then getting together with Tyga, who she split from in 2023. “I love love,” she told Billboard in 2018. “The way I look at it is, I married my long-terms.”
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Jenner, meanwhile, dated Kaitlynn Carter from 2014 to 2019 (they had a commitment ceremony in Bali but weren’t legally married), before getting engaged to surfer girl Tia Blanco in 2023 and welcoming daughter Honey Raye. The couple’s wedding is scheduled for July 12, 2025.
Key Relationship Takeaways
These two had an absolute ton of fun during their wild, eventful two years together, but they’ve both taken different paths since. While Jenner, now 41, now describes fatherhood as the “greatest gift” and is clearly a doting dad to Honey Raye, Lavigne, 40, has always said she’s not ready for kids.
It seems Jenner’s career frustrations still stand, though. “People are still like, ‘Wait, you DJ?’” he told Bustle in 2025. “People only want to think of me as Brody from The Hills; they don’t ever want to think that I do anything else, so that can be frustrating sometimes. There’s a lot of things that I can do.”
