10 Surprising Celeb Spring Splits

May 5, 2010— -- With spring in the air, both sexes are donning less clothing for the hotter weather and almost everyone's eyes are wandering -- especially in Hollywood.

This spring alone, more than 10 Hollywood couples have split, making everyone wonder what it is about Tinseltown that has seemingly strong relationships dying.

Couples who have been together for a long time, such as Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Michaels Etheridge, have split. And some short-term relationships that seemed to hold promise (Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy; Paris Hilton and Doug Reinhardt; Mel Gibson and live-in girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva) have ended.

Dr. Carole Lieberman, a Beverly Hills psychiatrist and relationship expert, believes the infectious splitting stems from spring being a time of rebirth.

"In part, one could attribute an increase in breakups to the seasonal desire to spread one's wings, including finding new partners to mate with," Lieberman told ABCNews.com.

Rachel Sussman, a New York City relationship expert, generally agreed that spring represents a time when some want freedom from their current relationship.

"In the winter and the fall, people tend to nest, and in the spring and the summer, they want to get out and see what else could be available to them," Sussman told ABCNews.com. "Sometimes when things are blooming, people look at their partner and say to themselves, 'This is a really good time to be single.'"

Amelia Perry, editor of TheFrisky.com, said that the brightness of spring can illuminate things that may be wrong in a relationship.

"I think that toward the end of winter everybody is sick of being cold and being stuck inside and during that time you can get stuck in a rut with your relationship," Perry said. "I don't think it is any coincidence that people do end relationships in springtime. Spring means getting out and meeting people, which is a bit more fun when you're single."

Below are five of the most recent and headline-grabbing breakups. Perry and Lieberman talked with ABCNews.com about the possible reasons these couples got the spring itch and left their partners.

Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry

Despite the recent positive press hailing cougar-cub couples, the announcement that Halle Berry, 43, and Gabriel Aubry, 34, are breaking up makes it apparent that some of these relationships don't work out.

The news of their breakup broke over the weekend, and talk about whether the split was amicable or not, has set the Internet abuzz.

On Saturday, Aubry told "Access Hollywood" through a release from Wilhelmina Models that he has "only love and respect" for his ex, with whom he has 2-year-old daughter, Nahla.

"She is, and will forever be, one of the most special and beautiful people that I have ever known," Aubry said. "While I will not comment on all of the wild inaccuracies being speculated about in the media, I am sad to say that Halle and I have decided together to separate at this time."

People magazine reported a slightly different, and messier, breakup story, using information it acquired from an unnamed source close to Berry.

"She kicked him out months ago because he wasn't able to pull his weight in the relationship, and she wanted to move on," the source told People.

According to Us magazine, Berry focused on Aubry's career disappointments, such as his failed New York City Cuban restaurant, which closed after two years.

"Halle called him a loser," a source told Us. "She'd rub it in his face that she's an Oscar-winning actress, and he's just a model. He couldn't take it anymore."

Over the weekend, Berry seemed to be enjoying herself while in Manhattan, despite the breakup. According to Us Weekly, the actress took in the Broadway show "Fences," starring fellow Oscar-winner Denzel Washington. On Saturday, she was the co-host, along with Jessica Biel and Jessica Alba, for the 13th annual Entertainment Industry Foundation's Revlon Walk/Run for Women with breast cancer.

The couple was not married but had been together for five years after first meeting on a Versace photo shoot. As recently as 2009, Aubry was quoted in In Touch magazine as saying he would like Nahla to have a sibling.

Perry said that the split may have had to do with the couple's 2-year-old Nahla, and the stress a child puts on a relationship.

"Having a baby can really change a relationship," Perry said. "It can put a lot of pressure on a couple and maybe that pressure was too much for them. Also, she could have just got tired of him; she has already been seen with two other guys this week."

Sandra Bullock and Jesse James

It appears the women who'd reputedly had affairs with James had the need for some emotional spring cleaning, given the flood of infidelity claims that started in March.

Last month, Bullock did her own spring cleaning by telling People magazine that not only had she filed for divorce in Texas, she had adopted a 3½-year-old baby boy, whom she named Louis Balbo Bullock.

Bullock told the magazine that the adoption began four years ago, and that the baby was brought home in January. The couple decided to keep the adoption quiet until after the Oscars. Once the scandal broke, James allowed Bullock to move forward with the adoption as a single mother.

Unlike a lot of the other couples who have split, Perry said that this was not really a case of spring itch.

"Jesse may have had a desire to be in a monogamous relationship, but he obviously didn't have a desire to maintain that monogamy," Perry said. "Sandra recognizes the need for a clean break, and she has not bad-mouthed him at all. She has just been very decisive and is moving on with her life."

Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy

Carrey and McCarthy announced the amicable end of their five-year relationship on Twitter.

In a statement to People magazine in April, McCarthy said that she was grateful for the years she'd spent with Jim.

"I will continue to be in his daughter's life and will always keep Jim as a leading man in my heart," McCarthy said.

Carrey tweeted a similar sentiment: "I'm grateful for the many blessings we've shared and I wish her the very best! S'Okay!"

The breakup came as a bit of a shock, considering that the couple was all smiles as recently as February when the pair hosted an event to support McCarthy's autism foundation, Generation Rescue.

"Jenny is the first person I have been with where I don't have a giant question mark over my head," Carrey told People on the red carpet of the event.

Now it seems at least one of them had a question mark.

Because Carrey's two marriages and multiple engagements never lasted longer than seven years, Lieberman said that one of the reasons for the split could have been his fear of commitment.

"Reports claim that Jim got fed up with Jenny's ongoing cajoling of him to help her career," Lieberman said. "But Jim has a history of being a commitment-phobe, so it could well be that he was just feeling smothered after so many years in the same relationship."

Perry said that the spilt may have more to do with McCarthy's priorities -- her son and her efforts to increase awareness about childhood autism.

"They were a wonderful duo," Perry said. "It sounds like this is a case of two big personalities that have priorities of their own going in opposite directions. Also, there have been rumors that Jim has been battling depression. McCarthy already has a son with special needs, and it sounds like she doesn't have the time to focus on him and his significant amount of needy attention."

Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes

In a case of life imitating art, Winslet and Mendes broke up after he directed her in the critically acclaimed dark tale of marriage gone wrong, "Revolutionary Road."

After seven years together, the couple, both Oscar-winners, announced the split in late March through a statement released jointly by their lawyers.

"Kate and Sam are saddened to announce that they separated earlier this year," the statement read. "The spilt is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement."

Perry said that the couple was pulled apart by their career aspirations.

"Part of what led to the split was that Sam wanted Kate's career to take a backseat while he worked on some projects," Perry said, "to which she obviously said no. They genuinely respect each other, and I think they are just both ambitious people. You can't both be No. 1."

Kim Kardasian and Reggie Bush

With both Kardasian and Bush being so young, it makes sense that this wasn't a relationship that was going to last forever.

The pair had spilt before, but this breakup, announced in late March, seems to have been the nail in the coffin.

The two seemed happy and partied together when Bush's team, the New Orleans Saints, won the Super Bowl. The two even vacationed in Costa Rica in early March.

Since they parted ways, Bush has been partying in New York City, and Kardasian has just finished shooting the second season of "Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami."

Perry said that the young stars have opposite schedules.

"They are both working and touring in different places," Perry said. "They are both stars and they both probably have big egos, which we know doesn't work. They had issues, but they gave it a good shot."

Lieberman said that the spilt probably has more to do with Kardasian's obsession with the spotlight.

"Kim and Reggie's relationship seemed like it was more about Kim wanting to parade him for the cameras than a deep love," Lieberman said. "Apparently, her obsession with the Hollywood scene has turned him off. He's said that the kind of wife he wants to settle down with would be more of a support system for him, rather than someone who is so ambitious for herself."

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins

This longtime Hollywood couple surprised the world with the announcement of their breakup before Christmas. Though they split last summer, the news of their parting after 23 years continues to reverberate.

"Actress Susan Sarandon and her partner of 23 years, actor Tim Robbins, have announced that they separated over the summer," Sarandon's rep Teal Cannaday said in a statement to ABCNews.com. "No further comments will be made."

Immediately rumors spread that Sarandon was dating her 31-year-old business partner, Jonathan Bricklin, but Cannady quashed those.

"The rumors are absolutely untrue," Cannaday told ABCNews.com. "Susan's relationship with Jonathan Bricklin is strictly a business one."

Though they never married, the couple have two sons together, Jack, 20, and Miles, 17. Sarandon also has a daughter, Eva Amurri, from her 1980s relationship with director Franco Amurri.

This spring, Sarandon told Entertainment Weekly that being single was "exhilarating and terrifying at the same time," and that she was open to dating again.

"I think the point is just keep moving, and to just say yes to life," she said.