Mary-Kate Olsen divorce: Inside relationships of Olsen twins

Mary-Kate Olsen has filed for divorce from Olivier Sarkozy after five years of marriage, but the split is coming with a heavy dose of drama.

The former child actress is seeking an emergency court order to ensure her divorce is not delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, after Sarkozy allegedly tried to ‘force her out’ of their New York apartment.

This marks the end of five years of marriage for Mary-Kate, 33, whose relationship with Sarkozy, 50, raised eyebrows due to their 17 year age gap.

In fact, both Mary-Kate and her twin sister Ashley have dated older men in the past.

The twins – who shot to fame with films like Passport To Paris and Billboard Dad and shows including Full House and Two Of A Kind – have dated a number of older businessmen and artists, and while their chosen beaus have mainly been non-celebs, there’s a few famous faces in the mix.

MARY-KATE OLSEN

Three years after having her first on-screen kiss with Gregory Peck’s grandson Ethan Peck in Passport To Paris, Mary-Kate’s first Hollywood relationship came in 2002 when she dated Henry Winkler’s son Max.

Although their romance was brief, Max has been very sweet about the relationship since then, telling New York magazine in 2011: ‘I dated an Olsen twin because I was in love with an Olsen twin. But I wasn’t in love with her because she was “an Olsen twin.” I just thought she was so pretty and smart and cute.’

After that came Mary-Kate’s first serious relationship with David Katzenberg, the son of Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The couple dated for nearly a year before they split up when the twins headed to study at NYU, with Katzenberg going on to date Nicky Hilton.

The Hiltons bizarrely played a part in Mary-Kate’s next relationship, as she dated Greek shipping heir and staple of the noughties scene, Stavros Niarchos III.

Stavros left Mary-Kate after five months to date Paris Hilton – who Mary-Kate had introduced him to. Ouch.

Mary-Kate was hurt by her friend dating her ex, later telling W magazine: ‘[Paris and I] always only had nice things to say about each other. Now I guess you can tell we’re not talking.’

She added of the split in 2006: ‘I miss him and I love him and I don’t speak with him anymore. It’s a hurtful and painful subject. I’ve pretty much been with someone my whole life, so this is a hard time for me.

After a brief romance with Uma Thurman’s nephew and oil heir Max Snow, Mary-Kate went on to date artist Nate Lowman from late 2008 until early 2010 – and two years after their split, she found love with banker and half-brother of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Pierre Olivier Sarkozy.

Their relationship made headlines because of their 17-year age gap, but Mary-Kate didn’t let the criticism get to her.

She told WSJ Magazine: ‘Everyone has an opinion. I find it’s better to focus on what’s in front of you and to keep putting one foot in front of the other.’

In November 2015, the pair tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at a private residence in Manhattan, and in the best celebrity wedding detail we’ve ever heard, Page Six reported that party decor consisted of ‘bowls and bowls filled with cigarettes, and everyone smoked the whole night’.

In marrying Sarkozy, Olsen became a stepmum-of-two to Margot and Julien, her husband’s kids with ex-wife Charlotte Bernard.

She kept her relationship private but in 2017, she told Net-A-Porter’s The Edit: ‘I think [me and Ashley are] lucky [working hard] comes quite naturally for us. We don’t need so much time to sit and think and ponder.

‘But then I have a husband, two step-kids and a life; I have to go home and cook dinner. I run on the weekend. You find the thing that helps you relax and if you don’t have it, you have to look for it. Or you get burned out and then you’re not productive.’

However, it has now emerged that Mary-Kate initially tried to file for divorce from Olivier in April, but was unable to do so due to the pandemic.

Mary-Kate’s attorneys reportedly received an email from Olivier’s legal representatives asking her to move her belongings out of their apartment in New York by 18 May, according to TMZ.

The fashion designer also reportedly claimed Olivier was trying to ‘force her out’ by terminating the lease without her knowledge, and has apparently asked for an extension until 30 May to remove her things but claims he hasn’t responded.

The documents, seen by TMZ, are said to state that she can’t meet the deadline due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic in New York and that the only way she can protect her property is by filing a divorce petition.

Filing for divorce would automatically trigger a court order preventing him from disposing of her property.

Mary-Kate has allegedly requested the emergency order to allow her to file the divorce petition and to ensure their ‘iron-clad’ prenuptial agreement be enforced.

ASHLEY OLSEN

Ashley – who is two minutes older than her sister – had her first big relationship with Matt Kaplan, who she was introduced to by Mary-Kate.

The pair dated for three years until Ashley was 18, with Matt, who was three years her senior, going on to marry The Vampire Diaries star Claire Holt. (Fun fact – Kaplan produced the Netflix hit To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.)

After moving to New York to attend college, Ashley had romances with socialite Scott Sartiano and Tsubi Jeans CEO Gregg Chait.

Then, in 2007, Ashley started a romance with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, with a pair being pictured getting close at a hotel bar.

According to a tell-all book, Armstrong, who is 15 years older than Olsen, was encouraged to dump the star to save his image.

In Juliet Macur’s Cycle Of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong, it is claimed that Armstrong’s friend John Korioth ‘warned the 36-year-old father of three that his May-December romance could damage his cancer work’.

Macur claims Korioth told Armstrong, ‘Whoa, dude, bad idea. You’ve got to put a stop to this right now,’ to which Lance allegedly responded: ‘She’s 21… F*** you.’

A year later, Ashley was spotted kissing Jarde Leto in a club, before she began a relationship with The Hangover star Justin Bartha.

Saying their relationship was ‘more important than anything else in the world’, the pair attended the Met Gala together and went on to date for three years, with engagement rumours circulating.

However, it wasn’t to be, and Ashley and Justin split in 2011.

After that, Ashley was linked to David Schulte, later named the president of the twins’ fashion brand The Row, film director Bennett Miller, then 49, and artist George Condo, then 59.

Seemingly enforcing ‘older men’ as her type, in 2016, Ashley went public with financier Richard Sachs, who was 28 years her senior.

The couple were pictured on double dates with Mary-Kate and Olivier, spent Thanksgiving and New Year’s together in St Barts, and Sachs even attended one of Olsen’s close friend’s weddings as her date.

However, that relationship lasted just five months.

The tables have now turned, though, when it comes to age, as Ashley’s current boyfriend is two years younger than her.

The designer first started dating artist Louis Eisner and it appears the couple are still going strong, having been pictured walking arm in arm on numerous occasions.

MORE : EXO members reunite to give Suho a good send off as he enlists in the military

MORE : Tyra Banks’ America’s Next Top Model co-star on ‘unfair’ comments to gay contestant told to hide her sexuality: ‘It made me uncomfortable’