10 Celebs Speak Out on Celibacy and Abstinence

When it comes to the world of celebrities, who's hooking up with who has always been a hot topic. 

But contrary to what people may assume, not all stars are doing the deed.

Whether it be for mental health, religious reasons or simply due to circumstances, many big names have opted to abstain from sex, either temporarily or permanently.

Last month, Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning admitted that she went 36 years without having sex.

But she is just one of many stars who have publicly spoken about choosing celibacy.

Here, the Daily Mail takes a look at celebs who have practised abstinence. 

Jessica Gunning

Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning went 36 years without sex.

The actress, 40, rose to fame playing stalker Martha alongside Richard Gadd in the hit Netflix show.

In an interview with The Times, she admitted that going that long without sex was difficult before explaining her lack of a romantic relationship 'felt connected to her size'.

She told the publication: 'Maybe because I was bigger, I've always felt like — it's hard to word this because I don't want it to seem like I'm saying it in a negative way, because it definitely isn't, I didn't feel like an alien in a negative way — but it was like an otherness.

'And the otherness, I suppose, looking back, protects me from having to go, 'I don't fancy men.' 

'So I was just, like, 'Oh, it's not the time for me,' or whatever... And then, before I knew it I was in my thirties.'

The star, who has come out as gay, went on to reveal that since Baby Reindeer came out she has dated a little but is currently single.

While she is a 'big believer in love' she isn't keen on using dating apps and is more of an old fashioned romantic at heart.

Halle Berry

Halle Berry was celibate for four years before meeting her partner, Van Hunt.

The actress, 59, has been divorced three times - from baseball player David Justice, singer-songwriter Eric Benét and French actor Olivier Martinez, with whom she shares a son, Maceo, 12. 

She is also mother to a daughter, Nahla, 17, from her previous relationship with Canadian model Gabriel Aubry.

Following her last divorce in 2016, Halle decided to step back from relationships and spend time focusing on herself.

She told The Times: 'I had to really sit myself down and be alone and grow and reflect and realise my value.

'I had decided if the right person doesn't come, I will be alone. And that's OK.'

Lenny Kravitz

Lenny Kravitz is viewed as the archetypal rock sex symbol.

But he's been on a spiritual journey after turning his back on stereotypical music industry excess - including casual, no strings sex.

Easier said than done of course; his catalogue of former girlfriends and lovers is perhaps better known than his extensive back catalogue of hits.

But at the age of 61, the celebrated musician is keen to hold back on physical intimacy until he finds the right woman - and it's all thanks to his father's own promiscuity.

Lenny was heartbroken after discovering his father, NBC news producer Sy Kravitz, was having an affair while married to his actress mother Roxie Roker - a household name in the United States thanks to her starring role in The Jeffersons.

And speaking to The Guardian, Kravitz - whose own marriage to actress Lisa Bonet ended in 1993 - admits his father's claim that he would end up doing the same thing soon became depressingly accurate.

He said: 'After the marriage, I became more like him, I was becoming a player, I didn't want to be that guy. 

'So I had to tackle that and it took years... by taking responsibility. Discipline. Not letting my own desires take over.'

He explained how discipline has led to nine-years of celibacy as he waits to find a life partner, but he admits his love of routine and predictability might hamper the search.

Drew Barrymore

In 2022, Drew Barrymore revealed she has not been in an 'intimate relationship' since her split from Will Kopelman in 2016, while revealing how her 'view on sex has truly changed.'

Taking to her Instagram, she shared a photo of herself holding her laptop, with a caption encouraging fans to read a 'very personal story' she wrote about practicing abstinent as a single mom.

'At nearly 48 I have very different feelings about intimacy than I did growing up. I did not have role model parents and I engaged with people in grown up ways since a tender age!' the Golden Globe winner wrote on her talk show's blog.

Since she doesn't have a 'time machine' or way to 'change' her history, the mom-of-two said she chooses to 'look at it through a positive lens.'

'After two kids and a separation from their father that has made me cautious, I have had the pleasure of shifting my focus when it comes to love for myself and my two daughters,' Barrymore continued. 'I know that does not include a man nor has it for a while.' 

She then credited her therapist for telling her: 'Sex is not love! It is the expression of love.'

'I have searched my whole life to have words like that to help me understand the difference and now, thanks to him, I do,' the star noted. 'And since entering life as a single mom, I have not been able to have an intimate relationship.'

While she says she might 'get into a relationship' in the near future, she insisted it 'simply hasn't been' her priority.

'I'm not a person who needs sex and has to go out there and engage with people on that level,' Barrymore stated. 'I am someone who is deeply committed to fostering how young girls, my daughters, and myself as a woman, are supposed to function in this world!'

Tulisa

Tulisa revealed she's been celibate for over three years as she came out as demisexual during her appearance on  I'm A Celebrity in 2024.

The N-Dubz star admitted that the thought of being with someone makes her feel 'physically sick' as she discussed her love life with her campmates.

In the peak of her fame, Tulisa endured a very high-profile court case after her ex boyfriend Justin Edwards who she had broken up with in 2009 - released a sex tape of her in 2012.

She previously told how she felt 'judged, disgusting and ashamed' because of the ordeal and said it has taken her 'many years' to come to terms with and get over.

Tulisa shared with her campmates that she has no interest in dating anyone, admitting 'I'm proper guarded'.

As the talk in camp turned to relationships, Dean McCullough said: 'I actually do enjoy being single, I enjoy being on my own.'

As Alan Halsall admitted he'd 'never been on dating apps before', Dean turned to Tulisa and joked: 'We've done them all, haven't we babes.'

Tulisa said: 'No I've only done Raya [celebrity dating app]. I'm not really a dater, even though I've been on there, I've never gone on an actual date with anyone on there… I'm proper guarded.'

She added: 'I feel like I'm demisexual, I need to have a really close emotional bond with someone.'

Demisexuality is a sexual orientation where a person only experiences sexual attraction after forming a strong emotional connection with someone.

Dean said: 'You need meaning babe.'

'I need actual depth. I'm a slow, slow burner, I've been celibate for over three years', Tulisa revealed.

'I'm not an overly sexualised person. For me, it's all about the connection and the emotions that I feel with someone and then wanting to express them in that way.'

Explaining the thought of sleeping with someone or going out and meeting someone 'genuinely makes me feel physically sick', she joked: 'This is my temple, you cannot enter!'

Tim Gunn

Project Runway alum Tim Gunn revealed that heartbreak led him to become celibate for the last 43 years.

, 72, recalled how a cheating ex-boyfriend drove him to abstain from sex at the age of 29, while appearing on Chelsea Handler's podcast on Thursday.

Gunn thought he was handed a 'death sentence' when he discovered his longtime partner - the only person he had ever been with - was unfaithful during the early days of the AIDS crisis.

'I had a very serious nine-year relationship in Washington, , and I loved this person deeply and would have done anything for him,' he said.

'And I still remember the night that it all ended. We were in bed watching M*A*S*H… and he said to me, 'I have no patience for you any longer. I want you to leave.''

'I had my own apartment, but I had been living with him for years, and I left. I had to pull off because I was hyperventilating. I was beside myself with self-flagellation and self-pity, and it was awful.' 

'And this is someone I worked with, so it wasn't as though I just would never see him again. And one of the things that he told me that night was that he'd been sleeping with just about everything that walked by, and I had been loyal and faithful to him,' Gunn went on.

'He was the only person I'd ever been with. And this is the advent of AIDS. It's 1982. The self-pity then turned to completely unbridled anger because I thought he may have given me a death sentence.'

Gunn added that he 'was tested every six months for ten years for HIV and thankfully I had a clean slate.'

However, the experience marred any chance of future sexual intimacy for Gunn. 

'Whenever I was even tempted to engage in something that could become serious with someone, all this would come back like Niagara Falls, and it would just take the desire away.' 

'And I have to say, being celibate and being someone who lives alone was a bit of an adjustment. But now I wouldn't have it any other way,' he concluded. 

Mike Posner

I Took a Pill in Ibiza singer Mike Posner revealed in 2024 that he had decided to be celibate after a previous relationship ended.

The singer admitted that he had been using sex and porn, along with drugs and alcohol, in the past to distract him from 'pain'.

He wanted to focus on healing from the pain so he could be in healthy relationships going forward.

He told People: 'My body didn't want to feel the pain, so I [would] masturbate to porn or hook up with random women.

'And I said, 'I'm not going to do that this time, that's not going to serve me. 

'So that was that decision to be celibate and to not masturbate — it wasn't out of any morality. It was just to not distract myself from what I needed to do.'

Cheryl Burke

In 2024, Cheryl Burke explained why she decided to be celibate for three years following her divorce from Matthew Lawrence.

The Dancing With The Stars pro - who split from Matthew, in 2022 — said she was previously a 'serial dater' but has now built 'more self-love and self-respect and self-worth.'

She told UsWeekly: 'I love that I've grown so much and that I'm doing it consciously and with an intention.'

The star shared that people are sceptical when she tells them of her decision to stay celibate and single.

'They're just like, 'What?'' she said. 'As if I'm speaking a different language completely. Which is so interesting.'

50 Cent

In 2024, rapper 50 Cent revealed to his fans and followers that he is 'practising abstinence' as his New Year's resolution in a new Instagram post.

The In Da Club rapper stated he made the pledge to focus on his goals and avoid distractions.

He captioned the post which showed him dressed to the nines with a cigar: 'My new idea is so big, I don't have time to be distracted I'm practicing abstinence, I have been meditating and focusing on my goals.'

'I hope this New Year helps you excel to the next level,' the star - whose real name is Curtis Jackson III - concluded.

In a hint that his plans could include more businesses, he tagged the post with the names of his cognac brand, Branson Cognac, as well as his Champagne line Le Chemin du Roi.

James Brolin

James Brolin admitted that he didn't have sex for three years before he married Barbra Streisand.

He made the admission during an appearance on his wife's interview with Gayle King, revealing that he and Barbra didn't have sex during the entirety of their courtship.

James brought up his years of celibacy unprompted after his wife was quizzed on why she made him propose to her three times before agreeing to marrying him.

'I have to try him out for at least three years,' she joked.

'And I had been literally — this is a wild word — I had been celibate for three years, saying, 'Who needs this?' he said.

'You're not supposed to tell that!' said a shocked Barbra, who slapped his knee playfully.

'I had not had any interest in getting involved in a lousy situation,' James added.

Then Barbra jumped in to explain that he 'was married twice before,' while she had had one previous marriage, and James worried that he might be jumping into another doomed relationship.

Streisand's previous marriage was to the Long Goodbye star Elliott Gould from 1963 to 1971, while Brolin was married to Jane Cameron Agee from 1966 to 1984 and Jan Smithers from 1986 to 1995.