What Happened Between Hilary Duff & Joel Madden? Looking Back on Their 2000s Romance
What To Know
- Hilary Duff and Joel Madden began dating in 2004, and their relationship sparked controversy due to their age difference.
- Duff released a new single titled “Mature” on November 7.
- The Lizzie McGuire alum is currently married to Matthew Koma.
For the first time in 10 years, Hilary Duff is back with new music, and her comeback single, “Mature,” has fans talking about her love life. While Duff is now happily married to husband Matthew Koma, “Mature” brings her back to her younger years when she was dating an older lover.
Duff, of course, is keeping tight-lipped about the song’s subject, but the lyrics have fans looking back at her relationship history. Perhaps one of her most famous past romances was with Joel Madden, whom Duff started dating in 2004.
Many fans have pointed out that Madden probably didn’t inspire “Mature,” as he and Duff have a friendly relationship today (more on that below). Scroll down for everything to know about their relationship, split, and more.
How old were Joel Madden and Hilary Duff when they dated?
Madden and Duff’s relationship was quite controversial, as it began when she was just 16 years old and he was 25. The two met through mutual friends in Los Angeles.
“The first time we met, he was kind of standoffish, like too cool for school,” Duff said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2005. She said she told Madden she liked his music on the first night they met, and he ended up getting her phone number and calling her up. “It’s kind of a lame story, really,” she admitted.
The relationship began in 2004, and the two sparked major controversy when they started hanging out. However, the romance wasn’t publicly acknowledged until Duff’s mom confirmed the two were an item during a 2005 interview with Seventeen magazine.
In February 2006, Madden and Duff appeared on the cover of Teen People together and discussed the criticism of their age gap. They insisted that they were just a regular “low-key” couple and noted that people were likely “prejudging” them without knowing anything about their relationship.
“People thought we were an unlikely couple, but we really weren’t that different,” Duff once said. “After two months, I didn’t even see his tattoos anymore because that’s not who he is. He used to say, ‘I don’t think there are too many people out there who really get you, but I do.’ And he did. I could be stupid, silly, funny, or crazy, and he got it. He gave me a sense of confidence and independence I didn’t have before.”
Why did Hilary Duff and Joel Madden split?
Duff and Madden’s relationship ended because it simply ran its course. Madden confirmed the breakup in November 2006, noting during a club appearance that he was “single.”
At the time of the split, it was reported that their nine-year age difference played a part. However, Duff shut down those rumors, telling CosmoGirl, per CBS News, in 2007, “All that stuff about the age difference between us being the reason we broke up is just not true. I never felt the age difference. Breaking up was just something that I felt needed to happen between us.”
Who did Joel Madden date after Hilary Duff?
Madden began dating his now-wife, Nicole Richie, in December 2006, just one month after news broke that he and Duff had ended their relationship.
Duff reacted to her ex moving on so quickly in an interview with Seventeen in 2007. “With the amount of time that we had invested in each other, I felt disrespected that he moved on so quickly,” she admitted. “But some people don’t want to deal with how they feel, so they cover it up. Rebound! I shouldn’t say that. You know what, though? Now I don’t care.”
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
In 2008, Madden and Richie welcomed their first child together, followed by another baby in 2009. They tied the knot in 2010 and are still together today.
In “Mature,” Duff sings about the song’s subject moving on with someone younger than her, but Richie is just two years younger than Madden, which is why fans don’t think the song is about him.
Where do Hilary Duff and Joel Madden stand now?
Duff and Madden are good friends today. In fact, they’re neighbors, and they “actually hang out all the time,” she revealed on an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2023.
@bravowwhl Hilary Duff opens about her friendship with the Madden brothers & Nicole Richie and shares that her husband Matthew Koma is a major troll. #WWHL ♬ original sound – BravoWWHL
The Younger star said she’s also close with Madden’s wife. “I was just in her driveway, honking for her to come drink wine with us the other day,” she shared.
Duff and Koma have been spotted on dates with Madden and Richie. Koma even dressed up as his wife’s ex for Halloween in 2024 and noted that he was wearing the costume to attend a party with Madden and Richie. In 2023, Duff and Koma also attended one of Good Charlotte‘s concerts, and Koma even took the stage with the band, so all is well between the exes today!
Who else has Hilary Duff dated?
Duff famously dated Aaron Carter on and off from 2000 to 2003. The relationship made headlines because of the pair’s love triangle with Lindsay Lohan, whom Carter dated after breaking up with Duff. He wound up ending things with Lohan to get back with Duff, sparking a public feud between the women, who were teenagers at the time.
By 2007, the ladies had put the feud to rest. “We are both adults, and whatever happened, happened when we were young,” Duff told People at the time. “It’s over.”
Following her split from Carter, Duff was in a relationship with Frankie Muniz, whom she starred in Agent Cody Banks with. Muniz recently revealed that he hasn’t spoken to Duff since their last day on set after he found out that her mom interfered with the casting process for the film.
The relationship with Madden came after Duff’s split from Muniz. Then, in 2007, she started dating NHL star Mike Comrie. They got married in August 2010 when Duff was just 22 years old, and she gave birth to their son, Luca, in March 2012. Duff filed for divorce from Comrie in 2015, and it was finalized the following year.
Her first “serious” relationship after the divorce was with trainer Jason Walsh. They confirmed their romance in October 2016, although Duff revealed that they’d actually already been an item for a while at that point.
Duff and Koma dated briefly in early 2017 before breaking up and rekindling the relationship later that year. They got married in December 2019 and share three daughters.
