After seven years together, it was reported this week that superstar Mariah Carey, 54, has broken up with her dancer boyfriend Bryan Tanaka, 40.
Weeks of rumors followed about Bryan's absence from Mariah's Christmas tour – with fans calling her out for looking “depressed” on stage.
Neither of them have publicly confirmed the split, but there are signs that the romance could be doomed from the start.
From their 14-year age difference to Bryan's “desire for a family,” will explore the reasons why Mariah and Bryan's relationship wasn't meant to last.
After seven years together, it was reported this week that superstar Mariah Carey, 54, had broken up with her dancer boyfriend Bryan Tanaka, 40; Seen in 2018
FROM HIS BOSS TO HIS BOO
Bryan and Mariah began their professional relationship when he accompanied her as a backup dancer on her Adventures of Mimi tour in 2006.
The arena tour was in support of the singer's tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi, and was a major opportunity for the then 23-year-old Bryan, who had begun a dance career just five years earlier.
Meanwhile, Mariah, then 37, was already at the peak of her powers after bursting onto the music scene in 1990.
“We had a connection back then and there was just mutual admiration,” Bryan told E! News from 2016.
“She saw something in me that I didn't recognize at first, and from then on it was over.” “It was set in history that we would be connected in some way.”
Although they only started dating in 2016, they spent the first ten years getting to know each other as employers and employees.
Power dynamics – such as financial inequality and level of influence – can pose significant difficulties for couples.
Bryan and Mariah began their professional relationship when he accompanied her as a backup dancer on her Adventures of Mimi tour in 2006; seen in 2022
REBOUND ROMANCE
In October 2016, Mariah ended her engagement to Australian billionaire James Packer and quickly began a new relationship with Bryan.
It turned out to be an ugly breakup, leading to Packer awarding Mariah a multimillion-dollar settlement and her omitting all details of the engagement from her memoir.
Mariah confirmed she had broken up with Packer when she was spotted getting affectionate with Bryan on the beach over Thanksgiving weekend this year.
She previously confessed that her relationship with Packer was “never physical,” so a hot and heavy rebound may have been just what she needed.
In October 2016, Mariah ended her engagement to Australian billionaire James Packer and quickly began a new relationship with Bryan; Mariah and James seen in May 2016
THE FIRST SPLIT
Just a few months after their Thanksgiving holiday, Mariah and Bryan split for the first time in April 2017.
ET reported that the couple's romance had been “weakening” for some time, but it finally fell apart after a dinner in LA in February.
The outlet's source claimed Bryan was “extremely jealous” of Mariah's ex-husband Nick Cannon, with whom she shares 12-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan, and was upset when he caught Mariah telling the restaurant staff raved about Cannon.
They also claimed Bryan retaliated by “ordering a lot of food and drinks and putting it all on Mariah's bill.”
ET's insider even went so far as to accuse Bryan of being a copycat and just using Mariah for her “fame and money.”
Despite the alleged bankruptcy in February, Bryan went on vacation with Mariah in March to celebrate her 47th birthday.
Although he tried to make the relationship look “good” on social media by sharing happy photos from vacation, TMZ confirmed the split in April.
The magazine also cited Bryan's “jealousy” towards Nick as the main reason for the breakup.
But later that year they were together again.
Just months after their Thanksgiving holiday, Mariah and Bryan broke up for the first time in April 2017 due to alleged “jealousy”; seen in February 2017
MARIAH'S WORLD
Bryan appeared alongside Mariah on the E! documentary series Mariah's World, which premiered in December 2016 – less than a month after their romance went public.
The show was recorded earlier this year and documents the journey – personal and professional – to Mariah's The Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour
It gave fans their first glimpse of the budding romance when Bryan admitted on national television that he had “some bad feelings” for the then-engaged singer.
On the show, Bryan opens up about how it sucked seeing Mariah with Packer and how he felt like he and Mariah were “meant for each other.”
“I feel like our chemistry is not just professional,” he said to another dancer.
“Professionally, the chemistry is great, but when we talk, you feel like there's a connection that goes beyond what we've had in the last ten years.”
At the finale, fans cheered as Bryan and Mariah kicked their relationship hard with a passionate kiss on camera.
Bryan appeared alongside Mariah on the E! the documentary series Mariah's World, which premiered in December 2016 – just a month after their romance went public; seen in February 2017
AGE DIFFERENCE
Even though they have “great chemistry” between them, there is also a 14-year age difference.
While the likes of 49-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio – who regularly only dates women under 25 – are praised for their young dating pool, women tend to be “disproportionately judged” when they date younger men, it is claimed the BBC.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan in 2019, Mariah was asked if she had a “preference for younger men” – despite only having one other age-related romance, with Nick Cannon, who is 11 years her junior.
“I haven’t had that many, but there was a variety pack,” she replied.
“I've only been with five people in my life, so to be honest I'm a bit of a prude compared to most people in the industry.”
Even though they have “great chemistry” between them, there is also a 14-year age difference
FAMILY MAN
After the breakup news surfaced, Page Six reported that Mariah and Bryan ended their seven-year romance due to his desire to start a family of their own.
The outlet's insider explained, “He wants to start a family. “That's not where she is.”
Carey, 54, shares 12-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with her ex-husband Cannon.
Carey shares 12-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with her ex-husband Nick Cannon. The two were married from 2008 to 2016