Globally, celebrity affairs are full of controversies that tend to bring to one's mind the question whether famous ladies should marry famous gentlemen.

It has come to the attention of everyone that such 'high-flying' relationships do not last long despite the fact that celebrities are regarded as role models in society.

Initially, this appeared to be the trend only in the world's richest countries like USA and UK but as of now the tendency has finally penetrated into third world nations like Malawi.

Most local celebrities fall in love with each other but only a few of them drag each other to the altar as many such affairs end prematurely.

We have had celebrity couples such as musicians Malawian Wendy Harawa and Petersen of Zambia, Malawi's Big Brother Africa (BBA) finalist Hazel Warren and fellow housemate Thami Prusent of South Africa, TV personality Geoffrey Kapusa with radio personality Takondwa Mfune.

Hazel and Thami were too close on the reality TV show. They went into seemingly serious dating after coming out of the house before parting ways a few months later.

The Wendy-Petersen affair hit headlines after the Zambian music star was captured publicly beating Malawi's raga muffin superstar, an incident that ultimately marked the end of their romantic journey.

Despite tying the sacred knot in grand style, Kapusa's relationship with Mfune also flopped, a situation which saw Kapusa going back to his former wife.

However, the celeb affair of TV personalities Thomas Chafunya and Tamara Mkandawire is among the rare ones that survive.

Why celebrities' relationships collapse?

"Generally, the major problem is that most celebrities are always busy grooming and updating their celebrity status, so they really do not have time for each other. Most celebrities invest more effort in maintaining their social status than loving their partners. They overlook relationships forgetting that everyone needs care and attention," says Kapusa in an interview.

He says celebrities wrongly think that the whole world is in their hands, something that is not supposed to be the case.

"Whatever we have achieved through our celebrity status belongs to God and society. With time, I have learnt that as celebrities, we are supposed to be responsible because if we don't do that, God takes away everything from us," says Kapusa.

On her part, Warren is of the view that public pressure is one of the factors that fuel the celebrity affairs to register a short life span.

"Since, you are being followed by everybody in society you forget your own affairs and want to meet the public's expectations which, sadly, lead you to behave in a strange way," she says.

"Celebrity affairs can only survive if they are done away from the public eye - they should not be for public consumption to ease unnecessary pressure," says Warren.

She adds that another problem is that most people in celebrity affairs do not easily tolerate each other's views because they spend most of their time worshiping themselves at the expense of loving their spouses.

"They feel because they are famous they can have anybody any time - so they become untouchable and stop taking advice," says the Lilongwe-based celebrity.

And Wendy is of the view that infatuation is one of the factors that contribute to the brief life span of most celeb relationships.

"Most of these affairs are not born out of love but mere excitement. Closeness alone is not an element to make stars fall in love with each other but high level of understanding each other as well as sharing many interests," says Wendy.

Emerging celebrity affairs

The past two years have witnessed the blossoming of celebrity affairs, with the latest being that involving 2010 Malawi News Model of the Year, Gladys Kumbatira and renowned Afro rapper/singer Evans Zangazanga aka Nthumwi Piksy.

The two youthful celebrities have joined renowned rapper Young Kay who is dating former Malawi News Model Tina Kendricks. Then there is female hip-hop artist Rina, who is dating music producer Manje and the two are fondly known as ManjeRina.

Confirming the development, Kumbatira described her love for Nthumwi as amazing and amusing.

"This model is in love; so much in love!" she confesses.

Asked if she sees their relationship surviving, Kumbatira says she is quite optimistic.

"Just watch us! It is all about understanding each other and knowing what each one of us really wants," she explains.

The couple who have been connected for about three months now, publicly declared they were in love on an internet social network site, Facebook. They flashed their lovey-dovey photos on the site and updated their individual relationship statuses, declaring that they are now an item.

The model, aged 20, and the 'Sendeza analysis' musician, aged 25, were together at this year's Lake of Stars International Music Festival where Piksy performed and sources say "the two lovebirds were inseparable".

Kumbatira was crowned Malawi News Model of the year 2010 on April 8 this year. A PAEC student at Malawi College of Accountancy (MCA), she is currently working at MultiChoice Malawi's sales office in Blantyre.

Piksy, known for his Sendeza music and dancing antics, is signed to Nde'feyo Entertainment. He became popular after his collaboration with Afro R&B singer Maskal in the hit song 'Wa CV'.

He is former student of MCA and currently works as an accountant at Charles Stewart Day Old Chicks.