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Given his father was involved with the iconic singer and his mom partied with the legendary rock band, it may not come as a surprise to see ex- Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau paired with American artist Katy Perry.

But it nonetheless causes surprise. “This was NOT on my 2025 bingo card,” remarked an media outlet in July, when the couple were first seen together in Montreal. A popular magazine later labeled them “2025’s most surprising couple.”

Over the weekend, Trudeau, 53, and Perry were seen leaving a cabaret club in Paris on Perry’s 41st birthday. They were walking hand-in-hand. Neither has publicly commented, but the scene is interpreted as the couple acknowledging they are in fact an item.

They join a remarkably short list of public relationships between politicians and musicians, which includes Justin’s father, Pierre, and Streisand, as well as a former politician with a pop star.

Leader-actor relationships and marriages are frequent: such as Rita Hayworth and a then-UN ambassador; John F Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe; Elizabeth Taylor and a US senator; and Pierre Trudeau – for a short time – with Kim Cattrall.

Every time, attention has been extensive and intense, which irritates some who feel it is just celebrity gossip and should be overlooked.

But it is OK to be interested and to care, says a comedy writer who co-hosts a podcast on celebrity relationships.

“No matter how famous you are, there are certain beats to life and a relationship that are exactly the same,” she said. “If you’re famous, they’re likely more sped-up or they’re more amplified.”

People cannot go around questioning neighbours or acquaintances about the inner workings of relationships – but they can learn about celebrities and politicians.

“We all might start dating with somebody and we might move things along too quickly, or we become infatuated with the notion of the person, not the real person, or they’re right for that time in your life but then you change so then it doesn’t work any more.

“When you look at celebrity couples, when you can really examine the interactions of what happened, you can see it is just life.”

Celebrity relationships could shine a light on all sorts of issues, said the writer, whether self-doubts, careers before children – or just when it’s time to end it.

“The most relatable part of a famous person is their private life,” she said, whose podcast examines celebrity breakups.

Not one Perry nor Trudeau, commentators note, is at the peak of their careers or lives.

Perry’s newest album, released four years after the previous one, was received poorly – although not maybe as bad as claimed by some. Yes, it’s “common-or-garden mediocre pop,” wrote a reviewer, “but it’s certainly some way less than total catastrophe.”

The singer was also mocked for taking part in an women-only space mission.

In July, Perry and British actor Orlando Bloom confirmed they were splitting, six years after getting engaged. “She is fighting for significance,” said the writer. As is, debatably, Trudeau.

Voted in as Canada’s prime minister in 2015, Trudeau announced in January that he was stepping down, effectively forced out by his own party.

In 2023, Trudeau and his wife, Sophie, disclosed they were parting ways after 18 years of marriage, following what they said were “meaningful and challenging conversations.”

Back in charge of his own online presence, one of Trudeau’s first Instagram posts was a picture of him shopping for kitchen supplies at a household goods outlet – “Gotta love a Monday morning,” he wrote, eliciting discussion about the divorced dad vibes he was giving off.

The Trudeau-Perry story has, inevitably, led to people reflecting on Trudeau Sr and his relationship with Streisand, and what a romance it could have become.

Pierre Trudeau was one of Canada’s most successful, flamboyant and non-traditional politicians. He drove a motorcycle, liked skinny dipping and gliding down banisters, and wore open-toe sandals in the legislature.

Barbra Streisand was an icon.

“Wow,” she wrote in her autobiography about their first meeting. “I was fascinated by that contrast … the serious politician and the free-spirited artist. Those two don’t usually go together.”

Streisand, whose marriage with actor Elliott Gould was on the rocks, was captivated by this “very stylish, intelligent, intense” man, a “kind of combination of Albert Einstein and Napoleon (only taller)”.

They became an item in 1969. “I remember one afternoon … I was lying with my head on his lap, while he was reading official papers and I was reading a script. I thought to myself, This is bliss.”

The one thing she was not looking for, however, was a new husband and having more children, both of which she believed Trudeau wanted.

What next for Trudeau Jr and Perry remains to be seen. They are fairly young but past their peak, argues the writer, both perhaps asking themselves what’s next. Might Trudeau and Perry be the next power couple? The next Harry and Meghan?

“There is a podcast coming, is what I’m saying,” she said. “A podcast and a foundation. I’m predicting it.”