Kanye West's famous exes and brutal splits from Amber Rose to Kim Kardashian

 Kanye West's famous exes as he's spotted on romantic French break with Irina Shayk. (Courtesy)

Kanye West is rumoured to be moving on from his marriage to Kim Kardashian with Victoria’s Secret model, Irina Shayk.

Although neither party has made an official comment, the couple were seen spending time together in the sun in Provence, France this week.

They later headed back to the States together on the same private plane.

But Shayk, who was previously in a relationship with Bradley Cooper, is not the first model that Kanye has dated.

Here are the relationships and splits that the Ultralight Beam musician has had in the public eye - from his first love to his nine-year Kim K marriage.

Alexis Phifer (2002 to 2008)

Kanye and fashion designer Alexis had a rocky on/off relationship for six years.

They were first a couple in 2002, but split two years later in 2004.

They later reconciled and started dating again in 2006, with the couple getting engaged during a romantic trip to Capri.

 Kanye West and Alexis Phifer dated on and off for six years. (Courtesy)

Ahead of the planned nuptials, Kanye said Alexis was someone he “really loves, challenges him, keeps his life interesting, that's just as crazy as he is.”

However, sadly they split in 2008, just a few months after the death of Kanye’s mother Donda, who died in late 2007.

Alexis confirmed the news to People, and said at the time: “It’s always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends. I wish him the best in his future and all of his endeavors.

“He’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever met.”

Brooke Crittendon (2006)

While split from Alexis, Kanye briefly dated Brooke Crittendon, an assistant at MTV and an aspiring actress.

They went public with their relationship when she accompanied Kanye and his mother to the Grammys in February 2006.

However, they only dated for a few months, and had split just four months later.

In 2013, Brooke opened up on the relationship and told The Sun: “I got the impression he worried he wasn’t good enough for me. He needs people to tell him he is good and that he is needed and wanted.”

Amber Rose (2008 to 2010)

Around the time of his 808s and Heartbreak release, Kanye started dating model Amber Rose.

He reached out to her after she appeared in Ludacris’s music video for What Them Girls Like, with Amber saying she “thought it was a prank” at first as they’d never met.

Their pair became a public couple, working on campaigns together including one for Louis Vuitton where she was seen lying naked on a sofa with him.

She was also with him during that now infamous moment Kanye stormed the VMAs stage, taking the mic off Taylor Swift to praise Beyonce.

They split in 2010 and Amber was dating Wiz Khalifa by 2011.

 The couple dated for two years but have continued fighting ever since. (Courtesy)

While Kanye focusing on his work was initially blamed, Amber later blamed Kim Kardashian - saying that the musician had become infatuated with her during their relationship.

She told Star in 2012 that she was glad, stating “if [Kim] was never a homewrecker, then I never would have met Wiz."

Kanye later admitted as such that same year, and in song Cold, rapped: “The whole industry want to f**k your old chick // Only n***a I got respect for is Wiz // And I'll admit, I had fell in love with Kim // Around the same time she [Amber] had fell in love with him.”

But that hasn’t stopped them from having a serious war of words since then - with Kanye slamming her time as a stripper and claiming he “needed 30 showers” after splitting with her and getting with Kim during a chat with The Breakfast Club.

He later reportedly took another stab at her during his 2020 election run by calling her a prostitute, and featured a naked model of her in his Famous music video.

Speaking on the No Jumper podcast last year, Amber said he’d been ‘bullying her for 10 years’ and emplored him to leave her alone.

"I feel if you looked up every time he has bullied me a lot of stuff will come up but I just move on,” she said. I'm happy. I have an amazing husband. I have two beautiful kids.

"He just called me a prostitute at his rally. Ten years later, just leave me alone.

"I don't bother you, I don't talk about you. Obviously, he comes up in interviews because he's a big part of why I'm famous. I try to give interviews and not shy away - but at the same time, it's like 'bro leave me alone.'"

Kim Kardashian (2012 - 2021)

After briefly dating model Selita Ebanks, Kanye started dating Kim Kardashian, and the couple went public with their romance in 2012.

The couple had been friends for years, meeting through musician Brandy in 2003.

However, they remained friends while they were in their respective relationships - with Kim married to Damon Thomas at the time.

But speaking to Ryan Seacrest in 2013, Kanye confessed to always having feelings for the reality star and make-up mogul.

 Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

"I just knew I wanted her to be my girl for a long time," he said. "I remember I saw a picture of her and Paris Hilton, and I remember telling my boy, 'Have you seen that girl Kim Kardijon?'"

It’s reported he wrote lyrics about her as far back as 2009, telling a mystery woman to leave her boyfriend in song Knock You Down.

On New Year’s Eve 2012, Kanye announced on stage Kim was expecting their first child, and daughter, North was born in June 2013.

Kanye proposed in a huge gesture at a San Francisco baseball stadium that October, and they were married in May 2014.

They went on to become a Hollywood super-couple, making history by becoming the first biracial couple on the cover of Vogue, and having three more children - Saint (in 2015), Chicago (in 2018) and Psalm (in 2019).

When Kim was held hostage at gunpoint in 2016 during Paris Fashion Week, Kanye was told the news on stage and immediately cut the concert short to fly and be with her.

He also publicly supported her work with the Justice Project, and she in turn named parts of her fashion line after him, even dubbing herself the “Wife of Pablo” when his album, The Life of Pablo, was released.

However, Kanye began to have public issues with his mental health, spending time in hospital with exhaustion in 2016, and going on public rants about politics.

Among his outbursts, he claimed that slavery was a choice.

He later ran for president in 2020, despite having no political background at all, and burst into tears at one rally while talking about he and Kim considering aborting North back in 2012.

In response, Kim posted a statement that read: “As many of you know, Kanye has bipolar disorder. Anyone who has this or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand."

Kanye later apologised for making a private matter so public.

"I did not cover her like she has covered me,” he wrote. "To Kim I want to say I know I hurt you. Please forgive me. Thank you for always being there for me.”

Shortly after this, the pair began to spend even more time apart, with Kim remaining in Los Angeles while Kanye spent most of his time at their ranch in Wyoming.

Their separation and plans to divorce was announced in February 2021.

Kim has only been seen talking about what happened once - in a June episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, filmed months beforehand.

In the clip, she was seen breaking down to her sisters as she said: "I honestly can't do this anymore, why am I still in this, like, place where I'm stuck for years? Like, he goes and moves to a different state, every year.

“I have to be together so I can raise the kids, you know? And he's an amazing dad, he's done an amazing job."