Like the best of us, celebrities aren't immune to a heavy dose of bad luck. Believe it or not, a slew of A-listers have had to bid farewell to their dream home whether as a result of a relationship breakdown, financial hardship, natural disaster or any other horrendous scenario life has thrown at them. Click or scroll through the gallery to discover the stunning properties these unfortunate famous people had to let go of.

Madonna is said to have handed over around $72 million (£60m) in money and assets to her estranged husband Guy Ritchie after the couple thrashed out the terms of their divorce back in 2008. As part of the settlement, the superstar singer, actress and director relinquished Ashcombe House, the historic home in the English countryside that she shared with her ex.

Ritchie continues to live on the estate and his current wife, model Jacqui Ainsley Ritchie regularly posts pics on Instagram of the idyllic property. This evocative shot shows the drawing room, which is elegant in a sort of old money shabby chic way and features a beautiful marble fireplace and sparkling crystal chandelier.

There's also a separate studio on the estate with seven bedrooms, a games room and wine cellar, and an 18th-century orangery that Ritchie converted into an indoor-outdoor dining and entertaining space (pictured here), that's since been removed due to planning issues. On top of losing the historic home, Madonna gave up the Mayfair pub, The Punchbowl that the pair owned and provided Ritchie with the means to buy luxury homes in London and New York.

Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage fell on hard times in 2009 despite earning $40 million (£30.1m) that year. The spendthrift star was living well beyond his means and had reportedly acquired 15 luxury homes, including a storied Tudor-style mansion in LA's Bel Air neighbourhood that he snapped up in 1998 for $6.5 million (£5m).

According to the LA Times, Cage ended up owing a whopping $18 million (£13.9m) on the six-bedroom, nine-bathroom property and drowning in debt, which included a $14 million (£10.8m) outstanding tax bill, was forced to foreclose. The former home of stars Dean Martin and Tom Jones, the Bel Air manse's interiors had been given an OTT makeover by Cage which a local realtor described as 'frat house bordello'.

The rooms were painted in garish hues and boasted out-there touches such as sconces modelled from a cast of Cage's arm, a bright red dragon sculpture, an electric train that inexplicably chugged around the breakfast room and hundreds of framed comic book covers. Needless to say, the exuberant décor clearly put off prospective buyers.

When the house finally came up for auction in November 2010, it went under the hammer for $10.5 million (£8m), well short of the $35 million (£27m) the home was previously listed at. Making matters even worse, the Hollywood actor saw several of his other homes repossessed around this time.

Tinseltown power couple Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas announced the end of their 18-year marriage in 2014 and the divorce was done and dusted the following year. Before parting ways, the A-list pair said goodbye to their love nest, the sprawling Isidor Eisner Estate in LA's Hancock Park neighbourhood. Designed by renowned architect Gordon Kaufmann, the property was built in 1925.

Given neither party wanted to hang on to the 15,000-square-foot mansion, which features seven bedrooms and seven-and-a-half bathrooms, the couple opted to let it go. Having purchased the estate in 1999 for $4.2 million (£3.2m), Griffith and Banderas decorated the mansion lavishly in keeping with its Italian Revival design.

As you can see from this shot of the medieval-style galleried banquet hall, the pair plumped for decadent fixtures and furnishings to complement the room's grandeur. Think shaded chandeliers, lush leather sofas and chairs, richly patterned carpets and sumptuous velvet curtains. Other highlights of the home include the panelled library, glam primary suite, state-of-the-art recording studio and gorgeous pool.

According to Variety, the property's many selling points soon attracted two willing buyers – former US ambassador to the Bahamas, Nicole Avant and her husband, Netflix exec Ted Sarandos – who paid $15.9 million (£12.3m) for it. While a shade below the asking price of $16.1 million (£12.4m), the sale nonetheless smashed local records.

The 1990s hip hop star who was as famous for his non-stop spending as he was for his harem pants and running man dance, MC Hammer squandered his $70 million (£52m) fortune within the space of a few years. In 1991, the 'U Can't Touch This' rapper built a spectacular six-bedroom mansion in the Fremont hills overlooking San Francisco Bay.

The party was most definitely over by 1996. Completely broke, Hammer filed for bankruptcy with debts of nearly $14 million (£10.8m) and had to give up his beloved trophy mansion. It was sold in 1997 to a TV producer from Singapore for a paltry $5.3 million (£4.1m), which is significantly less than what it was worth at the time.

A veritable jewel by celebrated architecture firm Buff & Hensman, the so-called Wong House in LA's Los Feliz hills was the home of Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson shortly before their marriage hit the rocks. The pair bought the 1960s-era property in 2010 for $2.9 million (£2.2m) and went on to pull off a meticulous renovation and eco refurb of the mid-century modern manse.

Spanning 2,835 square feet, the pared-down mansion is a masterclass in restrained mid-century modern design. In addition to the two bedrooms and three bathrooms, it features a living room, library, den and dining room with fabulous floor-to-ceiling windows, not to mention an oversized swimming pool set within a manicured hilltop garden.

The property is also privately gated and kitted out with a CCTV security system. The understated elegance of the mansion combined with the eco and security features enticed plenty of serious buyers and the home sold not long after it was listed for $3.5 million (£2.7m), according to Zillow. 

When natural disasters strike, even the wealthiest celebrities can lose their homes as Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus discovered in November 2018 when their neighbouring Malibu mansions fell victim to the Woolsey wildfires that swept through the star-studded SoCal beach city. According to Variety, the 'Wrecking Ball' hitmaker purchased her four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom ranch-style residence in 2016 for $2.5 million (£1.9m).

Located in a super-secure gated community, the contemporary house, which was painted in a fetching turquoise hue, must have seemed as safe as could be for Miley Cyrus. The couple reportedly used the property as a guest house and studio, and were living at Liam's neighbouring $6.8 million (£4.7m) property when the blaze approached and they were forced to evacuate.

Miley's pad boasts open-concept living spaces, characterful beamed ceilings and a calming garden, though unusually for a celebrity home in LA, the ranch-inspired house lacked a swimming pool, although Liam's property did have one. Fortunately, the pair managed to save their pet dogs, but the famous couple's properties weren't quite so lucky. When the couple returned to the homes once the flames had died down they were met with a scene of devastation. 

Little more than a shell remained of what was once their Malibu escape. "It’s been a heartbreaking few days," Hemsworth captioned this picture on Instagram. "This is what’s left of my house. Love. Many people in Malibu and surrounding areas in California have lost their homes also and my heart goes out to everyone who was affected by these fires." The couple also donated $500,000 to help others affected by the fire.​ Liam sold on his fire-ravaged home in 2019 for $3.6 million (£2.5m) while Miley went on to sell hers, which fared slightly better, in January 2020 for $1.7 million (£1.2m), just days before finalising her divorce from Liam.

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth weren't the only stars affected by the Woolsey wildfires. In fact, a shocking number of celebrity homes went up in smoke including the mansion Robin Thicke shared with his then-pregnant girlfriend April Love Geary. The 'Blurred Lines' singer splurged just under $2.4 million (£1.8m) on the equestrian estate back in 2015.

The kitchen-diner and living space was airy and open-plan with plenty of rustic beams, hardwood flooring and extra-large windows that bathed the interiors in light. The mansion had two fireplaces, a cutting-edge surround sound system and other desirable features, while the grounds housed a stable, tack room and full-sized riding area.

Lamentably, the inferno absolutely ravaged the couple's home, which was more or less burned to a cinder. Only smouldering ruins remained. The pair were understandably devastated but thankful they got out in time. Other celebrities who lost homes in the Woolsey wildfires include Gerard Butler, Shannen Doherty and Neil Young.

The breakout star of Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' video has also lost a home, but in totally different and rather shady circumstances. Together with her moneyed husband Sebastian Bear-McClard, Emily Ratajkowski was sued by their former landlord who alleged that they misused a local property law that allows impoverished artists to live rent-free. They reportedly didn't pay rent for two years on their amazing apartment in New York's NoHo.

Antoni Ghosh, the landlord of the Bleecker Street loft apartment, filed a lawsuit against the pair, seeking damages for the unpaid rent. Ghosh complained he had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to the building's owners to cover the missed payments and alleged the couple were nightmare tenants, playing loud music and hosting parties around the clock.

According to Ghosh, Ratajkowski and her husband dodged shelling out $160,000 (£123k) in rent and were actually paid by the landlord to leave the loft apartment for good in 2019. The couple sought a new home on the west coast, buying a $2 million (£1.5m) mansion in LA's Echo Park neighbourhood.

Singer Toni Braxton has been plagued with financial difficulties throughout much of her later career and has filed for bankruptcy not just once but twice, according to TMZ. The 'UnBreak My Heart' songstress had a particularly heartbreaking time during the early 2010s, losing two of her prized homes.

Despite having secured a lucrative reality show deal, Braxton was unable to hold on to her home in Nevada, which was lost to foreclosure in 2010. The Grammy Award-winning recording artist tried her best to keep her six-bedroom, six-bathroom pad in Duluth, Georgia as well, but to no avail. Braxton took a $1.5 million (£1.2m) mortgage out on the property in 2004 but missed a number of repayments.

Besides the six bedrooms and bathrooms, the mansion features a chef's kitchen, library and hot tub, and sits on an acre of land. The bank didn't look too kindly on the mortgage defaults and seized the property in 2012, a year after Braxton filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time. It was listed for $1.1 million (£847k).

Despite losing her Georgia mansion, the story has a happy ending. The chart-topping star emerged from bankruptcy and purchased a fabulous estate in Calabasas, California in 2014. Braxton went on to sell the property in 2016, making a tidy profit, and is now estimated to be worth a very respectable $3 million (£2.3m).

The late star David Cassidy was also driven to the edge of bankruptcy. The 1970s teen heartthrob was unable to save his mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida when he went broke in 2015 and blamed his atrocious personal finances on poor health coupled with a litany of bad investments in the Bahamas and the collapse of his marriage.

The Partridge Family star and Celebrity Apprentice contestant was forced to sell up. Dubbed Casa De Mayan, the six-bedroom mansion impresses with a decent array of celebrity-worthy features such as two roomy primary suites, a swimming pool and hot tub, an exercise room and even an automatic boat lift.

The property was bought by couple Thomas White and Scott Watkins for $1.9 million (£1.5m). The pair refreshed the house but were careful to retain furniture that belonged to Cassidy along with some memorabilia pieces, including a collection of pillows emblazoned with the Cassidy family crest.

The duo put the house on the market in 2018 with an asking price of $3.9 million (£3m), almost double what they paid for it two years prior. As for its unlucky former owner, Cassidy sadly passed away in 2017, effectively dying a pauper after blowing through his once sizeable personal fortune.

Richard Branson bought Necker Island in the Caribbean for a bargain $120,000 (£92k) way back in 1979 and made the island his permanent residence not long after. As well as constructing an uber-exclusive private resort, the billionaire tycoon built the Great House, an 11-bedroom Balinese-style home.

Perched high on a hill in a prime position on the paradise island, the indoor-outdoor-style property, which was constructed with local stone and Brazilian hardwood, was simply divine with each of the bedrooms benefiting from an open wall, providing the most amazing 360-degree views.

Branson has actually lost his dream home twice. The Great House was gutted in 2011 by a fire that was sparked by lightning during Tropical Storm Irene and pretty much flattened by Hurricane Irma, which battered Necker Island in September 2017. Following both disasters, the property was rebuilt at great cost. Here's hoping it can get through the next few years without suffering a major calamity.

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