From their 14-year age difference to Bryan’s ‘desire for a family,’ DailyMail.com will explore the reasons why Mariah and Bryan’s relationship wasn’t made to last.

After seven years together, it was reported this week that superstar Mariah Carey , 54, had called it quits 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 joined her as a backup dancer in 2006 on her Adventures of Mimi tour.

The arena tour was in support of the singer’s tenth studio album The Emancipation of Mimi and it was a huge opportunity for a then 23-year-old Bryan, who began pursuing a dance career just five years prior.

Meanwhile, Mariah, then 37, was already at the top of her game after breaking into the music scene back in 1990.

‘Something connected with us back in the day and there was just a mutual admiration,’ Bryan told E! News back in 2016.

‘She saw something in me that I actually didn’t recognize at first, from that it was over. It was set in history that we were gonna be connected some way, some how.’

Though they wouldn’t date until 2016, they spent the first 10 years getting to know one another as employer and employee.

Power dynamics — such as financial inequity and degrees of influence — can pose major difficulties for couples.

Bryan and Mariah began their professional relationship when he joined her as a backup dancer in 2006 on her Adventures of Mimi tour; seen in 2022

 

REBOUND ROMANCE

In October 2016, Mariah ended her engagement to Australian billionaire James Packer, and quickly jumped into a new relationship with Bryan.

It proved to be an ugly split, which led to Packer awarding Mariah a multi-million dollar settlement and her omitting all details of the engagement from her memoir.

Mariah confirmed that she’d moved on from Packer when she was spotted being affectionate with Bryan at the beach over Thanksgiving weekend that 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 jumped into a new relationship with Bryan; Mariah and James seen in May 2016

 

THE FIRST SPLIT

Just months after their Thanksgiving getaway, Mariah and Bryan would split for the first time in April 2017.

ET reported that the couple’s romance had been ‘tapering off’ for a while but that it truly fell apart after a February dinner date in LA.

The outlet’s source claimed that Bryan was ‘extremely jealous’ of Mariah’s ex-husband Nick Cannon, with whom she shares 12-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan, and was angered when he caught Mariah gushing about Cannon to the restaurant’s waitstaff.

They also claimed that Bryan retaliated by ‘ordering lots of food, drinks and putting it on Mariah’s tab.’

ET’s insider went as far as to accuse Bryan of being a ‘freeloader’ and only using Mariah for her ‘fame and money.’

Despite the alleged February blow-out, Bryan did go on holiday with Mariah in March to celebrate her 47th birthday.

Although he tried to make the relationship look ‘fine’ on social media by sharing happy photos from the vacation, TMZ confirmed the split in April.

The outlet also cited Bryan’s ‘jealousy’ towards Nick as the major reason for the split.

But they were back together by later that year.

Just months after their Thanksgiving getaway, Mariah and Bryan would split for the first time in April 2017 over alleged issues of ‘jealousy’; seen in February 2017

 

MARIAH’S WORLD

Bryan appeared alongside Mariah in the E! documentary series Mariah’s World, which premiered in December 2016 — less than a month after their romance went public.

The show was taped earlier that year and documents the road — personal and professional — to Mariah’s The Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour

It gave fans their first glimpse at the budding romance, with Bryan admitting on national TV that he was ‘catching some hard feelings’ for the then-engaged singer.

In the show, Bryan speaks candidly about how it ‘sucked’ to see Mariah with Packer and how he felt him and Mariah were ‘meant to be together.’

‘I feel like our chemistry is not just professional,’ he told another dancer.

‘There’s great chemistry professionally, but when we talk it feels like there’s a connection that is more than just what we’ve had for the past ten years.’

For the finale, fans cheered as Bryan and Mariah hard launched their relationship by sharing a passionate kiss in front of cameras.

Bryan appeared alongside Mariah in the E! documentary series Mariah’s World, which premiered in December 2016 — just a month after their romance went public; seen in February 2017

 

AGE DIFFERENCE

Though there may be ‘great chemistry’ between them, there is also a 14-year age gap.

While the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, 49 — who has a pattern of only dating women under the age of 25 — have been applauded for their young dating pool, women tend to face ‘a disproportionate amount of judgement’ for dating younger men, according to the BBC.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan in 2019, Mariah was asked if she has a ‘preference for younger men’ — despite only having one other age-gap romance with Nick Cannon, who is 11 years her junior.

‘I haven’t had that many, but there has been a variety pack,’ she replied.

‘I’ve only been with five people in my life, so I’m kind of a prude honestly, compared to most others in the field.’

Though there may be ‘great chemistry’ between them, there is also a 14-year age gap

 

FAMILY MAN

After the split news surfaced, Page Six reported that Mariah and Bryan called it quits on their seven-year romance due to his desire to start a family of his own.

The outlet’s  insider explained: ‘He wants to have a family. That’s not where she is at.’

Carey, at age 54, shares 12-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-husband Cannon.

Carey shares 12-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-husband Nick Cannon . The two were married from 2008 until 2016