Forget Hollywood Love Triangles, Meet the Affair Square

(In Touch/People)

The love triangle of Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston is so 2006.

These days, Hollywood bed hoppers having taken their romantic antics an extra step.

America, we give you the affair square.

Here's how it goes. Elin Nordegren is dating Jamie Dingman, scion of a billionaire. Dingman was reportedly once involved with Rachel Uchitel. Uchitel is the highest-profile mistress of Tiger Woods. Who used to be married to Elin Nordegren.

Ta da!

Want another? Shania Twain recently wed Frederic Thiebaud. A few years ago, she was married to Mutt Lange. He left Twain for Marie-Anne Thiebaud. Marie-Anne Thiebaud is her current husband's ex-wife, who left Frederic for Mutt.

And just for fun, one more. Colin Farrell and Britney Spears once struck up something special. Britney once dated Justin Timberlake. Both of those leading men have also been associated with actress Jessica Biel.

So what gives?

“A common factor in many affairs is the ‘like-mindedness’ of the lovers, two equally unhappy individuals find commonality with one another’s situation,” Noel Biderman, President of Avid Life Media which hosts an array of niche dating sites, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “When it comes to the secondary couple coming together, that desire to be with someone who understands what you are going through is even more heightened with potential partners who have seen their mates end up in the arms of another. It is no wonder that they are almost magnetically drawn to the betrayed individual and find comfort in their ‘recovery’ lover.”

You heard right: Recovery lover.

However, L.A.-based psychotherapist, Tina Morose, reminds us that the whole concept, although previously unnamed, is hardly new, and that ‘partner swapping’ has been a Hollywood habit for years.

“Who remembers the film ‘Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice’? I remember this going on with Fleetwood Mac, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, plus many others,” Morose said. “The challenges that come with intense fame can be difficult to deal with for anyone, and especially the average person who knows nothing about the business. People in the spotlight share a common understanding of an unusually focused upon experience that can be both bonding and alluring.”

There's also the fact that once you're a B-lister or above, and into hanging out with B-listers and above, there's only so many other B-listers and above out there to hook up with.

“Hollywood is a very small, contained community. In that sense, it is no surprise that the affair square is starting to become a trend. What’s next? Is Brad Pitt going to take Jennifer Aniston back so Angelina Jolie can hook up with Justin Theroux?" asks dating expert and founder of LoveTrekker.com, Laura Schreffler.

Actually, that’s not so much of a joke – the tabloids have already dished upon Jolie’s purported affection for Aniston’s new squeeze.

“Swapping partners or having sex with the same guys your new co-star has plowed through isn’t like sharing the same sweater or borrowing a piece of jewelry," Schreffler cautions. "When emotions are involved, nobody is going to come out a winner.”

Wait a sec. Who said anything about emotions?