Celebrities Who Dated Or Married Their Famous Crushes
Who's your celebrity crush? It's one of those super common get-to-know-you questions that's usually asked to give new acquaintances a better idea of the type of person you're attracted to. Bubbly and outgoing? Reserved and under the radar? Blonde? Brunette? Redheaded? Most of us have a stock answer ready to go. Many bona fide celebrities also have a stock answer ready to go, as they're often asked the question in interviews.
But unlike us, these celebrities have a much better chance of actually meeting — and getting a chance at dating — their celebrity crushes. In fact, it happens quite a bit. Here we've rounded up a gaggle of celebs who dated (and in some cases, even married!) their celebrity crushes. And while our list is by no means extensive, it gives us hope that maybe one day we'll get a shot with our own — famous — white whales. Read on to see if any of your favorite couples made our list.
David and Victoria Beckham both had crushes on each other
David and Victoria Beckham have one of Hollywood's longest-lasting marriages. Closing in on a quarter of a century, they still seem just as besotted and in love as they did way back in 1997 when they first began dating. Perhaps, some of that success is tied to the fact that they both had massive crushes on one another before they ever met.
In 2008, David Beckham revealed on "The Ellen Show" that he was infatuated with his pop star wife long before they were introduced. "I was in a hotel room with my best friend, who was the best man at my wedding, and I remember turning around before I'd even met Victoria, and said, 'I wanna marry that one,'" he told the daytime host. Luckily for him, the feeling was mutual. In a 2020 appearance on "The Ellen Show" Victoria also admitted to a shocked DeGeneres that her first celebrity crush was none other than her footballer husband. "Really?" DeGeneres replied. "That's fantastic that you married your first crush."
The pair took their mutual crushing to the next level in 1999 when they tied the knot in an intimate wedding— they only had 29 guests— just months after they welcomed their first child. Now parents to four kids, the couple primarily live in Central London, though they spend a good amount of time in Miami near Inter Miami CF, the soccer team David co-owns.
Kimberly Williams-Paisley starred in Brad Paisley's music video
In terms of Hollywood relationships, 10 years is quite a long time. In fact, we'd go so far as to say a huge percentage of celebrity couples don't even come close to hitting that milestone. But for Brad Paisley, ten years only covers the length of time he had a crush on his wife, actor Kimberly Williams-Paisley, before he met her.
In a 2012 interview with Piers Morgan for CNN, the country singer talked about the first time he laid eyes on his future wife. "It's the strangest thing," he told the news personality, before regaling him with a tale of taking another woman on a date to see "Father of the Bride" (Williams' big-screen debut) back in 1991. That relationship didn't work out, but Paisley had a feeling even then that "[he belonged with] the girl in the movie." Ten years later, he decided to act on that feeling, inviting Williams to star in the music video for "I'm Gonna Miss Her" just so that he could have a chance to meet her in real life.
The move worked, and Paisley told Good Housekeeping that he began pursuing Williams seriously from the jump. "I really said to myself, This time I'm not going to play games. I'm not going to pretend I'm somebody else, or do things I won't be proud of later," he told the outlet. Not quite two years later, in 2003, the couple was married. They're now parents to two kids, and live a fairly quiet life near Nashville.
Nick Cannon gushed about Mariah Carey in interviews before they met
While Brad Paisley waited until he'd actually met Kimberly Williams to shoot his shot, Nick Cannon had no such reservations. He began flirting with Mariah Carey, his celebrity crush, publicly when they were still virtual strangers.
In a sit down on One TV's "Uncensored," Cannon told the whole story of how Carey went from his dream girl to his real-life wife. "At one point, I was like 'I'ma get Mariah Carey.' It turned from like celebrity crush to 'Nah, she's about to be my girlfriend.'" Those in his inner circle were understandably skeptical. After all, Carey was a global superstar and Cannon wasn't exactly an A-lister yet. But the "Wild n' Out" creator had a plan— he was going to get her attention through the media. "She had heard me speaking all of these positive, secret little nothings in interviews," he recalled, "She's like, 'I heard all those nice things you been saying about me.' I was like, 'They're true!"
It took a few months, but eventually, Carey asked Cannon to direct and star in the music video for "Bye, Bye" in 2008. Cannon must have turned the charm game up to the max once they were on set, because just a month after the couple sparked dating rumors they were married. They welcomed twins in 2011 but ultimately ended up getting divorced in 2016. Despite Carey and Cannon's split, the pair remain committed co-parents and have been publicly supportive of one another through health scares and family expansions.
Alex Rodriguez had a crush on Jennifer Lopez since the 90s
One of the biggest casualties of the pandemic, for us, was Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez's relationship. Their breakup stung more than other COVID-era celebrity splits because of how long A-Rod had been crushing on J.Lo— since the mid-90s when he was a rookie and she was an international superstar.
In a 2020 appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon" that aired not long after the couple's engagement, the late-night host delighted fans with a long-forgotten clip of Rodriguez admitting he had some big feelings for the "Selena" actor. In the snippet, a reporter asks the then-23-year-old shortstop "What would a dream date with Alex Rodriguez be?" Without even batting an eye, he replies, "Jennifer Lopez. Hopefully you can find me a date with her." It took twenty years, but eventually, he got that date. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, JLo admitted that A-Rod wasn't the only one who sensed an attraction in the years leading up to their relationship, either. "We shook hands [back in 2005], and it was this weird electricity for, like, three seconds. Three to five seconds of looking at somebody right in their eyes, and getting stuck."
Finally, in 2017, when both parties were single and on more equal footing in terms of their celebrity and life situation, they got together. He proposed in 2019, and after some ups and downs, they announced their split in 2021. Today, JLo is married to Ben Affleck and A-Rod is happily dating fitness instructor Jaclyn Cordeiro.
Nick and Vanessa Lachey initially kept things professional
These days, Nick and Vanessa Lachey may be helping others find their match on series like "Love is Blind" and "The Ultimatum," but once upon a time it was a TV show that introduced them and started them on their own journey towards true love.
For years, Nick ran into Vanessa on MTV's "TRL" promoting things like his first solo album, "SoulO" and his reality show "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica." They kept things strictly professional as they were both in other relationships at the time. But we have a feeling that there had to have been some small inkling of attraction on Nick's end because as soon as they were both single, he invited Vanessa to star in the video for his song "What's Left of Me."
Vanessa later admitted to Billboard that working on the project was all it took for her to realize she was in love. "When he came to premiere [the video on TRL], I was so nervous and so crushing him that I didn't show up for work that day. I called in sick," she told the outlet. Nick caught on to her act fairly quickly, even admitting to the outlet that she bailed on him that day. Months later, the pair took their relationship public. They wound up getting married in 2011, and are now parents to three children.
Josh Duhamel's first words to Fergie were embarrassing
Based on the number of romantic comedies he's starred in— and his swoon-worthy appearances in all of them— it's hard to imagine that Josh Duhamel wouldn't be incredibly smooth in real life. But, according to the "Transformers" actor, when he first met his celebrity crush, Fergie, he was hardly the suave leading man you'd expect.
On "The Late Late Show with James Cordon," the actor confessed that he'd "had a bit of a crush on [Fergie] before [he] even met her." So he went to the producers of his series, "Las Vegas," and convinced them to get her group, the Black Eyed Peas, to make a guest appearance. But when they finally came face to face, his game escaped him. "It was a big build-up to the one moment where I finally get to talk to her, and all I could say was, 'You're hot,'" he told the talk show host. Fortunately, Fergie took pity on him and kept the conversation going, eventually getting Duhamel to a point where he could ask her on a proper date.
The couple went on to get engaged in 2007 and tied the knot in 2009. They welcomed their child, a son, just a few years later. Unfortunately, the relationship wasn't meant to last, and in 2019 they finalized their divorce. These days, Duhamel is married to former Miss World Audra Mari and Fergie has continued to focus on her career, particularly her shoe and wine lines.
Jason Momoa had a crush on Lisa Bonet since he was eight
For the two decades he was with Lisa Bonet, Jason Momoa was the epitome of a wife guy. He could hardly complete an interview or make a red carpet appearance without gushing over his partner. And while he genuinely just seems like a passionate person in all areas of his life, we have to assume that some of his enthusiasm over his relationship came from the fact that he had harbored a crush on Bonet since the 80s.
During an appearance on "The Late Late Show with James Cordon," Momoa came clean about just how long he had feelings for "The Cosby Show" actor. "Ever since I was eight years old and I saw her on the TV, I was like 'Mommy, I want that one' ... I've always wanted to meet her, and she was a Queen always." Well, the two finally met in real life in 2005 at a jazz club in LA. They began dating shortly thereafter, but Momoa didn't tell Bonet he'd had a years-long crush until way later. "I didn't let her know I was a stalker until after we had the kids," he quipped to Esquire.
Momoa and Bonet dated from 2005 until 2017, when they tied the knot. Parents to two kids, they lived a fairly quiet life, electing to keep the details of their relationship largely out of the public eye until their separation in 2022.
Machine Gun Kelly has had a crush on Megan Fox since he was a teen
Like Jason Momoa, Machine Gun Kelly had a childhood crush on his famous partner. And to hear him talk about it, he basically willed their relationship into existence.
In an interview with GQ, Kelly opened up about how he'd been in love with Megan Fox since his teenage years. He detailed getting the Decepticons logo from "Transformers" (Fox's big breakthrough film) tattooed on his body — an ornamentation that went perfectly with the giant Megan Fox poster that hung on his bedroom wall. A classmate even recalled that it was more than a surface-level obsession, telling the outlet that Kelly used to vow he'd marry Fox one day. The recollection led the rapper to call his current romance a "full circle [moment]."
Fox and Kelly didn't meet until 2020 when they were both cast in the indie thriller "Midnight in the Switchgrass." A few months later, Kelly invited the actor to star in one of his music videos, and the two were seemingly off to the races. They got engaged in January 2022— an occasion they marked by drinking one another's blood— and while they haven't made it down the aisle yet as of this writing (there have been a handful of breakups and makeups in the months since their engagement), we're holding out hope that this couple will get their happily ever after.
Ariana Grande jokingly said she would marry Pete Davidson
Ariana Grande and Pete Davison's relationship might have burnt hot and bright in the few short months it existed, but it remains one of our favorite celebrity love connections of all time. Largely because of the fact that they both had crushes on one another before they'd properly met.
In a sit down with Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show," Grande opened up about the couple's relationship timeline. "We met on SNL ... and we never exchanged numbers or anything. We weren't even friends for a long time. But I had the biggest crush in the world on him the whole time. Like forever ... I left his writer's room ... and jokingly said to my tour manager 'I'm marrying him, 100%.'" Turns out, Davidson shared the same feelings. "I was obviously ogling and trying not to be creepy," he told Variety about meeting Grande for the first time.
The couple didn't share these feelings with one another until years later. They reconnected in 2018 and were engaged just weeks after they took their relationship public. Unfortunately, four months later, they called the whole thing off and went their separate ways. Today, Grande is married to real estate agent Dalton Gomez and Davidson has had a series of high-profile relationships with celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Chase Sui Wonders.
Jennifer Connelly was Paul Bettany's 'childhood celebrity crush'
Given Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly's preference for flying under the radar, many fans mistakenly assume they were brought together by their roles in the MCU. But actually, it wasn't J.A.R.V.I.S. and Karen that put them in one another's orbits — they first met in 2001 on the set of "A Beautiful Mind" and hid mutual crushes on one another for about a year before they began dating.
Bettany explained the whole thing in an interview with Larry King. After confirming that Connelly was, in fact, his "childhood celebrity crush," he explained that he realized he had deeper feelings for her almost instantly after meeting her in real life. But he didn't act on them right away. "September the 11th, I was in Tuscany ... and like so many people's lives in that moment mine was changed forever. I ran back to this house and spent two days trying to call this woman that I sort of barely knew. I remember very clearly thinking to myself, 'What are you doing?' I realized I was in love so I finally got her on the phone and said, 'I'm coming over, and let's get married' ... We had never dated."
The only reason Connelly was down with this insane plan? She realized that she had feelings as well. She later told ET she'd realized she was head over heels for Bettany after he pulled out a guitar on set and began playing. The couple have now been married for two decades and share two children.
Joe Manganiello crushed on Sofia Vergara while she was engaged
When Joe Manganiello first met Sofia Vergara, at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2014, she was engaged to another man. Despite being photographed openly ogling the "Modern Family" actor, he kept his distance. "I don't go after other people's women. She's got a guy. If she was single, I would be like, poof!" he told People. The sweet admission wasn't the first time he'd copped to having a crush on Vegara, either.
In the outlet's "Hottest Bachelors" issue that had been published earlier that year, he'd already mentioned Vergara as his celebrity crush. "You're gonna get me in trouble. I don't want to be like a home-wrecker. This person is engaged. She's got the curves, she's got a beautiful face, beautiful hair, just gorgeous. Naturally beautiful. She's feisty!," he said. Once Vergara called off her wedding to Nick Loeb, Manganiello was quick to make his move. He called her co-star Jesse Ferguson to get her number, and the rest is history. The couple got engaged six months after their first date and tied the knot in November 2015.
In an interview for Extra that aired just months after their wedding, Manganiello revealed once again that he'd been a longtime admirer of Vergara's. "I actually married my celebrity crush," he told host Mario Lopez.
Hailey Baldwin first met Justin Bieber in 2009 when she was 12
Joe Manganiello isn't the only one on our list who utilized their connections to meet their celebrity crush. Hailey Baldwin also leveraged her famous ties (namely, her dad Stephen Baldwin) to get an in with Justin Bieber.
Baldwin had a longstanding crush on Bieber before she was a household name herself. Cosmopolitan conducted a deep-dive into a bunch of the evidence, rounding up some of Baldwin's most incriminating Tweets, including one that read, "@justinbieber great seeing you today. You were really really good, enjoy ur thanksgiving!" Unlike Manganiello, however, Baldwin has been less open about her youthful crush, only telling Vogue, "I was never a superfan, of him or of anyone. It was never that crazed, screaming thing. I didn't think about it in any kind of way except for the fact that he was cute. Everybody had a crush on him. But for the first few years we had a weird age gap."
A weird age gap is one way to put it. Baldwin first was introduced to Bieber by her father in 2009, when she was 12 and he was 15. Given the fact that they were both preteens and in very different stages of life, they only developed a friendship at the time. It wasn't until 2014 that they began dating. After several years of on-and-off romance, they tied the knot in 2018.
Katie Holmes used to pray for Tom Cruise as a student
Now, we have to admit, this final one is a bit of hearsay. But according to sources close to the actor, Katie Holmes had a huge childhood crush on her eventual husband, Tom Cruise, way before she even set foot in Hollywood.
According to a former high school classmate who spoke to HuffPost, Holmes used to pray for Cruise when she was a student at Notre Dame Academy. "In religion class, when we were about 16, we would have to say prayers to keep a certain someone safe and out of harm. Katie would say it for Tom Cruise. We did that every day, so she would have said thousands of prayers for him." It seems age didn't dim Holmes's affections for Cruise, either. A "Dawson's Creek" co-star told The Daily Beast that she would frequently bring the "Mission: Impossible" actor up on set. "[Katie] knew everything about him. She said, 'I have had a crush on him since I was 15, and his posters were on the walls of my bedroom.' She could not stop talking about Tom Cruise. This was way before they got together," the co-star told the outlet.
Holmes herself once even told Seventeen Magazine (via HuffPost) "I used to think that I was going to marry Tom Cruise." Eventually, of course, she would. The two tied the knot in 2006, only to wind up divorcing in 2012.