All the Stars Who Have Dated Their Own Celebrity Crushes
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Originally appeared on E! Online
We've all had a celebrity crush, right? That one actor whose every movie you'd rush to see or the musician whose songs you'd listen to on repeat.
It's an al-consuming love—and maybe obsession. But, as it turns out, we're not alone. There are even famous people who were once smitten with a star, but, unlike us mere mortals, they ended up actually dating (or marrying!) them.
Take, for instance, Olivia Munn, who really had the universe working in her favor when she sent a message of support to then crush and nothing more, John Mulaney. After learning he was entering rehab, she tweeted in 2020, "Sending SO MUCH love and support to John Mulaney. You got this."
Come May 2021, they were officially dating and by November they had welcomed their son Malcolm.
"He's so funny," she once raved, "and he's so articulate, and he's so smart." So yes, dreams really do come true. And not just for Munn, either.
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Machine Gun Kelly has admitted he grew up with a poster of twin flame Megan Fox on his wall and Hailey Bieber was a massive Belieber well before becoming one less lonely girl thanks to Justin Bieber.
Hey, like her husband sings, never say never.
So, read on for a little inspiration for the next time you think your crush is just someone out of your wildest fantasies...
Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox
Nowadays Machine Gun Kelly gets to go home with Megan Fox. But more than a decade ago, he had a poster of her on his bedroom wall.
In an interview with former Cleveland high school classmate Wesley Lowery for GQ, the author noted MGK's early love for Fox, known then as the bombshell from the Transformers films. "At least one classmate," Lowery wrote, "recalls him vowing he'd marry her one day."
As MGK quipped, "So that's some full-circle s--t."
Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber
Hailey Bieber may just be the first Belieber.
Hailey was just 12 when she met the then-14-year-old Justin when her dad Stephen Baldwin introduced them as the pop star was heading into an appearance. Oh yes, it was caught on camera in all its awkward pre-teen glory and you can see Hailey is clearly uncomfortable as she shook Justin's hand. A meet-cute for the ages? Maybe.
Later, the two posed for a photo on the red carpet at the premiere of his biopic Never Say Never...with her father. Yes, that's right: Hailey was totally a fangirl.
From that point on, Hailey and Justin maintained a friendship before dating on and off for several years and then jumping right into tying the knot in September 2018.
Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson
Team Pacey FTW!
The Queen and Slim actress revealed to W Magazine in January 2020 that she first fell for her now-estranged husband on his hit teen drama Dawson's Creek.
"It was Pacey from Dawson's Creek!" she shared about her first crush. "I was a very young teenager. And now we are a couple."
After that, Turner-Smith playfully ribbed Jackson by wearing a t-shirt with Pacey on it and singing the iconic WB series' theme song in an Instagram Story. She clearly didn't want to wait to share her fandom with him.
And though the parents ultimately called it quits, they tried to make their relationship work for the long-haul.
"Sometimes things we really want to work just don't end up working," she told the Sunday Times in an interview published Feb. 25. "And that's OK. The most important thing is that you choose what's healthiest for you and your family and definitely your children."
Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner
Clearly, Joe Jonas was House Stark.
Like many Game of Thrones viewers, the singer was a fan of Sansa, so much so that he eventually slid into Sophie Turner's DMs in 2016.
"We had a lot of mutual friends, and they'd been trying to introduce us for a long time," Turner revealed to Harper's Bazaar in 2019. "We were following each other on Instagram and he direct-messaged me one fine day, out of the blue."
And when the HBO hit wrapped its eight-season run, Jonas thanked the series for " introducing me to the incredible @sophiet...long live the QUEEN OF THE MF NORTH."
Alas, winter arrived. In Sept. 2023, after four years of marriage, the parents of two announced their divorce.
Olivia Munn and John Mulaney
Six years before they were spotted together, the actress revealed in an interview that she was a big fan of the comedian.
"We were at a wedding together and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, do you and your fiancée want to go have dinner or something and go hang out?" the actress recalled to HuffPost Live in 2015. "At first it was cool, and then I kept going up to him at the wedding, like, 'So you having fun?'"
She continued, "I was just so obsessed with hanging out with and talking with him." Munn then said she emailed him afterward but never heard back, joking, "I might've got the wrong email...that's what I tell myself."
Eventually, she got a message back—and more. In 2021, she gave birth to their son Malcolm.
Pete Davidson and Phoebe Dynevor
When the comedian took part in a Zoom Q&A with Marquette University students in 2021, he was asked to name his celebrity crush.
As he replied with a cheeky smile about his then-girlfriend, "I'm with my celebrity crush."
Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise
Well before TomKat became a pop culture sensation, Katie Holmes was a massive fan of the Top Gun star.
In October 2004, the Dawson's Creek star gushed to Seventeen magazine, "I think every little girl dreams about her wedding. I used to think I was going to marry Tom Cruise."
Holmes' former costar Mary Beth Peil also weighed in on the star's massive crush on Cruise, telling The Daily Beast in 2018, "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, but she was certainly ready for him."
Holmes fulfilled her childhood fantasy in November 2006, marrying Cruise in a lavish Italian ceremony seven months after welcoming their daughter Suri Cruise. The couple ultimately divorced in 2012.
Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams
No rose needed!
When Wells Adams was one of the men vying for JoJo Fletcher's heart on The Bachelorette, the Modern Family star made it clear that she thought he was attractive, tweeting, "Ugh! @WellsAdams making a Lord of the Flies reference on men tell all??? #knewhewasthebestfromthestart #menwhoreadarehot."
Hyland once again proved she was a fan of the radio personality when she learned he would be joining Bachelor spinoff Bachelor in Paradise, once again taking to Twitter to gush, "OH MY GOD @WellsAdams IS THE FRIKKIN BARTENDER?! Best. Season. Ever."
That's when the back-and-forth between the now-married pair began, with Adams responding, "Taking applications for #BIP5 bar backs now. Please send references..Preferably from Phil Dunphy. I'm kidding the job is yours @Sarah_Hyland."
Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez
Twenty-one years before they began dating in 2017 (and well before they officially broke up in 2021), the former Yankees player revealed J.Lo was his "dream date," with the third baseman telling an interviewer, "Hopefully you can find me a date with her."
A-Rod reposted the clip to his Instagram feed in 2019, captioning the moment, "I just had a feeling," along with the crying/laughter emoji. Lopez responded by adding three black hearts and writing, "OMG…I love this too much."
Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole
When Payne was just 14 years old, he auditioned for The X-Factor in front of Cole years.
"I always, always had a crush on her," the One Direction alum told The Sun in 2017. "I got back to school the next day and when my friends saw it they were literally ripping the piss out of me."
Payne and Cole began dating in 2016, welcoming their son Bear the following year. The pair broke up in 2018.
Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet
The Game of Thrones star had considered The Cosby Show alum the moon of his life for years before they got together.
In a 2019 interview with Esquire, Momoa revealed that his then-wife was "literally my childhood crush." Of their relationship, the Aquaman actor said, "If someone says something isn't possible... I'm like, 'Listen here, I married Lisa Bonet. Anything is f--king possible.'"
Together for a decade before marrying in 2017, they ultmately announced their split in 2022.
This story was originally published on Saturday, July 24, 2021 at 5 a.m. PT.
