How Celine Dion once reacted when Frankie Grande gifted her a ‘Titanic’ necklace

Decades before he performed in a send-up of "Titanic" onstage, Frankie Grande enjoyed a memorable first meeting with "Titanic" queen Celine Dion.

“Oh, my goodness I have met her, and she is a hoot, let me tell you,” Grande told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager about Dion.

The actor and television personality told Hoda and Jenna on TODAY's fourth hour on Jan. 4 that he was 15 when he first met the music legend in 1999 at her concert at the National Car Rental Center in Florida. He was with his younger sister, pop superstar Ariana Grande, who was only 5 years old at the time.

He made sure to bring along a replica of the iconic necklace that Kate Winslet wore as Rose in the 1997 movie classic.

"I was at the front row, and I went and I gave her the 'Heart of the Ocean' necklace from the gift shop," Grande said. "And she was like, 'Oh, my goodness this is so beautiful, where did you get this? This is amazing!'

"And I was like, 'Oh, I bought it at the gift store,' and she was like, 'We're selling this here? I don't even have it. Thank you so much.'"

Now Grande is starring as Victor Garber in "Titanique," a campy send-up of "Titanic" featuring Dion's music that's running at the Daryl Roth Theatre in New York City. Jackie Burns from "Wicked" plays Dion in the show.

"From that moment on, I knew I was obsessed with Celine Dion, and I would one day be in a show about her with her music," Grande said about their first meeting.

The "My Heart Will Go On" singer has had to take a break from touring due to health reasons. She announced in May that she was canceling the remaining dates on her “Courage World Tour” due to her having stiff person syndrome.

Grande has been grateful to get to perform her songs as part of the "Titanique" show.

"It is gold," he said. "It's something you kind of have to see to believe. It is done with love, it is done with so much camp and so much joy. But you leave so happy, and that's the kind of theater that I like. ... No matter what you feel like when you walk in, you leave happy and excited for whatever's next."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com