Famous people have fascinated people for decades, and everyone want to know what it's like to be one. Occasionally, some people are given a glimpse into their lives by becoming their significant other for a period of time. When this happens, they see a side of that person they never thought they would.
People on Reddit who've dated a famous person share what it was really like. Content has been edited for clarity.
“Unfailingly Thoughtful And Kind”
“I dated Dickey Betts many, many, many years ago. He was unfailingly thoughtful and kind. He was going through a crazy over indulging in narcotics and drinking phase, but somehow never forgot to make sure I felt safe and taken care of. He assigned me a roadie to make sure I was taken care of while he was on stage.
Once he had a bit of a break down and started destroying a hotel room. When he saw I was getting worried, he picked me up and carried me to the door of the suite, then called the road manager to come get me. He walked barefoot across broken glass with me in his arms.”
“I’m Really Freaking Out”
“One of my roommates my freshman year of college (fall 2004) was dating Shia LaBeouf. Her father was a movie producer and they met on the set of The Greatest Game Ever Played. Shia visited campus several times, mostly to whisk her off in a limo to spend the weekend with him in Boston, but at one point he joined us at a bonfire on campus. She introduced him to people, including a girl in our class named Ursula.
Shia: ‘Ursula? Like that fat witch from The Little Mermaid?’
Ursula: ‘Shia LaBeouf? That little brat from the Disney Channel?’
Shia had no response.
Another time, Shia was unable to reach my roommate on her cell phone, and he called our room phone looking for her. I explained that she was out, I didn’t know where she was, but I’d let her know that he called.
Shia: ‘I’m really freaking out; there’s this huge bee in my hotel room and I don’t know what to do.’
Me: ‘Maybe call the front desk and someone can help you?’
Shia: ‘I guess; it’s a really huge bee and I need some help.’
Me: ‘…I don’t think I can help you. If your room doesn’t have a balcony and you can’t get it outside, I think you’ll have to call the front desk.’
Shia: ‘I’m really freaking out. I’ll try that. Bye.’
She moved out of our forced triple after the two-week housing freeze and left our college by Thanksgiving break that year, but somehow my friends still get excited about those two weeks worth of Shia LaBeouf anecdotes.”
“It Was A Big Deal”
“I went to junior high and high school with Fergie, who was known as Stacy then. This was in a suburb of LA in the 1988 to 1994 time range. She was the stereotype alpha blonde cheerleader of the school, and even as a teenager had many TV roles. I was a stereotype nerd who was scholastic and good at math, and hung around with other stereotype nerds doing things like playing Dungeons and Dragons, and studying and arguing about the nature of vampires. She only dated super-cool football types, and was in a completely different stratum of reality than us. The whole scenario really was like a 1980s nerd movie.
Anyway, during my junior year of high school, we were in the same biology class. Every year, the biology teacher had the students do a major, year-long project in the form of an insect collection. We would collect a wide variety of local insects with a net and kill jar, and mount them on pins in boxes labelled with their scientific names. At the end of the year they’d be judged and graded by the teacher. It was a big deal.
I was talking to someone in class and remarked that I knew a great place up in the hills away from any houses where I had been catching a lot of unique insects for my collection. Stacy materialized suddenly next to me, and asked if she could come with me and if I’d help her with her collection.
I spent the greater part of a weekend in a daze wandering around in the hills with the Stacy Ferguson, and ultimately ended up doing most of her insect collection for her. Of course, she didn’t say a word to me after that, but dang if I didn’t make sure she got an A. I guess that’s about all someone at my ‘station’ in high school could reasonably expect.”
“I Miss You!”
“One of my best friends dated Miley Cyrus (then Destiny Cyrus) back in middle school. We all went to the same elementary school then started middle school together. Mind you this is all before Hannah Montana was created. Back then her and her brother (Trace Cyrus, of Metro Station Fame) were just Billy Ray Cyrus’s kids which didn’t mean much too us back then. They dated for all of our 6th grade year until she moved to Toronto I believe to start pre-production on a Disney show, which we would later find out to be Hannah Montana.
He wasn’t too beat up about it as he described her as being kinda crazy. One story I remember is that after a mutual friend of theirs was broken up with by her boyfriend, Miley tried to get my friend to make out with her to cheer her up, which he refused to do.
Also, after the show came out and her face was all over Tiger Beat and 17 magazines, we would rip out the pictures of her, cut a hole in the mouth, hold them up to our face and chase him around saying, ‘I miss you! Come to Hollywood and be with me!’
We probably could’ve been a little nicer about it.”
“We Ended Up Having A Little Thing”
“I was seeing Hannah Murray (Gilly, GOT or Cassie, Skins) for a while around 10 years or so ago.
This was just when season two of Skins came out. Turns out a girl I worked with knew her, I fancied her, and so we orchestrated a meeting between us.
She organized a coffee with her, and I just so happened to stumble into the café. We hit it off and we ended up having a little thing for 5 months or so.
We went to the cinema, ate and drank. She is highly intelligent, very perceptive and really quite funny. I was young and rubbish at dating, and am guessing she wasn’t too experienced either.
In the end she called me one day after a week of silence and dumped me because she was going to school.”
“No Hard Feelings”
“I dated Kristen Bell in high school. Her mom still tells me she wanted to marry me back then. She was hilarious and basically looked the same as she does now…she doesn’t seem to age.
She broke up with me on New Year’s Eve then hooked up with some dude that night, allegedly. No hard feelings, we were friends after and I’m super happy for her success.”
“I Was Taken Aback”
“I went on two dates with a Z list ‘celebrity’ from The Bachelor a few years ago. He was famous enough to where they have a bit of a social media following, non-famous enough to be recognized in public most of the time.
First date was okay, we got coffee and dinner, chatted a bit. He texted me later asking if I wanted to hang out again sometime and I agreed so we went out for dinner a second time. He got to the restaurant a few minutes (think less than 15) before I did and got kind of attitude about making him wait for me. Other than that dinner was okay. He later texted me saying he’d like to go out again if I wanted to do anything other than ‘get a free meal.’ I was kind of taken aback by that comment, we just kind of slow faded as far as the texting went.
I didn’t really like his attitude. He was pompous and entitled. He seemed to think he was more famous than he actually was, he wasn’t even really a main cast member on his show.
He would randomly text me when he would be in this area for like a couple years after that but I never really talked to him again.”
“It Looks Like A Little Mushroom”
“Dated Demi Lovato in Kindergarten if you count that. She was always really mean to me, and at the time I didn’t realize she was doing it because she liked me. She used to pull my chair out from under me when I would be in the midst of sitting down and I’d wipe out. She got me so many times with that. It all came to a boiling point one day when we were sitting across the table from each other and she asked me to show her my member.
Being a naive six-year old, I did it.
I remember saying ‘It looks like a little mushroom.’
I don’t know if it was the teacher overhearing that, or the fact that my pants were down around my ankles, but the teacher noticed and I got sent to the principal’s office. The relationship was pretty forgettable, being six and all. I did grow up with her until she started being homeschooled, so I remember more things from later on than I do in kindergarten.”
“It Was A Cool Time”
“I went out regularly with Valerie Bertinelli from the summer of ’75 through the end of ’76. We went to high school together, and both our dads worked for General Motors at the time. We had only been dating for a couple of months when she landed the job on One Day at a Time. Nice girl, a lot of fun to hang out with. Adventurous, up for anything. We were young, and she was just too busy with her career at the time to have time for anything serious. Stayed friends, but ultimately lost touch with her by the mid-80’s. She was a few years into her marriage by that time. It was all a cool time though.”
“Fairly Successful Model And Actor”
“I dated a woman (Tiera Skovbye) who is currently a regular on CW’s ‘Riverdale’ (Polly Cooper). We dated some years ago when she was younger. She was a fairly successful model and actor at the time, even more so now clearly. We met while working on the same television show and I asked her out. Didn’t expect her to say yes as she was way out of my league. But she did and we hung out for a month or so.
She eventually went back home and we tried long distance for a few weeks before deciding that it wouldn’t work. We’ve talked once or twice over the years but she is firmly in a different social strata now. Overall, she was very nice and fairly intelligent but very focused on being an actor/model and didn’t really know any other lifestyle.”
“Thought It Was All Stupid”
“Many years ago, a friend and I dated two Indianapolis Colts players. Technically, she dated this player named Tony and, by being the other person’s friends, Billy and I got stuck with each other. Tony was sort of pushy with my friend, like she owed him something for going out with her, even though he was a guy who made, like, one touchdown ever. He would tell her to clean his house or go get him drinks. The other guy, Billy, was rude to me and made fun of me for being ‘too white.’ Like, if I talked about going to a museum or reading a book; he thought it was all stupid.
He went on a rant one evening at a night club about how ‘all races’ were totally different and being black, he could never actually get serious with a white woman or have kids with her because you’re too different, biologically, to ‘mix.’ He also said he didn’t believe in evolution. I told him none of that would be a problem for me since I was just going to go ahead and leave. Last I heard, they both got traded to different teams and I never heard anything about either player again.”
“Really Kind Of Sad”
“I dated a girl that dated Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller).
Penn has a history of being polyamorous so we were both involved with her at the same time. This was while Penn was in the process of settling down and getting married.
Didn’t go well for her or me. I got the impression that she thought how Penn treated her was ‘normal’ (she was basically a disposable asset to him) and it was ok to treat other people like that. So she was really awful and abusive to me, for no particular reason other than she could be. I didn’t mind having some freaky love making sessions with her for a bit (and visiting Penn’s house), but how awful of a human she was really put me off women and dating for a while.
I also think (she was young, like 23-24) she didn’t have a clear picture of how much of her ‘lifestyle’ was 100% due to Penn’s celebrity status and nothing to do with her. She wasn’t particularly attractive (she was a lady of the night at a pretty ghetto Vegas club), so it wasn’t like she could just branch swing to some other celeb. She really wasn’t able to have a normal relationship afterward due to having very unrealistic expectations. In hindsight, she was lucky to have someone like myself and I wouldn’t give her the time of day now given all the other options I have.
She is in her late 30’s now and is just ‘dead’ to the world as far as I can tell. No active social media and she doesn’t participate in any of our old social circles. Really kind of sad, but given how rotten she was/is I can’t say it isn’t well deserved.”
“Hope She’s Happy”
“I went on a few dates and hung out with Rachael McAdams pre Mean Girls/Notebook fame. Very sweet girl, very focused on her career, and very honest that she thought it would be a while before she could ‘settle down’ with someone, so neither of us fully delved into the relationship. No idea what she’s up to these days but we had fun while it lasted and I hope she’s happy.”
“He Had Some Demons”
“I dated Kiefer Sutherland in 1994. I was 18 (he thought I was 21) and living in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but doing some modeling at the time. This was right after he filmed The Cowboy Way, and was really into roping so him and his stunt double went on the USA Roping Team circuit. My mom’s best friend worked for the organization and thought we’d hit it off, so she introduced us. He was funny and fun to be around but even at 18, I could see he had some demons.
We got bombarded with people when we went to a western dance club in Oklahoma City, and had to get security to walk us out. He really wanted to just be a normal guy and do fun things. But he was born into the life and it was all he knew. We went to a haunted house and everyone left him alone there- mostly because it was dark and they weren’t 100% sure it was him. He drank straight Jack with a Coke chaser…even for breakfast. Super-nice guy and I had a great time. We just fell out of contact once he went back to his ranch in New Mexico.”
“A Major Stuck Up Brat”
“I dated a girl that won a major beauty pageant before she ever thought about beauty pageants. Before she won she was friendly, sociable, and approachable. After she won she turned into a major stuck up brat. She even pretended she didn’t remember my name when I ran into her shortly after her win. Now that she is knocking on 60 her looks are long gone, and nobody wants anything to do with her.
Later on in college I dated a girl that ended up in Playboy as one of the ‘Girls of the XX Conference.’ She was one of around 10 girls and was not the hottest by a long shot. After the issue came out, she was at the school pool almost every day in her tiny bikini voguing and posing while pretending to study.”
“Definitely Had Some Issues”
“Went on a few dates with Joey from School of Rock (Played the kid Zach on guitar). Nice guy, still a talented musician. But definitely had some issues, still broken up about a previous relationship, and bragged about how many women he’s made love with numerous times.
I hope he’s doing okay though. Being a child star didn’t set him up for a stable life. I wish I could’ve helped him out more, but he ghosted when he felt I had too many feelings.”
“It Was Absolutely Awful”
“I dated a DJ who played Winter Music Festival and a few others. Always main stage. Biggest crowd was about 15,000. He was a freaking butt canoe who put himself and his image over everyone. It was absolutely awful. I was expected to always be on his schedule and my main ‘job’ was trending to his needs. I was to have a Starbucks White Mocha, a joint, and a smoke ready for him when he woke.
He wouldn’t leave the house unless he was looking perfect. I wore his merch 24/7. It was insane. It lasted a year before I peaced the heck out.”
“So Back To My Place?”
“My friend (years ago before Late Night but after he got famous) went on a date with Jimmy Fallon. She said he was the most arrogant prick ever. Hardly looked at her, was rude to the server and staff, and always taking calls and talking to his friends instead of her.
At the end of the date he said ‘So back to my place?’
She laughed, said no, and got the heck out. Years later (after he started hosting maybe six months ago), another friend of mine was in a group with them out in New York City. He said he just wanted him be the biggest prick to people except those girls he deemed worthy.”
“Ghosted Him Immediately”
“I have an obnoxiously attractive female co-worker who is sort of obsessed with gaining an online following. Does the whole insta-girl thing and has 100k followers, you know the deal.
A few years back, she tells us that she’s dating a guy who plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Says that she slept with him the first date, and is trying to lock him down, he’s so rich, all the sketchy stuff you would hear from someone that obsessive. My buddies and I are die-hard Leafs fans, so we’re trying to get the name out of her.
For those of you who don’t know, the NHL has ‘farm teams’ in the AHL, where there are guys on NHL deals who aren’t good enough for the NHL play. So ‘technically’ they have NHL contracts, but they are getting paid their AHL salaries.
Turns out this girl was dating Garrett Sparks, who at the time was the AHL backup goalie. She was really having a difficult time understanding the technicalities of contracts / leagues until I pulled up his salary details and explained to her that this guy was making less money than I was.
She ghosted him immediately. Fast-forward a few years later and Sparks has actually cracked the NHL (barely) and now she goes on about how she used to date an NHL player. She doesn’t say the name anymore though.”
“I Was In Shock”
“I dated a pop star who I believe is considered on the female charts in the top five. We dated for a few months over summer three years ago. I was in college, she was living in the Hollywood hills. Often times she would invite me over to ‘Netflix and chill,’ play ping pong, and get trashed until 4/5 am. As a college student I was enjoying the thrill, but also truly enjoyed getting to know her outside the glitz and glam.
One night, after attending another concert with her, paparazzi caught pictures of us leaving the venue with our arms locked together. As always, photos and rumors travelled at the speed of light and her fans came tumbling into my DM’s at full force. She ended up taking one of the paparazzi pictures and posting it on her Instagram, tagging me with no caption. Who would have known this would lead her teenie boppers into a frenzy? A no caption photo with a new guy. Things began to heat up and talks about ‘what’s next?’ appeared a few weeks later.
Long story short, I wasn’t on the same page. Ready for the kicker? As I ended things, one of the first statements to come out of her mouth was ‘You know, I’m going to have to write a song about this now.’
I was in shock. Looking back it all makes sense and I appreciate the artists that use real life situations to create music. But I could not believe that this was one of her first reactions, let alone the intro to a story where I would be the main character. Time passes, no song. Studying for one of my last final’s, I look at my phone and it’s blowing up. Tagged pics/comments/mentions galore. I open my Instagram to find that she had gone on Ellen’s show that day and began to speak about our story and the fact that she wrote a song about me. The song did not make it onto the album, but what a time/rollercoaster it was for me.”
“It’s An Awful Song”
“I went on a few dates with a drummer in a (at the time) small local band. It ended in a really awkward trashed hook up and him moving to a bigger city. Fast-forward and they’ve blown up a bit. They got referenced on a big TV show about eight years ago. Them as a person, not the band. And are now on the music at my work. So I’m forced to listen to them every day. It’s an awful song as well.”
“Not Very Academically Driven”
“Last year at a dinner, one of my family friends told us a story from when she was back in college where her best friend was dating a guy who was good at guitar but ‘wasn’t going anywhere in life.’
Because of my family friend, they broke up. That ‘loser’ was Zac Brown, who was apparently kind and funny, but not very driven academically. Apparently was also very emotional in the relationship.”