We all have our celebrity crushes, but some take their obsession to the next level.
Fans who married their celebrity crushes, ranging from a Corrie star who had a hunk on her pencil case to a bartender who married Matt Damon.
Justin Bieber and wife Hayley
This week, Justin Beiber, 27, and wife Hailey, 25, were snapped enjoying a smooch in a London telephone box after the singer appeared at Capital's Jingle Bell Ball.
Justin Bieber and wife Hayley smooch in a phone box in LondonCredit: justinbieber/instagram
The loved-up pair tied the knot in 2018, but met nearly a decade earlier - when Hayley was a diehard young 'Belieber'.
And Justin's not the only one to fall for a fan - with other celebs swooning over star-struck waitresses or even marrying the head of their fan club.
But that’s not to say all these relationships had happy endings.
In fact, some of these love stories prove it’s true what they say… you shouldn’t meet your heroes – let alone marry them.
Robert Beck and Jane Danson
Jane Danson has a sticker of her husband Robert Beck on her pencil caseCredit: Instagram
Many would argue Jane Danson is the more well-known of she and her husband, Robert Beck.
But the Coronation Street star once revealed her schoolgirl crush was her own spouse, having taken a shine to him when he was in Brookside.
She told Reveal magazine: “I had a sticker of him on my pencil case. I thought he was gorgeous, even though he was 10 years older than me.”
She went on: “Years later, when we met for the first time, I was biting my tongue the whole time. I kept thinking: ‘Don’t mention the sticker!’
“But there was no way I could keep it from him. My dad even talked about it in his speech at our wedding, which was mortifying!”
The couple now have two sons, Harry, 15, and Sam, 12.
Robert has most recently been seen in Hollyoaks as Fergus.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton was starstruck when she first met Prince William at universityCredit: Handout - Getty
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge famously met at university in Scotland.
William, second in line to the throne, was a student at St Andrews when he met Kate, who admits to being somewhat starstruck at first.
"I actually think I went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy," Kate told Wills in their engagement interview.
The pair hit it off, however, and moved in together – as friends – in their second year. In 2004, they were photographed together on a ski trip, and from then on there was no hiding the couple’s connection.
Wills and Kate suffered a brief blip in early 2007, but they were soon back on track… and since then it’s been happily ever after for the prince and his former admirer, who he married, to the nation’s delight, in 2011.
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
Katie Holmes used to joke about marrying Tom Cruise before she actually didCredit: Splash News
Actress Katie Holmes always dreamed of marrying Tom Cruise.
She reportedly used to joke on the set of Dawson’s Creek about one day getting together with the Top Gun star.
Then, in 2005, Katie, who admitted to having a poster of Tom on her wall, started dating her fellow actor, and the pair were engaged within weeks.
Katie gave birth to their daughter, Suri, the following year.
They say you should be careful what you wish for, and in this case things didn’t work out.
The pair, affectionately known as "TomKat," divorced in 2012.
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin
Hailey Baldwin was a fan of Justin Bieber before she married himCredit: Instagram
Model Hailey Baldwin (niece of actor Alec Baldwin) first met Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber all the way back in 2009, when she was a 12-year-old Belieber and 15-year-old Justin was at the height of his teen stardom.
Hailey had previously tweeted about being a fan of the singer, and she reportedly once waited outside a hotel where she knew he was staying to catch a glimpse of him in the flesh.
Her dreams came true when the two were introduced by Hailey’s actor dad, Stephen Baldwin, backstage on The Today Show.
Years later, they became friends, and from 2016 the pair started an on-off relationship.
Things turned sour for a while in 2018, when Hailey (who clearly has a type) was linked with another pop heartthrob: Shawn Mendes.
Justin, meanwhile, intermittently got back together with his old flame, Selena Gomez, and was linked with the model Sofia Richie.
However, Hailey and Justin patched things up later in 2018 after bumping into each other at a church conference in Miami, and they tied the knot at a New York courthouse soon after.
Today the pair live in domestic bliss in their £4 million lakeside mansion in Ontario, Canada, where they hunkered down throughout most of the pandemic.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin
Chris Martin was a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow's before they marriedCredit: AP:Associated Press
One of Hollywood’s highest-profile pairings, everyone knows how things ended
between lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay star Chris Martin.
But long before the pair "consciously uncoupled" in 2016, Chris was known to be one of Gwyneth’s biggest fans.
The singer reportedly used to joke about dating the Oscar-winning actress, and after they met backstage at a Coldplay gig, those jokes suddenly became very serious.
It turned out that Gwyneth admired Chris, too, and the couple naturally hit it off.
Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso
Matt Damon met his wife when she was working in a barCredit: Rex
A-List actor Matt Damon and his wife, Luciana, were described as "Hollywood’s best couple" by Vogue in 2016.
But their love story has a surprisingly un-Hollywood origin.
Matt, famous for his leading roles in The Bourne Identity, Ocean’s Eleven, and Good Will Hunting, met Luciana in 2003, when she was working as a bartender.
Luciana was then a divorcee with a four-year-old daughter. She was also, like everyone else on the planet, a Matt Damon fan.
She served the star a few drinks while he was on a spontaneous night out and the pair instantly hit it off.
"I literally saw her across a crowded room," he told Ellen DeGeneres in a 2011 interview. "Four kids later, that’s my life."
Nicolas Cage and Alice Kim
Alice Kim was working as a waitress when she met Nicolas CageCredit: Getty
In 2004, Los Angeles-born Alice Kim, then 19, was working as a waitress when she met legendary actor Nicolas Cage.
Nic quickly struck up a relationship with his starstruck server (despite a 10-year age gap) and the pair were soon married.
They had one child together before they separated in 2016.
Billy Joe Armstrong and Adrienne Nesser
Billy Joe Armstrong met his wife backstage at one of Green Day's concerts
Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong met his future wife in 1990 backstage after one of his shows in Minnesota.
Adrienne had been at a house party the night before when she heard Green Day for the first time, and she was so impressed she went straight out to buy tickets to the following day’s gig.
The backstage meeting must have made an impression on Billy Joe, too, because the pair started dating soon after.
The day after their wedding, in 1994, Adrienne discovered she was pregnant with their first son, Joey.
They would go on to have a happy relationship and another son, Jakob, who followed in his dad’s footsteps by growing up to be a singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Gary Numan and Gemma O'Neill
Gemma O'Neill was an active member of a Gary Numan fan club before they metCredit: Alamy
Gemma O’Neill wasn’t just an admirer of Cars singer Gary Numan, she was an active member of a Gary Numan fan club.
Gary ended up marrying Gemma after they kept meeting at his concerts, and from then the couple has gone from strength to strength.
The pair have three daughters together, and Gary has credited Gemma with being a calming and stabilising influence on what had once been a wild and hectic life.
Source: Thesun
