There's something undeniable about the power of love - it's why there have been at least two songs written with that exact title.
And the power of love is what has us revisiting our favourite romantic comedies all the time or swooning as we hear tales of grand gestures.
In a world of swiping and apps, of cynicism and ghosting, let's have a refresher on romance with some heart-warming tales of how celebrity couples first met.
32 of the most heart-warming celebrity couple meet-cute stories
David and Victoria Beckham
If you’ve ever doubted that love at first sight exists, let Posh and Becks settle the matter once and for all. When describing how she first met David, Victoria told British Vogue that their fates really were sealed with one look.
"Yes, love at first sight does exist. It will happen to you in the Manchester United players' lounge - although you will get a little drunk, so exact details are hazy."
As for David, he has previously told The Sun that he also knew it from the second he laid eyes on a Spice Girls video, and his words are testament to the power of manifesting.
"Gary Neville and I were in the hotel room and a Spice Girls video came on. I think it was ‘Say You’ll Be There’. I pointed at the screen and told him, ‘That’s the girl for me and I’m going to get her.’"
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean
Dolly Parton, queen of everything, met her spotlight-eschewing king, Carl Dean, back in 1964. He is so savvy at avoiding the public eye that very few publicly available photos exist of the pair, but that doesn't mean their love story isn't one full of passion away from prying eyes.
The pair first met at a laundromat when Dolly was just 18 years old, and it was her first day living in Nashville, Tennessee. "I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me)," she wrote on her website in celebration of their 50th anniversary in 2016. "He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about."
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom
For the pop star/movie star power couple, a case of stolen food led to a stolen heart. At the 2016 Golden Globes, the Lord of the Rings actor reportedly took an In-N-Out burger from Katy Perry's table. She "was like, 'wait, who - oh, you're so hot. Fine, take it.'" At an afterparty, she asked him, "How are those onions resting on your molars?" He said, "I like you."
She finished the tale on Jimmy Kimmy Live by flashing her engagement ring, proving that it had a happy ending.
The two have since gone on to welcome a baby girl, Daisy Dove, together.
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend
For Chrissy Teigen, meeting John Legend was good in many ways - she booked a job and met her soulmate.
The model met the Grammy winning musician back in 2007 when she starred as his love interest in the music video for his song 'Stereo.'
After the shoot, the pair went back to his hotel room to eat fast food burgers - and, as it turns out, greasy burgers are an aphrodisiac. The two quickly progressed things.
"I'm not going to lie. We hooked up," Chrissy shared with Cosmo in 2014. After, John went on tour but the pair kept in touch. "I just started to fall in love with how engaging and witty and funny she is," he told Entertainment Tonight in 2016.
They now share four children, Luna, Miles, Esti, and Wren.
Emily Blunt and John Krasinski
Despite Mary Poppins Returns star Emily Blunt insisting her meeting The Office star John Krasinski was a "lame" story, it proves that love can blossom out of nowhere.
During a 2018 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Emily Blunt described how John ditched his original date plans (which happened to be actor Justin Theroux) so he could come and chat with Emily in a restaurant.
"I was in a restaurant; he was in the restaurant," she said. "I was sitting with a mutual friend... My friend goes, 'Oh my God, there's my friend John.' And that was it! It's cinema gold. He was actually sitting with our friend Justin Theroux. He abandoned Justin and came over to talk to us. He did not eat, he just stood there and made me laugh."
Colman Domingo and Raul Domingo
Colman Domingo, the Oscar-nominated star of Rustin and The Colour Purple shared his sweet, romcom-worthy meet-cute on The Graham Norton Show in 2024.
Nearly two decades earlier, in 2005, Colman was heading into a supermarket when he saw "beautiful" Raúl, who was talking to a woman. As they walked away, Raúl kept looking back.
Regretting the fact he didn't chat to Raul in the market, Colman decided to chance it and place an ad in the Missed Connections section of a website, describing the man he had fallen for. As it happened, Raul has already placed an ad looking for Colman too. Fate!
Patrick Dempsey and Jillian Fink
Stylist Jillian Fink thought she was McDreaming when she saw that the future McDreamy, Grey's Anatomy's Patrick Dempsey, on her client list back in 1994. Or, rather, she thought her salon team were pranking her.
However, it was really him coming in for a haircut.
At the time, they were both seeing other people, but after regular haircuts, their chemistry reportedly blossomed and, after three years, the pair - finding themselves single at the same time - gave it a shot.
The pair were married in 1999, and share three children together.
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton
Think workplace romances just take place between the 9-5 crowd? Think again!
Musicians Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton were both coaches on The Voice in the United States when they first met. The two had plenty to bond over - the job, their love of music, and the fact they both went through public divorces.
By November 2015, the two confirmed that they were dating and in July 2021, they made it official with a fairy tale wedding on Blake's Oklahoma ranch.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson
Love is patient, as the saying goes. And Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are proof of this, with the couple meeting years before realising they were meant for one another.
The two met in the early 1980s on the set of a sitcom - Bosom Buddies. But they didn't become bosom buddies right then. They were with other people. It was years later, when they starred in the movie Volunteers together in 1985, that Tom reportedly realised Rita was the one.
"Rita and I just looked at each other and - kaboing - that was that. I asked Rita if it was the real thing for her, and it just couldn't be denied" Tom has said, per Daily Mail.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are pretty much everywhere, and the pair *almost* had the ultimate meet-cute so deserve a spot on the list.
Travis reportedly planned to hand Taylor a charm bracelet with his phone number listed out via the charms. This is a nod to the tradition at the pop star's concerts where people swap bracelets with affirmations and song lyrics spelled out.
Sadly, he never managed to pull this off. Fortunately, though, the pair have revealed that they had a "Cupid" working to connect them.
Hilarie Burton and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
There's a saying that God laughs when you make plans, and whether you believe in a deity or not, there was a different course set for One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton.
Hilarie had already had a blind date with The Good Wife actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan and didn't quite see a future together. Giving up on the idea, she decided to move to Paris to write a book.
However, giving it one last shot, Jeffrey Dean Morgan invited her to join him in New Mexico, where he was filming in 2009. Turns out, second time was the charm. The pair have been together ever since.
Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres
Former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres literally took Portia’s breath away when they met for the second time in 2004, according to the model and actress.
Portia de Rossi first met Ellen when she was starring on Ally McBeal - and not publicly out about her sexuality.
When they met again in 2004, Ellen reportedly took her breath away. "That had never happened to me in my life, where I saw somebody and [experienced] all of those things you hear about in songs and read about in poetry," she told the Advocate. "My knees were weak. It was amazing."
Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford
Not only do The Great Gatsby star, Carey Mulligan and her musician beau have a great meet-cute, it's a love letter to the very art of writing love letters!
The Oscar-nominated actress and Mumford & Sons rocker Marcus Mumford have been married since 2012, and share three children together.
As it turns out, the two actually have known each other for many, many years, with their sweet story starting when they were tweens. When they were younger, the pair were actually sent to the same summer camp, later becoming childhood pen-pals. Per CNN, Carey explained all during an appearance on Good Morning Britain.
"We became pen pals after and that’s how we kept in touch, we didn’t have phones. We used to fax a bit when fax machines were cool. We need to get kids back doing the pen pal thing again. It’s a good thing."
Cara Delevingne and Minke
Model and actress Cara Delevingne first met musician Minke at boarding school.
They fell out of touch, but 20 years later, they both happened to be at the same Alanis Morissette concert, where they reunited and rediscovered their friendship... and more.
Proof that it's all about timing!
Steve Harvey and Marjorie Harvey
In 1990, Steve Harvey was performing a stand-up show when Marjorie Harvey walked in late. As she made her way to her front-row seat, he stopped, making her think he was going to "give her the business." However, Steve simply told the audience, "I'm sorry, I don't know who this is, but I'm going to marry her."
As fate would have it, Steve was married to someone else… but they would cross paths again in 2005 when he was single. It took some time but his promise came true and he married her in 2007.
Michael Caine and Shakira Caine
It doesn’t get more romantic – or more like a movie – than how British acting legend Michael Caine met his wife, model and actress Shakira.
Like most good things in life, it involves television and coffee. He first laid eyes on her when he spotted her 1970s TV commercial for a Brazilian coffee brand. And that was all it took – he knew she was the one for him, and was reportedly even ready to travel to Brazil to prove it.
However, he didn’t have to travel that far - he found out she lived and worked in London. So he got her number from an ad agency and made his case. Per the Radio Times, after meeting, he said “I fell in love with her in about eight minutes. It took her two hours to fall in love with me.”
Shania Twain and Frederic Thiebaud
Calling this a meet-cute might be slightly stretching it... but the story of Shania Twain and Frédéric Thiébaud meeting is moving and uplifting because it proves that, sometimes, things happen for a reason. Even terrible things.
The dramatic story of their union involves the pair's respective first spouses reportedly having an affair together. Shania was married to music producer Robert John 'Mutt' Lange. When the pair were in Switzerland, Shania hired Marie-Anne Thiébaud to be her assistant. Marie-Anne and her then-husband Frederic and Shania and Mutt became close pals... until Mutt suddenly asked Shania for a divorce in 2008. Giving no reason, Shania and Frederic have both stated in multiple interviews it was because they exposed the affair between their spouses.
While Mutt and Marie-Anne have never confirmed the affair, the pair started dating, and, despite not being in the headlines much, they were last thought to still be together at the end of 2023.
As for Shania and Frederic? "We slowly became very, very good friends. We had many months of just trying to make sense of everything," Shania told Ellen DeGeneres during an episode of her talk show. "Holding each other up was a very difficult time emotionally for both of us. And we really found something very beautiful in the end."
And you know what? Their dedication to making something good come from bad does impress us much.
Stanley Tucci and Felicity Blunt
Gird your loins... an adorable romantic story is incoming.
The Devil Wears Prada is one of the most quoted and beloved films from the 2000s, but Miranda Priestly and those iconic quotes aren't the only thing to come out of it.
Emily Blunt got on so well with co-star Stanley Tucci that she invited him to her wedding. There, he met Emily's sister, Felicity. And it was love at first sight.
Viola Davis and Julius Tennon
Ask, and ye shall receive. Viola Davis' meet-cute is proof of the power of positive vibes.
Before the Oscar and Emmy winning legend became a household name, she was living in Los Angeles... and was terribly lonely.
"I was the loneliest woman in the world, and someone said, 'You should just pray for a husband,'" she told Page Six in 2013. She did, and three weeks later, a handsome stranger - Julius Tennon - overheard Viola talking to her friend at brunch and introduced himself.
He gave her his card and the pair have been together ever since.
Teresa Giudice and Luis Ruelas
Reality TV icon Teresa Giudice has been sharing every high, low and table-flip in her life for well over a decade. The popular Real Housewives of New Jersey star has amassed a following of over two million fans across social media platforms, but her love life was less successful after a stint in prison which also saw her first husband, Joe Giudice, deported.
Refusing to give up on love, Teresa revealed that she asked her recently-deceased parents to send her a positive sign while on a walk around the Jersey Shore.
She told E!, "I swear, I asked them to send me an amazing person and then I met him [businessman Luis Ruelas] a few weeks later on the same street."
Teresa and Luis were married with a lavish special on Bravo in 2022.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis first met as co-stars in the comedy That '70s Show, though at the time they were not together in real life.
When the pair reconnected in 2012, however, things changed and the spark between them caused a romance to develop. What's ultimately adorable is that, as Mila told W magazine in 2014, despite the delay in ending up together, he was her first real kiss.
"My first real kiss ever was with him on the show... We all get movie star crushes. I’m marrying mine."
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian
Tennis icon Serena Williams and her tech-bro husband, Alexis Ohanian, have one of the funniest servings of love because, if it was solely up to Serena, it never would have got started.
It all began when the two happened to be staying at the same hotel in Rome. After Alexis - who helped co-found the platform, Reddit, sat down near Serena and her friends.
Wanting some privacy, she tried to shoo him away by saying she saw a rat near the table. Alexis replied, "I'm from Brooklyn. I see rats all the time" (per Vanity Fair)
That cool, calm and collected reply impressed Serena, and the pair eventually decided to go on a date. They were married in November 2017 and share two children together.
David Bowie and Iman
Arguably one of the most stylish and iconic couples ever, David Bowie and Iman owed it all to a friend with a very strong matchmaking sense.
The couple met at a dinner party in 1990 after being invited by Bowie's hairdresser.
"My attraction to her was immediate and all-encompassing. I couldn't sleep for the excitement of our first date," the musician told Hello! Magazine. "That she would be my wife, in my head, was a done deal. I'd never gone after anything in my life with such passion in all my life. I just knew she was the one." The two married in 1992 and remained together until Bowie died in 2016.
Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber
What better or more traditional meet-cute than bumping into your future soulmate at a wedding?
Supermodel Cindy Crawford met Rande Gerber for the first time at her agent's wedding, as she explained to Harper’s Bazaar.
“When I met him I was still with Richard [Gere] and he didn’t want to go to the wedding with me. Rande also had a girlfriend at the time so he wasn’t looking to meet anyone either and that’s the best time to meet someone because that’s when you’re truly yourselves. We became friends and after Richard and I broke up then we started dating."
Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling
Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling's meet-cute is touching because their love was built on a foundation of respect - it all started because Ryan really rated Eva's acting and suggested her for a role in the movie, The Place Beyond the Pines.
The role brought them closer together and changed their lives forever.
Eva told Woman's Health that being with Ryan made her rethink her idea of having kids. "I mean, falling in love with him. Then it made sense for me to have...not kids, but his kids. It was very specific to him."
The pair share two daughters.
Courteney Cox and Johnny McDaid
Friends star Courteney Cox has been married to Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid since 2013, and their meet-cute is relatable in that it involves a friend trying to embarrass her. Even the stars can't avoid an annoying friend.
Courteney explained to Howard Stern on his radio show that, during a gathering involving her friends Sacha Baron Cohen, Isla Fisher and Jennifer Aniston, she first laid eyes on her future husband.
"I remember seeing Johnny and going, 'Oh, wow. He's really intense.' He's got the eyes, and he's playing the piano... And I thought 'Oh he's really really handsome.'"
Not missing a beat to embarrass her (but also help her out), she continued, "Sacha walks up [to McDaid and Lightbody] and says, 'Hey! Courteney wants to *expletive* one of you from Snow Patrol. And it's not you, Gary.'"
George and Amal Clooney
Ever wonder just how someone as famous as George Clooney meets someone as accomplished and powerful as human rights attorney, Amal Alamuddin? Simple. A friend set them up.
They say it's rude to turn up to someone's home empty handed, but bringing a future wife seems above and beyond. George was at home in Lake Como in Italy when his friend called him up. A mutual friend of ours said, 'I'm stopping by and can I bring my friend?'" he explained to David Letterman in 2018.
The two exchanged emails and wrote to each other for months. The pair got married in 2014 and welcomed twins together.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
A bad date for one couple is sometimes a great date for another - as Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds prove.
The pair first met while starring in superhero movie, Green Lantern. The film was considered something of a flop, but it sparked the friendship between the two stars. Their friendship continued and they ended up going on a double date… but not with each other.
As Ryan joked to Entertainment Weekly in 2016, "That was the most awkward date for that respective party because we were just like fireworks.”
The pair’s friendship became something more romantic, and they would go on to marry in 2012 and have since welcomed four children together.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
The Prince and Princess of Wales's love story is well-known but still adorable. The two met during their freshman year at the University of St. Andrews in 2002.
Though the pair started as friends - with William telling ITV during their engagement special "we moved in together as friends... We lived with a couple of others as well, and it just sort of blossomed from there. We just saw more of each other, hung out a bit more, and did stuff." - it's often thought that it was a risqué sheer dress that changed it all, and indeed changed history.
William was front and centre for a charity fashion show where Kate Middleton wore the dress, and he perhaps started to consider her as more than a friend.
Barack and Michelle Obama
The former First Lady met her husband - President Barack Obama - when the two were working at a law firm together. But in classic meet-cute/rom-com style, it wasn't necessarily love at first sight.
As a no-nonsense professional, the then Michelle Robinson, aged 25, was assigned to be the mentor to a promising new hire named Barack Obama.
"Because I went to Harvard and he went to Harvard, the firm thought, 'Oh, we'll hook these two people up,'" Michelle told ABC News in 2008.
In her book and during an interview with Robin Roberts on 20/20 Michelle detailed how she was initially left less than impressed by his tardiness as Barack was late to their first-ever meeting, quipping, "'I was like, is he trifling? The black man's going to be late on the first day? I was like, 'Um.’"
Kate Winslet and Edward Abel Smith
Now, we don't mean to criticise the Academy Award winning icon Kate Winslet, but most of her love stories tend to be tinged with drama and tragedy.
There was, of course, her role in Titanic, which saw her and Jack Dawson fall in love despite the odds, and despite the wreckage. And in her real life, she met her second husband after getting caught in a bit of a drama.
While on holiday on Richard Branson's Virgin Islands, lightning struck during Hurricane Irma, and the villa Kate was staying at caught on fire. "I met my husband in a house fire, I took a bra and passports and my children." she told ET.
Luckily, Richard Branson's nephew was also around - and was more prepared, having a head torch to help guide people. She jokingly said, "So I married him! I was like, 'I'll go for the guy with a head torch!'"
Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso
For Luciana Barroso, another night at work would soon turn out to be anything but. Giving extreme romcom-worthy meet-cute, Luciana was a bartender in Miami who suddenly found herself dealing with an unlikely trespasser behind the bar - Matt Damon.
Matt had jumped behind the bar to avoid the crowds of fans and paps. But Luciana decided to put him to work.
She told Vogue, "He had trained as a bartender for a film years before, so he started making drinks. And he made me a ton of money in tips that night because of course, everyone wanted to go and see him. So it turned into a really fun night and... years later here we are!"
They have been married since 2005.
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