The Most Surprising and Romantic Ways 10 Celebrity Couples First Met

These real-life "meet-cutes" are straight out of a rom-com!

By Carissa Mosness Updated: November 28, 2023

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2003, three years after they met KMazur/WireImage/Getty

One of our favorite parts of a romantic movie or television show is that swoon-worthy moment called a “meet-cute” — an amusing and fateful first encounter between two characters that leads to love. And just like their characters on screen, we were amazed to discover how many celebrity couples have met in similarly amazing ways.

For instance, did you know that Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet met her husband after a lightning strike that resulted in him saving her life? “I met my husband in a house fire,” the Titanic star told ET. “I took a bra and passports and my children. I was like, ‘I’ll go for the guy with a head torch!’ So I married him!”

We also discovered that Hollywood A-listers Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who have been married since 2000, swear that it was love at first sight.

Despite a botched pick-up line from Douglas (in which he said “I’m going to be the father of your children,” then apologized by sending her flowers) Zeta-Jones has admitted, “Yes, I was in love with my husband at first sight and still am.”

But Douglas reveals that love, even if it’s at first sight, has its ups and downs. “True love takes work,” he once said. “Love is an extraordinary feeling that comes from the bottom of your soul, but has to be nurtured, you know. The thing I’ve learned about getting older is you can’t take love for granted. You protect it, nurture it, and it grows, and after one’s initial, physical, emotional aspects, it becomes deeper.” Aww!

To keep the warm and fuzzies going, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite celebrity couples “meet-cute” stories and describe how they met, the details of their sweet romance and how they keep the love going strong today!

The romantic ways 10 celebrity couples met

David Beckham and Victoria Beckham

David Beckham and Victoria Beckham attend a movie premiere in 2023 Dave Benett / Contributor/Getty
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David knew he wanted to be with Victoria from the moment he first saw her performing with the Spice Girls on TV. He finally got to meet her at a football game and, according to Victoria, it was love at first sight. “Yes, love at first sight does exist. It will happen to you in the Manchester United players’ lounge. While the other football players stand at the bar drinking with their mates, you will see David standing aside with his family. . . He’s going to ask for your number. (He still has the London-to-Manchester plane ticket on which you wrote it),” she wrote in a letter to her younger self.
Candace Cameron and Valeri Bure

Candace Cameron and Valeri Bure attend a restaurant opening in 2018 Jerritt Clark / Stringer/Getty
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Candace and her Full House co-star, Dave Coulier, were at a charity hockey game when she saw Valeri for the first time. She was drawn to him right away! "We were looking at these two cute men on the ice, and I was like 'I wanna meet that one, the blonde one,' which was Val," Candace said. Dave introduced them to each other and they went out on a date the very next day.
George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin

Amal Alamuddin and George Clooney, 2023 Cindy Ord / Staff/Getty
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The two actually met at a charity fundraising event through mutual friends. At first, Amal wasn’t interested in George, but he was pretty persistent until she finally agreed to give him a chance.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr., 2023 Phillip Faraone / Stringer/Getty
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Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. first met while they were filming the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer in 1997, but didn't start dating until three years later. But get this — their first date was never planned! “We had made plans for dinner with a mutual friend and the person canceled. We decided to have dinner anyway and never looked back,” Sarah said.
Vanessa Lachey and Nick Lachey

Vanessa Lachey Nick Lachey attend the Universal Kids family event in 2018 Paul Archuleta / Contributor/Getty
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The couple first met when Vanessa played Nick’s love interest in his "What's Left of Me" music video. Soon after that, they began to date.
Kate Winslet and Ned Rocknroll

Kate Winslet husband Ned Rocknroll attend the 'Prix de Diane Longines’ in 2014 Marc Piasecki / Contributor/Getty
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Kate Winslet met her husband, Ned Rocknroll, when he helped guide her and her children to safety during a house fire on Necker Island. Winslet and her family were staying with Sir Richard Branson in his luxury villa, where Rocknroll was also a guest, and after lightening struck the house, the rest is history.
Mandy Moore and Taylor Goldsmith

Taylor Goldsmith and Mandy Moore, 2022 David Livingston / Stringer/Getty
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Mandy Moore met rockstar Taylor Goldsmith through Instagram. She posted a picture of his band Dawes' album on social media. Goldsmith saw it and sent her a message. The two started emailing back and forth and eventually began dating.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Prince Harry and Meghan Markel, 2023 Karwai Tang / Contributor/Getty
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The Prince Harry and Meghan were set up on a random blind date by a mutual friend in July 2016. And soon, the pair fell head over heels in love before getting married and leaving the royal family.
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, 2023 Dave Benett / Contributor/Getty
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Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones were introduced in 1998 by their mutual friend Danny DeVito. Douglas said that he knew he wanted to marry Zeta-Jones the night he met her. And she agreed!
Julia Roberts and Danny Moder

Julia Roberts and Daniel Moder, 2022 Kevin Dietsch / Staff/Getty
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Julia Roberts was starring in the film The Mexican while Danny was working as a cameraman. However, he was married when they first met but divorced in 2002. He and Julia got married shortly after.