From strangers to soulmates: 10 celebs whose partners didn't realise they were famous

Falling in love with someone famous sounds like a fairytale- but sometimes, their partners didn't even realise they were celebrities at first.

Below is the list of some stars whose fame wasn't the first thing that caught their significant other's eye.

Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal:

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s husband, Peter Sarsgaard, did not know she was an actress when they first met in 2001, as he admitted he knew “nothing about her” at the time.

“I knew nothing about her, but it was instant. Then Secretary came out maybe six months later, and I was like, 'Oh, whoa. Okay. She's not like any other actress in the world,’" Peter told People.

Olivia Munn and Aaron Rodgers:

Olivia Munn and NFL player Aaron Rodgers were romantically involved from 2014 to 2017, but she “had no idea” who he was at first.

She told Conan O'Brien on his talk show about the first time they met.

"When I met him, I said, 'So what do you do?' And he said, 'Oh, I play football.' And I go, 'Cool. What college?' He's like, 'Oh, no. I play professional.' And I was like, 'Cool, what position?' He's like, 'Quarterback.' 'Cool,'” the New Girl actress reminisced.

Olivia added, “That was kind of it, not knowing that he's, you know, Super Bowl MVP or any of those things, but all I saw was that he was, like, really attractive. I didn't really care what he did. I was like, 'You are such a big man!'"

Shailene Woodley and Aaron Rodgers:

This one also involved Aaron Rodgers, as his ex-fiancée, Shailene Woodley, whom he got engaged to in 2021 but broke up with in 2022, wasn't familiar with his career when they first met.

In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the Fault in Our Stars actress gave an insight into her first meetup with the football player.

"I never thought I'd be engaged to someone who threw balls for a living. I never thought as a little girl, 'Yeah, when I grow up, I'm going to marry someone who throws balls, yeah!' But he's really just so good at it, and I'm very impressed... Before I met him, I'd never seen one football game before,” Shailene shared.

She further explained that she wasn't much aware of sports as it was never really on her “radar,” but when she met Aaron, she knew he was a football guy- just not what kind of one.

Tom Pelphrey and Kaley Cuoco:

Tom Pelphrey, who is himself an actor, didn’t know that his fiancée, Kaley Cuoco, starred in the long-running and highly acclaimed The Big Bang Theory until his mother’s partner kept calling her by her character’s name.

The reason he didn't realize Kaley was a big star was because he "was living in upstate New York, on a dirt road, in the middle of the woods, without much Wi-Fi" before they met.

The Ozark actor told W magazine, "When I first brought Kaley to New Jersey to meet my family and friends, my mom's partner — who apparently was a Big Bang Theory fan — was there, and he kept calling her Penny.”

He added,” I had no clue what was going on. So I pulled Kaley aside, like, 'I'm sorry, I don't understand what's happening. Why does he keep calling you Penny?' She's like, 'That's my character in The Big Bang Theory.

Tom was then obliged to watch a few episodes with Kaley, and he said, “She’s fantastic.”

Jonathan Owens and Simone Biles:

The American gymnast met her husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens, on the celebrity dating app Raya, and he didn’t know the kind of athlete she was because he “never really watched gymnastics before [he] first started talking to her."

On Simone's Facebook Watch docuseries, he shared, "That's how I would tell people, and they're like, 'Simone Biles?! You for real, the gymnast?!' And I'm like, 'Man, she's good like that?!' Like I didn't [know]."

Shaun White and Nina Dobrev:

Shaun White wasn't aware of his fiancée, Nina Dobrev, when they both presented at an event in Florida in 2019. Afterward, they went out to eat together.

The restaurant was crowded, so Nina offered to ask the host if they could get a table. 

Shaun assumed she might use his name or status as a gold medalist for them to get seated.

Instead of the staff caring about Shaun, the Olympic snowboard legend, the employees were excited about seeing Nina, and asked for pictures with her.

That’s when he realised he might be having dinner with the The Vampire Diaries star.

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard:

When Kristen Bell first met her husband, Dax Shepard, at a friend’s birthday dinner, he had recently gained fame for his character on Punk'd.

While unaware of who he was, the Nobody Wants This actress asked herself, "Is that one of the guys from Jackass or something?"

On Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist, Kristen said, "The only thing I remember is that he talked so much... There were no sparks whatsoever... Two weeks later, we both met at a hockey game... We saw each other...started to flirt.”

She added, "Then a day after that, I get a text that says, 'Hi, my name is Dax. I violated your privacy and got your number from Shauna [Robertson]. How do you feel about that?' And I was like, 'Excuse me? You sound stimulating.'"

Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey:

Camila Alves did know about Matthew McConaughey and had seen his movies, but when he came into the West Hollywood club where she was hanging out, she didn't recognise him at all.

"We had two interactions at the bar. The first interaction, I did not know who he was. At the time, he had a really long beard, and he had this Rasta hat. He was all covered up, and I didn't really realize who he was,” the model and designer told Access Hollywood.

However, Camila eventually realised who he was after seeing Lance Armstrong, Matthew’s close friend at the time.

"Lance came to talk to me. You knew they were always together, so I'm like, OK, I'm outta here. I'm going to the other side of the room!,” she continued.

Despite her moving away, Matthew had already gotten his eyes on her and was really attracted.

He told The Howard Stern Show that he went over to her and introduced himself and did the "smart thing of inviting her and her friends over."

Danielle Jonas and Kevin Jonas:

Daniella Jonas wasn't familiar with the Jonas Brothers when she first met her husband, Kevin Jonas, on a family vacation in the Bahamas in 2007.

However Kevin was the one who decided to make the first move when they crossed paths.

He saw her walking down the beach with a flower tucked in her hair- and that’s what caught his attention.

Lily Allen and David Harbour:

Last but not the least, Lily Allen and her now-former husband dated after getting matched on Raya but she didn't exactly know who he was.

She told The Jonathan Ross Show, "It was the first time I'd been on this dating app. I was scrolling through and landed on David's profile and pressed accept.”

“I didn't know who he was. I thought he was just, like, a sexy policeman from a reality TV show. He was wearing a policeman's uniform. It was a still from Stranger Things. I'd never seen Stranger Things,” Lily continued.