Hilary Duff names childhood crush Jonathan Taylor Thomas
The singer also recalled his roles in 'Home Improvement' and as the voice of Simba in 'The Lion King'
Hilary Duff is looking back at her earliest celebrity crushes—and realizing just how many in the audience had no idea who she was talking about.
Appearing on The Jennifer Hudson Show, the 38-year-old actress and singer was asked by an audience member to name her first-ever celebrity crush. Duff didn’t hesitate, immediately naming former teen star Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
“My first celebrity crush was Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Do you remember JTT?” she said, prompting laughter from the audience. “Look, you’re too young. You’re too young.”
Duff then turned the moment into a quick reality check for the studio crowd, adding, “Please raise your hand if you know who I’m talking about. It’s not even half.”
She went on to explain exactly why Thomas had such a hold on her childhood imagination.
“Okay, guys. He was on Home Improvement. He was also in The Lion King. He was a kid. He was the voice of Simba, right?” she said, referring to Thomas’s role as young Simba in Disney’s 1994 classic.
Thomas became one of the defining teen heartthrobs of the 1990s thanks to his role on Home Improvement and his frequent appearances on magazine covers at the height of his fame.
He stepped away from Hollywood in the early 2000s, later studying at Harvard, Columbia, and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, telling People in a 2013 interview that he wanted a break after years of working nonstop since childhood.
Duff also revealed she had more than one early celebrity crush, adding that she was also fond of Zac Hanson from the pop band Hanson.
The conversation offered a lighthearted glimpse into Duff’s childhood nostalgia, while also highlighting just how much pop culture has shifted across generations.
Now 38, Duff is married to musician Matthew Koma, with whom she shares three children. She also has a son, Luca, from her previous marriage to Mike Comrie.
