Strange Hollywood hookups: celebrities you never knew dated

 

We all have relationships we'd like to leave in the past, right? Hollywood A-listers are no different! There have been plenty of celebrity romances that were (almost) lost to the annals of history. You'll be shocked at some of these unexpected pairings.

Matthew Perry reflects on his unexpected and short relationship with Julia Roberts in his new book 'Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,' opening up on how the actors met to the sad reason for their end. It all started with, of course, 'Friends.'

“Julia had been offered the post-Super Bowl episode in season 2 and she would only do the show if she could be in my story line,” writes Perry, as per ET. “Let me say that again—she would only do the show if she could be in my story line. (Was I having a good year or what?) But first, I had to woo her.” He revealed that he sent Roberts three dozen roses and a note that read, "The only thing more exciting than the prospect of you doing the show is that I finally have an excuse to send you flowers.”

In a surprising move, Perry recalled, "her reply was that if I adequately explained quantum physics to her, she’d agree to be on the show.” He sent her a paper the next day about "wave-particle duality" and "the uncertainty principle and entanglement" and Roberts agreed to do the show, while also sending him tons of bagels.

They started dating shortly after, but to Perry it felt doomed. "Dating Julia Roberts had been too much for me,” he wrote. “I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me. Why would she not? I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unlovable.”

And so, it was Perry who ended the relationship. “Instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts. She might have considered herself slumming it with a TV guy, and TV guy was now breaking up with her," he wrote. "I can’t begin to describe the look of confusion on her face.”

Danielle Fishel and Lance Bass

In a combination that could never even happen today, NSYNC's Lance Bass and 'Boy Meets World' star Danielle Fishel are reminding everyone of their past relationship—by turning it into a film. “Lance and I are actually working on a movie about our love story and about our prom experience,” Fishel explained on the August 29 episode of the 'Pod Meets World' podcast which featured Bass as a guest. “I dated Lance for about a year while I was on ‘Boy Meets World.’ It was my senior year and Lance came with me to my high school prom.”

They revealed that they met on a live special of 'Boy Meets World' where NSYNC came on as guests in 1999. Bass developed a crush on Fishel, got Justin Timberlake to ask her for her number for him, and then they began dating while the band was on tour and the actress was filming. Fishel's prom was a big event, however, as the pair had gotten a hotel room and she had high hopes. “I thought I was going to marry Lance. I had envisioned our future,” she said, but their relationship lacked "intimacy in the romantic sense."

Bass, who came out as gay publicly in 2006, noted that the prom was a big turning point for him. “The reason we wanted to make this prom story into a film, I think so many people can relate to that story; so many people in the LGBT community, their prom night was the night they were like, ‘Oh, wait a minute. This can’t happen anymore,'” he said. “This was the catalyst for me that made me start to accept myself, which took a long time after that, but that was definitely the first little straw that broke.”

They broke up soon after and Fishel was devastated for a while, even shooting down her mother's suggestion that Bass might be gay. “I held on for hope for way too long that we were going to get back together and get married and have a family. … It turns out I’m not Lance’s type.” Luckily the pair remained friends after Bass came out to her. 

Dax Shepard and Ashley Olsen

In a combination we'd never even imagine, Dax Shepard revealed that he once dated Ashley Olsen. On the February 28 episode of his podcast Armchair Expert he told co-host Monica Padman, "I dated Ashley Olsen and she's just the most wonderful person. She's fantastic." He acknowledged that even at the time some people thought they were "a pretty weird pairing," but he said she's really "just super funny and sarcastic and intelligent."

And, of course, he was also "kind of thunderstruck with the beauty" when he met her at a party. The actor admitted that prior to the meeting, and very importantly, he had never watched 'Full House,' because, he explained, "I probably wouldn't have been able to be attracted to Ashley if I knew her as a baby."

As for her current success in fashion, Shepard noted that while they dated she was invested into the launch of her and her sister's line The Row, and he got to watch them be the "f—ing major bosses" they are. 

And regarding what the former couple actually bonded over? Shepard says part of it was a love of cars. Ashley apparently owned a black Cadillac DeVille DTS when they were dating, and Shepard noted, "I wouldn't mind reconnecting with her to find out if she has that DTS." 

Martha Stewart and Anthony Hopkins

In an episode of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show,' Martha Stewart revealed that she once dated Sir Anthony Hopkins. If their relationship had lasted, they would have been a power couple for the ages. Sadly, Stewart was forced to end things for a very odd, yet understandable, reason. Although Stewart didn't share the year they dated, it was likely in the '90s when Hopkins became famous for playing Hannibal Lector in 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991). Stewart was forced to break up with him because she couldn't stop thinking of his cannibalistic role! "I have a big, scary house in Maine that's way by itself on a hundred acres in a forest and I couldn't even imagine taking Anthony Hopkins there," she explained. "I couldn't because all I could think of was him eating, you know …"