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People Who Dated A Celebrity Before They Were Famous Share Their Experience

People Who Dated A Celebrity Before They Were Famous Share Their Experience

Amanda Edwards
/ Stringer via Getty Images

We have to wonder what kind of people grow to be the super celebrities of the world today. Are they as weird and stuck-up as we imagine they might be? Or are they people who fell into the limelight, possessing the talent to stay there? There has to be people around who knew them beforehand, obviously. Fortunately for us, they took to the internet to share their experiences.


Reddit user, u/Jakob543, wanted to hear the juicy details when they asked:

People who went to school with celebrities before they were famous. What were they like?

The Hustle Came Before The Fame

Went to high school with Mac Miller. Dude was f-ckin dedicated, he was selling CDs in school and always had posters up and stuff. We weren't really in the same social circles but we had some classes together. He was a goof and a generally good guy. RIP.

Caffeinatrix

Come As You Are

My mom went to high school in Aberdeen with Kurt Cobain. She said he would buy her and her friends beers from the gas station, and play his guitar and sing at parties.

fauxvirgo1

A Friendly Bully

I went to High School with Nicholas Hamilton, the actor who played the main bully in the IT movie. He hung around the lesser popular group, and they were all pretty close. He was in the year above me, and I spoke to him once or twice in general conversation, and he has a good sense of humour. He dressed in quite normal cheap clothing, and wasn't really cocky. I haven't seen him since he graduated though. He was friends with a lot of my friends though

fleqxn

Changed By The Fame

Lived in the same dorm and had a bunch of engineering classes with Logan Paul. This was just when his Vine started taking off.

Was actually a pretty chill dude and very, very smart. He's changed a lot though since he left school.

__Volpe__

Still. Insufferable.

I went to undergrad with Ben Shapiro.

He was an insufferable know-it-all then too. Completely smug and full of himself. Largely incapable of any original thought outside of "liberal is bad." Fairly polite at least. But still insufferable.

ExoticCommunication

Practicing At All Hours Of The Day

I went to high school with Pink. We had theater and choir together. I was pretty shy in high school but a bunch of my friends were close with her. All I mostly remember is that she was always singing to herself, otherwise she was pretty normal.

littlest_ginger

Is Anyone Surprised?

My ex went to school with the Donald himself at the New York Military Academy. I was told this almost 20 years ago and everything I've been told about him was during The Apprentice fame when he actually had an approval rating over 50%, so none of it was embellished for the sake of political differences.

Trump was 2 grades above my ex but Trump was your obligatory campus king. Not a good student, overall d-ckhead bully as you'd expect, but likely kept there because of his father's money. My ex was only there a year, being sent there to "man him up" as he acted too effeminate for his father's tastes.

Keep in mind military boarding schools aren't where parents send promising students who are tolerated by their parents and do well in their studies. It's usually a place for wealthy parents to try and mold their kids into an ideal because they're seen as a f-ck-up in one way or another.

Fogprowlr

Too Tall To Miss

Went to high school with Derek Smith aka Pretty Lights. Was a popular nice guy, well known for his talent and drive toward music. Also is about 6'10" so pretty hard to miss. Always building up his different bands and partying the whole way. He was selling out hometown shows and opening for some big names in underground hip hop very early on. Was a ton of fun to be around for all that and watch him grow huge with his band mates. I still remember the first show he played as P.L... low key set in a local fort collins bar. Was very different direction from his previous stuff which was more hip hop oriented. He can rhyme and flow like a mf, also played bass very well. Interesting progression for sure. Apparently hes not as fun to be around these days, drugs and fame....

ifitsails

Stranger Things Were Certainly In Store For Him

I went to elementary school with Caleb McLaughlin- really sweet kid! I remember our teacher announcing to the class about him going on broadway to play young Simba in the Lion King

itsboberito

Props For John Stamos Being As Cool As We All Hoped

My dad went to school with John Stamos.

He always said they weren't really friends, he said he watched Johns band at a few talent shows and parties but they never really hung out. But here is a story he told me more recently:

My dad did magic and worked at a magic shop when he was in high school. He did some magic at a talent show where John Stamos was also preforming. John liked it so much that he asked around and found out where my dad worked, and pulled up in his car to talk to my dad at the magic shop. He basically told my dad how cool he thought the magic was, and how cool the shop was.

My dad said John was really popular in school, but also really nice and genuinely a cool guy.

Thr33DeeGlasses

Fake Fur?

Was friends with Natalie Portman in first grade.

Had a fake fur coat. Her mom would pack her lunch in lots of little containers with instructions on how to assemble them. That's all I remember.

YouBoxEmYouShipEm

What'd You Expect From Star Lord?

Was a freshman when Chris Pratt was a senior. We didn't interact much, but he was in a lot of the assemblies and I did tech theater for a play he was in.

He was a goofball. Lots of charisma, laid back, class clown. Bout what you'd expect seeing him now.

swingkatd

Humble With A Twist

My best friend's mom went to college with Wes Anderson and yes, he was a total hipster, but he's this super humble dude. They run into each other in Dallas every once in a while and he says hi and buys her coffee as if he's not this huge director.

Same for Owen Wilson.

SunnyCarol

So Long As You Admit You Had It Coming

I went to school with Terry Crews for a couple years. Nice kid and a great artist. He and one other kid used to have drawing competitions before class started. Somebody would yell out a comic book character and he and the other kid (also a great artist) would both draw. I can't remember who was better because it was a lifetime ago.

He punched me in the chest once at an assembly and totally winded me. I was being a d-ck, so I had it coming.

crackervoodoo

Never Let Your Skills Speak For You

Went to High School with Aaron Judge of the Yankees. Was a specimen of an athlete at a very young age. I was older than him, but it was a small school so basically everyone knew everyone. Ran into him at a mutual friends party the first year he was called up to the majors and the guy graciously accepted a congratulations then began to ask about me and my life as the local bartender in our small town. Remembered my name and everything. Guy is extremely humble and an over all class act.

MrDrCaptainManCDR

Art Is Interpretive

Post Malone and I graduated from high school together! I even have a picture from when our art class recreated the Last Supper with McDonald's for someone's art project. He posed as Jesus and I was basically Judas. We weren't friends, but he was always friendly when we did speak. He had a very chill demeanor and always cracked jokes in our history class. I liked the dude!

Ryankw777

He's Perfect. In Every Way.

went to primary school with Hugh Jackman, total class act and always had the makings of someone who would be successful

BoshasaurusChris

He used to be a gym teacher. There's a video of him on the red carpet and he recognizes one of his former students and goes up to chat.

Chi_FIRE

But Was He Also The Very Best Like No One Ever Was?

Went to Jr High and High School with Taylor Lautner. Played football together my Freshmen year.

Dude was really nice, and a bit awkward. This was before the whole twilight thing, and he was most famous for Sharkboy and Lavagirl. He seemed pretty much what you expect a theater kid to be like. But really nice dude over all, pretty quiet, played pokemon leaf green together a few times.

That_Smell_You_Know

Always A Trip To See People You Knew Move On

I went to high school with Shawn Mendes. Didn't know him personally, as I was in 12th grade while he was a 9th grader.

Despite that age gap, I knew who he was. Girls in my grade were already gushing about how cute and talented he was. I'm friends with a handful of people who are very close to him - and I'm happy to say that he seems like a really kind hearted person. He never portrayed an ounce of arrogance. He was always respectful to those around him.

I came back for a grade 13 and he was back for grade 10 (ended up being his last year in regular HS) ... his fame started to pick up real momentum, but he remained the same grounded individual. It's been a treat to watch his career flourish and I will always be a fan.

Plus, it's cool watching friends from high school casually travelling the world with him. Those guys got it good

KALSEAum

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.