Have you ever fantasized about going out on a date with a celebrity? Or spending a day with a revered rock star?
Few lucky people have had the opportunity to meet their idols of the stage and screen thanks to various contests and promotions.
Those who are still waiting to have their fantasy dates realized may wonder if the stars they admire so much are anything like how they are portrayed by the media.
Curious to hear from lucky individuals, Redditor jjmoffitt asked:
"To anyone who has 'won a date'/'spend the day' with a celebrity, musician, athlete, etc. Who was it with and what did you do?"
Date With A Twist
"I was in Toronto and won a contest in a win a date with a celebrity."
"I had gone to the place where I was going to meet up with whoever I won a date with and it turned out to be Shawn Mendes. I'm a guy by the way."
"When we both realized what happened, I guess his manager read my name which is Jesse and assumed it was a girl named because they probably misspelled it by Jessie, we both laughed it off. We ended up just hanging out for the day because why not and he was actually pretty cool about it."
"We went to a pool hall and played a couple of games and went to a bar for a bit. Real chill guy."
– jman857
shawn mendes imagine GIFGiphy"My dad won a dinner with Charles Peanut Tillman when I was young. My dad wasn't very into sports, but I was playing youth football at the time and my dad asked if he would rather go to one of our football practices instead. Tillman came and was absolutely awesome, gave our whole team lessons and advice, signed anything we wanted to be signed, an absolute amazing guy."
Private Concert
"Back in 2011 my friend's Dad won a contest for the Foo Fighters to play a set in his garage in Yonkers, NY. He was only allowed to invite a certain number of people to the show, and luckily my friend knew they were my favorite band so I was one of the lucky attendees."
"Before the band arrived, I got to play Taylor Hawkins' drum kit while their tech guys set up the equipment. When the band finally arrived, there was like an hour of just hanging out with them. I remember talking to Dave Grohl and Pat Smear. It was insane. Also I believe I was so incredibly awkward because I didn't know what to say because it was so surreal."
"Then they played for like an hour. I was like 2 inches away the whole time."
"Can't even believe I was lucky enough for that to happen to me and I owe my friend an enormous debt for one of the coolest days of my life."
"(Also they had people filming. If you go on YouTube and search "Foo Fighters Garage Tour New York" you can see a clip of that day)"
Hanging Out At The Wood Shop
"Got to chill with Nick Offerman at his wood shop. That laugh that Ron Swanson does.. That is his legit laugh. He giggles, I thought it was acting. :D But he's a chill cool dude like you would expect."
Many Winners
"Dinner with Ice Cube. Banquet hall full of winners. He came table to table meeting and greeted everyone and taking pictures. I also ad a CD signed for a friend."
– m1k3hunt
"He Was A Machine"
"I bought a Sprite at Ralph's and unknowingly entered myself into a contest to win a day playing video games with Kobe Bryant at Gameworks. When Ralph's called to tell me I was the winner, I almost hung up on them."
"It was me + 3 friends, and probably a group of about 30-40 people who spent a day with Kobe. He was super chill and friendly, spent a lot of time with the younger kids. And he absolutely destroyed the game where you shoot the little basketballs through the little hoops, he was a machine."
– kwansolo
A Big Time Crush
"Kendall Schmidt from Big Time Rush. It was a costume contest but since it was raining heavily only like six people showed up and there were like 4 or 5 winners or something? It was very easy to win due to those odds. It was also supposed to be a 'go sledding with Kendall' thing but since it was raining they turned it into a pizza lunch date. It was a lot of fun. I could've done without getting hate and death threats from the girls who didn't win, though. Teen girl fandoms are brutal."
Painting Pottery
With: Gigi Hadid October 2018 Got to paint pottery with her and a group of others at Color Me Mine. She wore no makeup, jeans & a cropped sweatshirt and looked beautiful. Very kind and quiet. Laughed at a couple of my stories. I really liked her and she made everyone feel comfortable."
Like A Dream
"Got to meet Ed Sheeran and see his backstage setup. Felt like a dream since my sister and I are huge fans and I was so nervous. But he was incredibly down to earth and genuine. Felt like talking to a friend. Ed is the best!"
– megebau
A Decent Hunk
"Not me, but my dad."
"My dad used to work for a rather popular boat manufacturing company, and as part of an incentive, the company would pick one of the workers to go drive the boats at big boat shows. Throughout his years working for the company, my dad was picked twice, and he got to drive a boat for Hulk Hogan both times."
"He said that aside from the macho public image, Hulk was actually a decent guy. They made small talk about their families, and various things that were going on in their lives. He was a little cocky, but my dad just looked past that, because he was so starstruck to be talking to an actual celebrity."
The Flirty One
"I met Rowdy Roddy Piper at a 'meet and greet' in Nottingham a few years ago when he was on tour talking about his life. He was being very rather flirty and complimentary to me so I said 'I bet you say that to all the girls!.' He gave a delightful chuckle and said, 'Yes, Ma'am, I do!' He was such a good laugh and I was sad to hear of his demise shortly after."
Story Teller
"I don't really remember how/why this happened, but Danny Glover made an appearance at my local library when I was a kid. I think I remember him reading to us? Either way, I sat on his lap and I remember him being pretty chill."
Nick Jonas GIF by Jumanji: The Next LevelGiphyThe Fleeing Celeb
"I drooled on my shoulder sitting next to Isobel lucas on a flight from Brisbane to Sydney in about 2004."
"I'd fallen asleep after a three day bender before the plane took off."
"She moved seats. Does it count?"
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.
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.