When a celebrity gets super close with another celebrity, it’s only a matter of time before fans begin to ship them together. Often, the celebrities really are just friends (think Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet; Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson; or Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss), but other times, the fans are actually right.
It seems like something out of a movie when a couple start out as friends before getting romantically involved, but it’s actually not all that uncommon. According to a study by University of Victoria, Canada, two-thirds of couples were friends before they became a couple. And although it doesn’t always work out, it can help, especially in the case of celebrities who have to deal with constantly being in the spotlight.
Since it’s the season of love, now is a good time to look at celebrities who were friends before they started dating. Find out which celebrities went from friends to lovers here.
Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes
Every touch was oh-la-la-la. Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes first met back in 2014 when they were both opening for Austin Mahone on his Austin Mahone: Live Tour, at which time Cabello was a member of Fifth Harmony. They became fast friends, and by November 2015, they put out their first collaboration, “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
After their second collaboration, “Senorita,” dropped on June 2019, the couple was seen kissing on the Fourth of July, which confirmed they were in a relationship after years of fan speculation. On Sept. 6, 2019, Cabello spoke to Elle at its Women in Music Event about always loving Mendes. “I love him with all my heart and always have,” she said. “We’ve known each other for a really long time. . . . We’ve always been there for each other.”
Their relationship was filled with steamy performances, sappy Instagram posts, and even an adopted dog, but they did not last. In November 2021, they announced they had broken up but remain friends.
Zendaya and Tom Holland
His Spidey senses were tingling! Tom Holland and Zendaya first met on the set of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” in 2016. They, along with costar Jacob Batalon, became fast friends. But like any romantic leads of a blockbuster film franchise, rumours started to surface that they were dating by summer 2017. Still, the pair kept things friendly. It wasn’t until the summer of 2021 and three movies later that the friends started dating publicly after they were spotted kissing in Holland’s car.
Fast forward to 2022, and rumour has it that the pair bought a house together in London. The low-key couple have begun stepping out together regularly as well, like at Holland’s “Uncharted” premiere in New York on Feb. 17, where they held hands after leaving an NYC hotel.
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have been friends for close to a decade. They first met when they collaborated on Rihanna‘s song “Cockiness (Love It)” in 2012. After the pair performed the song at the VMAs the same year, fans noticed their chemistry and speculated they might be more than friends. Rocky even joined Rihanna as an opening act for the North American leg of her Diamonds World Tour in 2013. Still, the pair never got romantic, at least not publicly.
After Rihanna split from her boyfriend of three years, Hassan Jameel, in January 2020, rumours she was moving on with Rocky began in late 2020 when they were seen going for a late stroll after dinner. As it turns out, they had reportedly hooked up and started dating that summer, with Us Weekly reporting that Rocky had had a thing for Rihanna for years before they finally started dating.
In the June 2021 issue of GQ, the rapper professed his love for the “Work” singer. And in January 2022, the couple announced they were expecting their first baby together by taking a not-so-subtle stroll through the Bronx with Rihanna’s baby bump clear for everyone to see.
Justin and Hailey Bieber
Way back in 2009, Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin met through her actor father, Stephen Baldwin. Although Bieber gave her his infamous hair flip and a handshake, they remained just friends from that point on. They were so friendly, in fact, that in 2012, Baldwin even tweeted that she shipped Jelena (Bieber and Selena Gomez’s couple name), calling their relationship a “teenage dream.”
Throughout Jelena’s on-again, off-again relationship, Bieber dated other celebrities. In 2015, Bieber and Baldwin made headlines when he posted an Instagram photo of them kissing on New Year’s Eve. At the beginning of 2016, they started casually dating, but then Bieber went back to Selena Gomez one last time in October 2017. They still kept in touch, however, and by June 2018, after Bieber and Gomez called it quits for good, the two were seen holding hands and showing PDA, signalling they were taking a second shot at their relationship.
Their relationship moved fast. In July 2018, Bieber asked Baldwin to marry him, and just two months later, the couple were married. She took the singer’s surname, and they adopted a dog together. They are in no rush to have children.
Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott
Neither Kylie Jenner nor Travis Scott can remember exactly when or where they met, but they were first seen together at Coachella in 2017, at which point they were already dating.
“We always knew each other, like we were hanging around each other – I mean, we just had mutual friends,” Jenner told GQ in July 2018.
Jenner and Scott welcomed their first child together, Stormi Webster, in February 2018. Sadly, they split in October 2019 and went back to being just friends and coparents. But they rekindled their relationship around spring 2021 and welcomed their second child, Wolf Webster, in January 2022.
Noah Beck and Dixie D'Amelio
TikTok stars Noah Beck and Dixie D’Amelio became friends through the TikTok app. D’Amelio was one of the biggest influencers on the app, having recently just left the Hype House collective to focus on her solo career, and Beck was a member of the Sway House TikTok collective. When they grabbed lunch together in Los Angeles in August 2020, they said they were just friends. After all, D’Amelio had just recently split up with Beck’s friend and Sway House collaborator, Griffin Johnson, that July.
Three months later, D’Amelio and Beck confirmed they were in a relationship when Beck posted a photo of D’Amelio on his Instagram story. Since then, they have shared their relationship on social media.
Some fans think it’s just a publicity stunt, but Beck said it’s the real thing. “We’re just like any other normal teenage couple. Yes, we have a huge spotlight on us, and it gets overwhelming – like these constant comments,” he told People. “But other than that, we’re just two teenagers in love with each other and couldn’t be happier.”
Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato
Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato became friends on the set of “Camp Rock” in 2008. By the time the sequel rolled around in September 2010, they were a couple. Their public relationship was short lived, however, and they only dated until the end of 2010.
They have both since moved on. Jonas married Sophie Turner in May 2019, and they had their first baby together in July 2020. Lovato has been linked to Wilmer Valderrama, Noah Cyrus, and more.
However, Jonas and Lovato still seem to be on good terms. Lovato went on tour with Jonas’s brother, Nick, in 2016. Then, in October 2021, Lovato and Jonas reunited at a Halloween party, even snapping a selfie together.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck first met on the set of “Gigli” in 2002 when Lopez was still married to Cris Judd. In March of that year, Affleck took out a full-page ad in The Hollywood Reporter congratulating Lopez on being named ShoWest’s Female Star of the Year, writing, “You have shown kindness, dedication, diligence, humility, graciousness of spirit, beauty in courage, great empathy, astonishing talent, real poise and true grace . . . It has been nothing but an honour and a pleasure to work with you. I only wish I were lucky enough to be in all your movies. With love, respect and gratitude, Ben Affleck.”
While Affleck and Lopez were still just friends at this point, their relationship shifted quickly. By July, Lopez had filed for divorce from Judd (though they had been separated since June), and she and Affleck began dating the same month. The costars were engaged by November 2002.
The couple split in 2004 due to the media following their every move, and they both found love in other relationships while remaining friends. The former couple got back together in 2021 and made our Bennifer hearts flutter once more.
Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher
Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher’s relationship happened like the plot of a TV show – literally! The pair first met on the set of “That 70’s Show” back in the ’90s when she was 14 and he was 18, at which point they became friends.
Although they never dated while the show aired – and also dated (and, in his case, married) other people in the years following the show’s cancellation in 2006 – they eventually made their way back to each other.
In 2012, they bumped into each other at the Golden Globes and started talking again. They made their relationship official in April 2012 and became engaged in February 2014. Just three months later, they confirmed they were expecting their first child together, Wyatt, whom they welcomed in September of that year. The couple tied the knot in July 2015 and welcomed their second child together in November 2016. They are still going strong today.