Stars who connected romantically on social media

By Megan Riedlinger 8:08am PDT, Mar 31, 2020

Just like regular people, celebrities find love on the internet too! From sliding into DMs to accepting Facebook friend requests, Wonderwall.com is rounding up some of the stars who've met their match on social media! First up is Nick Jonas! The "Jealous" singer has Twitter to thank for sparking a romance with his wife Priyanka Chopra. After gushing about her with a mutual friend — her "Quantico" co-star Graham Rogers — Nick sent her a DM on Twitter in September 2016. She hit him back and asked him to text her instead. They finally met in person several months later at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2017. More text flirting followed, and they went out for a drink a week ahead of the 2017 Met Gala, where both attended as guests of Ralph Lauren… but they were so busy, it took another year for them to actually start dating properly (though they did continue to use technology to communicate). Nick proposed after just a few months of dating in the summer of 2018 and they were married in numerous over-the-top ceremonies that year. Keep reading for more stars who found love in their DMs…

Like his little brother, musician Joe Jonas also used social media to meet his future wife. Though for Joe, it was Instagram, not Twitter, that helped spark a love match. He direct messaged "Game of Thrones" actress Sophie Turner on Instagram to open up a line of communication since they were both already following one another — and it worked! The two married in 2019.

Mandy Moore has Instagram to thank for her marriage! She was a fan of now-hubby Taylor Goldsmith's band Dawes — so much so that she shared a photo of their album on Instagram, and Taylor got word. "Somehow, Taylor saw it and sent a note to me. We started emailing back and forth, then we went on a date and the rest is history," Mandy told People. The couple wed in November 2018.

From "Modern Family" to a modern romance! Sarah Hyland and "The Bachelorette" alum Wells Adams connected on social media without ever meeting in person — though they were fans of each other's shows. Their first communication took place on Twitter, then Wells helped get their real-life romance started. He sent Sarah a DM (of course!) that read, "Next time I'm in L.A. I'm taking you out for drinks and tacos," Sarah later recounted on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" They officially became an item shortly after in October 2017 and announced their engagement in July 2019.

Actor Dylan Sprouse was excited when model Barbara Palvin followed him on Instagram. So much so that he decided it was his cue to send her a direct message. He explained his modern flirtation method in W magazine in February 2019, also admitting that it didn't exactly work instantly. "She followed me, so I was like, I guess I'll give her something. And I slid into her DMs," he explained. "I was like, 'Hey, I don't know if you're in New York for very long, but we should hang out if you want to. Here's my number.' And she didn't message me for six months." Fortunately for Dylan, Barbara did eventually reach out and started officially dating in the summer of 2018.

Ryan Lochte and Kayla Rae Reid are married with two kids — and they have social media to thank for it. The Olympic swimmer reached out to the former Playboy model first, but they were living in different cities. "He was like, 'Hey, I'd like to buy you a drink!' and I was like, 'What does that mean?'" she told People.com. Once both happened to be in Los Angeles at the same time, they met up — and were instantly inseparable. "We talked for eight to 10 hours about everything and honestly the next day we started dating," Ryan explained. "We just talked about what we want in life… our goals, family, everything. I think right after that I was just like, 'She's the one.'"

Would you believe that Facebook was responsible for a "Riverdale" star's romance? Madelaine Petsch and ex-boyfriend Travis Mills first met during auditions for "Riverdale" (he was up for the role of Jughead), but it was Facebook that actually helped them reconnect a while later. Madelaine opened up to Cosmopolitan magazine back in 2017 with the story, sharing: "He messaged me on Facebook in January of Season 1 and congratulated me on the show… I think we just randomly had mutual friends, so we added each other." They continued to talk on social media until Travis, who's now a musician, finally asked her to go to a movie. Though the romance didn't last forever — in February 2020, Travis confirmed the couple had called it quits.

Ben Higgins, girlfriend Jessica Clarke

When "The Bachelor" alum Ben Higgins introduced his new girlfriend, Nashville-based account manager Jessica Clarke, to his fans via Instagram in February 2019, he revealed that they'd met thanks to social media. "I've been selfishly keeping this girl to myself for too long! Hey friends meet @jessclarke_! I successfully slid into her Dm's a few months ago. I took a risk and I am glad I did. She is someone special, and I look forward to where life is going to take us," he wrote next to this photo with his new love.

Sarah Paulson and girlfriend Holland Taylor met in person a long time ago… then, after reconnecting on a charity project, Holland slid into Sarah's DMs! "It's a long story. We met a very, very long time ago. I was with someone else," Sarah explained on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" in 2019. "We were doing a thing at Martha Plimpton's house. It was for an organization that she was working with and we were both doing a little PSA for it," Sarah added. "We sort of breezed by each other and started following each other on Twitter." Direct messages followed, and that was it. The couple's romance was made public in 2015.

Die-hard fans everywhere, take note! "The Fosters" star Jake T. Austin noticed longtime fan Danielle Ceasar's persistent fangirl messages after she consistently tweeted to the actor for five years. Her persistence paid off — not only did Jake notice her, but the two later started dating, as fans discovered in 2016. Now, instead of trying to contact him on social media, Danielle is often featured on the star's Instagram page in cute couple photos.

Ricky Martin wasn't struck by his future hubby's face on social media — he was impressed first after seeing his art! The singer told "Radio Andy" host Andy Cohen that he was impressed by Jwan Yosef's art, which he first saw on Instagram, and that it led him to send the Syrian-born Swedish painter a message. "Then we were talking for like six months without me hearing his voice. We talked about art — nothing sexy… He used to live in London, I went to London and I met him," Ricky explained. They got engaged in November 2016 after just seven months of dating and in 2018 revealed they'd wed and welcomed a daughter together.

Country music star Carly Pearce got fellow country singer Michael Ray's attention by sliding into his DMs on Instagram. "I've known Michael for about five years, and we started then playing radio shows together once I got a record deal," she told People in November 2018. "I did what any girl does in 2018 — I slid into his DMs." They got engaged later that year and tied the knot in October 2019.

Naya Rivera found love on Twitter in 2013 when she connected with rapper Big Sean on the app. The two moved quickly, but a year later, things were over. Ironically enough, it was Twitter that informed Naya that she was single! She revealed in her book "Sorry, Not Sorry," that "I learned that I was no longer getting married from the internet, and at the same time as the rest of the world. Not only were we no longer getting married, but apparently we weren't even together anymore." Yikes!

Rita Ora and Calvin Harris's love started and ended on Twitter. The musical former couple first met on Twitter before arranging to meet face to face, which led to a yearlong romance from 2013 until 2014. Unfortunately, their split turned ugly: Calvin publicly announced their breakup on Twitter that June and later prevented her from performing their hit song "I Will Never Let You Down" at the 2014 Teen Choice Awards (since Calvin wrote and produced the track, she needed his permission to sing it). Rita also discussed that issue on Twitter, resulting in Calvin responding that he had a "damn good reason" to prevent her from performing — adding more scandal to their split.

Iggy Azalea nearly got married thanks to Twitter. The rapper met former fiancé Nick Young on the social media platform in 2013, and they tweeted to each other before they met in person. Sparks flew and the duo were engaged by June 2015. Unfortunately, they weren't meant to be: Iggy called it quits in 2016 after watching home security footage that allegedly revealed the NBA star was cheating on her.

Though their relationship didn't last, Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa have social media to thank for giving them their son, Sebastian. Wiz fessed up to having a crush on Amber in an interview, leading Amber to reach out via Twitter after she read it. The rapper and the model ended up marrying in 2013, the same year they welcomed their son, but had split by 2016.

Sliding into DMs is just a regular way to meet someone for Sadie Robertson's generation. When Disney star Austin North messaged her on Twitter, the "Duck Dynasty" alum was delighted and eventually gave him her number — which led to a romance… down the line. They texted and spoke on the phone for almost two years before they met in real life in 2018. When that finally happened, Sadie told "Entertainment Tonight," there was an "instant spark" between them. Unfortunately, once they made things official, the two only dated for four months.

After a short-lived romance with Kid Buu, Blac Chyna moved on with Soulja Boy. They reportedly only dated for a week or two in February 2019 after sliding into each other's DMs on Instagram.