13 Celebrities And Stars Who Dated People Who Worked For Them

Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Lopez, Heidi Klum, and more stars once dated their employees.

Dating your boss is generally frowned upon in the workplace — but that all changes when your boss is a celebrity. In fact, a lot of celebs have actually dated people who have worked for them, from their trainers to their hair stylists. While dating an employee can make things a little bit complicated, a few of these famous couples have proven that when it’s meant to be, it can definitely work.

Find out which celebrities dated their employees…

1. Ethan Hawke

Ethan Hawke’s wife, Ryan Shawhughes, once worked as a nanny for his family. Although he was still married to Uma Thurman when they first met, Ethan says their romance didn’t begin until years after his split with Uma. The pair bumped into each other at a park — and Ethan says “by the time Ryan and I were falling in love, it had been a long while since I had employed her.”

“I met Ryan through my literary agent, and she was indeed one of Maya and Levon’s nannies during a film shoot. After a short period of working for me, Ryan went back to Columbia to get her degree. There were never any scandalous thoughts or actions back then. In the years that followed, my marriage disintegrated due to many pressures, none of which were remotely connected to Ryan,” he explained to The Guardian.

2. Paul Rudd

Paul Rudd’s wife, Julie Yaeger, was the first person he met when he moved to New York City. At the time, she was working as a publicist and Paul bumped into her when he visited her office ahead of the premiere of Clueless. After striking up a conversation, he asked her out to lunch a few days later. They ended up dating and tying the knot in 2003.

“Clueless was getting ready to come out, that’s when we met. I worked at a PR firm that he hired, and he got more than PR,” Julie joked on Friday Night in with the Morgans.

3. Heidi Klum

Back in 2012, Heidi Klum’s relationship with her family’s bodyguard, Martin Kirsten, turned romantic. At the time, Martin had been working for Heidi for four years — long before her split from her ex-husband Seal. Shortly after the couple separated, Heidi and Martin began dating and she shared that he was an important part of the family.

“[Martin]’s a great man, and recently, we just got to know each other from a completely different side. He’s been with our family for the last four years. He’s cared for our four children and helped us tremendously. I trust him with my children’s life,” she shared on Katie Couric’s talk show.

4. Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff is now happily married but she once dated her personal trainer Jason Walsh. While Hilary admits she was hesitant to make their relationship public at first because she wanted to figure things out, she eventually came clean on Instagram. She noted that she did have to change trainers once they started dating though!

“He’s like, ‘You don’t listen to me anymore! I give up!’ I have a different trainer now,” she told Cosmopolitan at the time.

5. Usher

Usher met his ex-wife, Tameka Foster, when she was working as his stylist on tour. Reflecting on the early days of their romance, Tameka says she was in the middle of ending her marriage and Usher offered her advice. Then when her split was finalized, she says Usher asked to take her on a date.

“Once it was really finally over he was like, ‘If you serious and you’re not living with him anymore and you’re gonna go on about your way, we’re gonna go out. You know, I thought he was a little young, right, and he had, you know, obviously some growing to do. He was a little annoying as a client at times,” she joked on Geto Boys Reloaded. “I took him up on the offer. We went on a vacation.”

6. Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera first met her fiancé Matthew Rutler when he was working as a production assistant on the set of her movie Burlesque. Shortly after she filed for divorce from her ex-husband Jordan Bratman, she began dating Matthew.

“Matthew is a special person. We had a really strong friendship on the movie. He’s the kind of person you could spend hours on the phone talking to, and all of a sudden, it’s daylight,” she told People.

7. Robin Williams

Robin Williams’ second wife, Marsha Garces, was working as a nanny for his family when they first met. At the time, he was still married to his first wife, Valerie Velardi. Marsha later worked as Robin’s assistant and after he separated from Valerie, he made his relationship with Marsha official. While it’s unclear when their romance actually began, the pair ended up tying the knot in 1989 and welcoming two children.

8. Tarek El Moussa

When Tarek El Moussa and his wife Christina split in 2016, the news made major headlines — and quite a few rumors surfaced about their relationship. One rumor that actually was true was the fact that Tarek briefly dated the couple’s nanny after the pair separated. Looking back, Tarek says the romance was short and he never let his children know.

“I did date her for a month,” he shared with Us Weekly. “I was going through a tough time, and she’s amazing. I never held hands with her around the kids, though.”

9. Patrick Dempsey

When Patrick Dempsey first met his wife, Jillian, she was working as a hairstylist. Patrick came into her salon to have her cut his hair and knew she was the one “the moment” he saw her. He told People that he looked across the room at her and was “blown away.” Meanwhile, Jillian says she initially thought that the appointment with Patrick was a prank. While they were both in relationships at the time, Patrick continued to have Jillian cut his hair and when they were both single, they started dating. They tied the knot in 1999.

10. Hilary Swank

Hilary Swank once dated John Campisi, who formerly had worked as her agent. While not much is known about their five-year relationship, Hilary once said that they were in no rush to get married as they had both just gotten out of long-term marriages. The pair eventually split in 2012.

11. Mariah Carey

When Mariah Carey first met her boyfriend, Bryan Tanaka, in 2006, he was working for her as a backup dancer. They remained friends through the years as Bryan toured with her and their relationship didn’t turn romantic until 2016. Despite being her employee, Bryan says there was always a connection between them.

“Something connected with us back in the day and there was just a mutual admiration,” Bryan told E! News. “She saw something in me that I actually didn’t recognize at first, from that it was over. It was set in history that we were gonna be connected some way, some how.”

12. Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez has also dated one of her backup dancers. In 2011, rumors began swirling that Jennifer was dating Casper Smart, a dancer who had been touring with her. The pair were friends at first before things turned romantic — and they went on to date on and off until 2016.

“It was really professional for a very long time before anything even happened,” Casper told E! News. “It just really spontaneously happened I guess. The chemistry was there. You can’t fight it.”

13. Pamela Anderson

Pamela Anderson met her ex-husband, Dan Hayhurst, when he was working on renovations on her home on Vancouver Island in early 2020. When the pandemic hit, the pair ended up locking down together and falling in love. As their relationship developed, Dan also became Pamela’s bodyguard. On Christmas Eve of that year, they tied the knot.

“He was working here and I got stuck here during COVID and we stuck together,” Pamela explained during an appearance on the British talk show Loose Women.

The pair ultimately split in 2022.

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13 Celebrities And Stars Who Dated People Who Worked For Them

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