Celeb Cupid: Ciara, Patrick Mahomes and Other Stars Who Quietly Set Up Famous Couples

Riley Carter here. Okay, but like… why is it apparently more romantic to be set up by a pop star or athlete than by an app?

Celebrity matchmakers have been doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes for years, and a surprising number of high-profile relationships can be traced back to friends, co-stars, and party hosts playing Cupid. The most recent headline-maker: Ciara and her husband Russell Wilson publicly confirmed that they introduced Normani and NFL wide receiver DK Metcalf three years ago, a setup that culminated in the couple announcing their engagement in March 2025. Ciara posted a March 14 TikTok showing the newly engaged pair FaceTiming her and Russell while flashing the ring and captioned it, “@Russell Wilson and I knew when we introed yall 3yrs ago ..love was truly in the air!” This public nod turns a private intro into an official celebrity matchmaking credit, and outlets including E! News and the pair’s social posts corroborate the timeline.

Matchmaking is not new to celebrity circles. Actress Brenda Song has credited Seth Green with introducing her to Macaulay Culkin; the two first met in 2014 on the set of Dads, where Green was a co-star. Early impressions were awkward—Song told Cosmopolitan in January that Culkin initially tried to joke about their show being canceled and she was not amused—yet the pair reconnected three years later in Thailand during the filming of Green’s Changeland. Song recalled Green’s casual advice about dating Culkin: “If you’re going to ever have a fling, Mack is a safe person.” That fling evolved into a long-term relationship; Song and Culkin are now engaged and parents to sons Dakota, born in 2021, and Carson, born in 2023, per public interviews and family announcements.

Rita Ora recently revealed another celebrity hookup origin story, saying Robert Pattinson introduced her to director Taika Waititi. Their initial meeting developed into a years-long friendship before they began dating in 2021, later marrying and keeping a low-key personal life that media outlets and their public appearances have followed.

Some matchups came together at casual gatherings hosted by musicians. Courteney Cox has recounted how Ed Sheeran brought Johnny McDaid to a 2013 hangout that included friends like Gary Lightbody, Taylor Swift, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Isla Fisher. According to Cox’s 2022 Howard Stern Show appearance, it was Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen who did much of the meddling, with Fisher famously telling Cohen that Cox wanted to date someone from Snow Patrol. That push led to Cox and McDaid’s long-term relationship and eventual marriage in 2023.

Cameron Diaz’s relationship with Benji Madden also traces back to friends. Diaz told Anna Faris on her podcast that Nicole Richie and Joel Madden didn’t directly set them up but they put the right people in the same room at a 2014 barbecue. Diaz and Benji connected that night, were engaged by the end of the year, married in 2015, and are now raising two children together; the basic timeline is confirmed through interviews and public records.

These stories highlight a celebrity matchmaking ecosystem where introductions often happen at industry parties, on set, or through mutual friends who nudge one person toward another. Whether it’s an athlete and a pop star like Ciara and Russell placing two friends on a FaceTime call, or a comedian planting the seed that later grows into a family, these are real, documented paths from casual intro to committed relationship. Sources for these anecdotes include public interviews, TikTok posts, podcast appearances, and media outlets that ran the original reporting.

This isn’t a romantic how-to guide, but it is a reminder that even in the era of dating apps, real-world introductions still lead to big love stories—sometimes with a celebrity name attached for good measure.

Okay cool, so like, yeah, that happened.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! News, Cosmopolitan, The Howard Stern Show, Anna Faris’ podcast
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed