Some celebrity relationships began with an Instagram message or a Twitter DM; others began in person and moved forward online. The available, attributable accounts support 11 examples—not 15—and they do not show that all these couples met on Tinder. Here is what the sources establish, with the difference between an online first contact and an online reconnection made clear.
Relationships that began with online contact
Mandy Moore and Taylor Goldsmith — Instagram
After Mandy Moore posted a photo of Dawes’ album on Instagram, musician Taylor Goldsmith sent her a note. They exchanged messages and emails before going on a date. The Knot reports that they married in 2018. The Knot’s account, updated April 23, 2020, attributes the origin story to an interview Moore gave People in 2017.
Brittany Snow and Tyler Stanaland — Instagram
Actor Brittany Snow and real estate agent Tyler Stanaland knew of each other through mutual friends and Instagram. Stanaland sent Snow a direct message that included a joke. The Knot reports they married in 2020. This was online contact within a wider mutual-friends circle, rather than a match on a dating app. The Knot gives the account.
Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams — social media
Wells Adams initiated contact with actor Sarah Hyland through social media, then asked her out for drinks and tacos when he was in Los Angeles. The Knot reports the story and quotes Adams reflecting on their online start: “The internet—it’s amazing. I’m amazed how smart the internet is,” The Knot reports, attributing the comment to People.
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Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef — Instagram
Singer Ricky Martin found artist Jwan Yosef’s work on Instagram and messaged him. According to The Knot, they exchanged messages for six months before meeting face to face. The account is about an online introduction followed by a long period of messaging—not a dating-app match. The Knot reports the details.
Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas — Instagram
Actor Sophie Turner said Joe Jonas first messaged her on Instagram. They also had mutual friends who had tried to introduce them, so the DM was part of an existing social connection. ELLE Australia reports Turner’s account.
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Zara Larsson and Brian Whittaker — Twitter
Singer Zara Larsson contacted model Brian Whittaker through Twitter in 2015. ELLE Australia reports that they split in late 2019, making this a historical relationship story rather than a claim about a current partner. ELLE Australia covers the contact and reported split.
Madelaine Petsch and Travis Mills — social media
Actor Madelaine Petsch and musician Travis Mills knew each other through mutual friends before Mills messaged her in 2017. ELLE Australia reports that their relationship lasted three years and ended in 2020. This is another example of social media opening a conversation between people with an existing connection, not a dating-app introduction. ELLE Australia reports the timeline.
Couples who met in person before connecting online
Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas — Twitter, then text
Actor Priyanka Chopra and musician Nick Jonas first met at the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty in 2017. Jonas later contacted her on Twitter; Chopra asked him to text her instead. Their story is a clear example of online communication developing a relationship after an in-person introduction, not of meeting online. The Knot reports the sequence.
Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor — Twitter
Actors Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor had met at a party years earlier, then reconnected through Twitter. Paulson confirmed that Taylor sent her a direct message. Recalling the earlier encounter and their later connection, Paulson said, “We sort of breezed by one another, and then started following each other on Twitter, and then …” She also confirmed Taylor initiated a DM: “She actually did. Yeah, it’s pretty great.” The Knot reports the remarks from a 2019 Watch What Happens Live appearance; ELLE Australia also includes their story.
Dua Lipa and Anwar Hadid — direct messages
Singer Dua Lipa and model Anwar Hadid had already met at a barbecue before they continued their connection through direct messages. ELLE Australia reports Lipa’s account of the sequence from a 2020 television appearance. This is an offline meeting followed by online conversation, not an online first meeting. ELLE Australia reports the story.
Ryan Lochte and Kayla Rae Reid — Instagram, then an in-person meeting
Swimmer Ryan Lochte contacted Kayla Rae Reid on Instagram in 2016. They later met in person at a club while Lochte was in Los Angeles for training. The Knot reports that they married at a courthouse in 2018 and held a second ceremony later that year. The source describes online contact before their reported in-person meeting, rather than a dating-app match. The Knot gives the account.
What these stories do—and do not—show about Tinder
These examples involve Instagram, Twitter, broader social media, or a combination of online and offline contact. They are not evidence that the couples met on Tinder. A celebrity’s use of an app, or having a verified profile, does not establish that they met a partner there: The Guardian’s 2015 report on celebrity Tinder verification discusses app use, not verified partner-meeting stories.
The Knot’s 2020 article also reports that one in four engaged couples met online, citing its 2019 Jewelry & Engagement Study. That figure refers to engaged couples in that study as reported by The Knot; it is not a current statistic for the whole population. The Knot provides the secondary report.
Relationship status can change, and these accounts are drawn from roundups published in 2020 or earlier. The historical details above are attributed to those sources; they should not be read as a claim that every couple is still together today.
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