Cher + Elvis Presley
The Goddess of Pop was not looking to romantically collaborate with the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Appearing on "The Jennifer Hudson Show," Cher was asked to explain why she didn't date Presley after previously revealing their paths almost crossed.
"It was because I just was — I was nervous, and I knew of the people around him. And it wasn’t that they were bad people, it's just that I was kind of nervous of his reputation," she admitted.
"I’m really shy when I’m not working and kind of shy around men. And the reason I go out with young men is because men my age or older — well, now they’re all dead — but before they just never, they were always terrified to approach me. And younger men were the only ones that [did]."
Jimmy Fallon + Nicole Kidman
While appearing on "The Tonight Show" in 2015, Jimmy Fallon and Nicole Kidman told different versions of the same story.
Reflecting on the last time he saw Kidman, Fallon remembered getting a call from his friend who said she wanted to meet him. The late-night host assumed it was for work, but the Australian actress rocked his socks off when she admitted she liked him.
"Our mutual friend says, ‘Oh, Jimmy wants to meet you, and you can go over to his apartment. … And I’m single. And I'm like ‘OK,’" Kidman recounted.
"Wait, what? What are you talking about? Did I date Nicole Kidman?" Fallon asked, perplexed.
"You wouldn't talk. You wouldn't say anything," Kidman said of their awkward meeting. "After about an hour and a half, I thought, ‘He has no interest. This is so embarrassing.'"
"I had no clue at all," Fallon said, bewildered. "I'm in shock."
Matthew Perry + Jennifer Aniston
In his memoir, "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," Matthew Perry revealed that prior to booking "Friends," he had crossed paths with Jennifer Aniston.
"I was immediately taken by her (how could I not be?) and liked her, and I got the sense she was intrigued, too — maybe it was going to be something. Back then I got two jobs in one day — one was Haywire, an America's Funniest Home Videos-type show, and the other was a sitcom. So I called Jennifer and I said, 'You're the first person I wanted to tell this to!'"
Perry wrote that he quickly realized he'd made a mistake.
"Looking back, it was clear that this made her think I liked her too much, or in the wrong kind of way … and I only compounded the error by then asking her out. She declined (which made it very difficult to actually go out with her), but said that she’d love to be friends with me, and I compounded the compound by blurting, "We can’t be friends!"
A few years later, they played "Friends" on television, ultimately forming a real, true friendship.
Barbra Streisand + Marlon Brando
Barbra Streisand shared how the rejection of a big Hollywood star would lead to friendship.
In her book "My Name is Barbra," Streisand wrote that she attended a party in 1966 where Marlon Brando and his wife were also guests. Brando told Streisand "I'd like to f— you," with his wife in the next room, according to Vanity Fair.
Streisand turned Brando down, but the two became close friends and chatted on the phone frequently.
Rihanna + Chris Rock
During his Netflix standup special, "Tamborine," released in 2018, Chris Rock joked about how quickly Rihanna dismissed him as a romantic option.
"I remember right when my divorce was final, I was at a party and I saw Rihanna. I was like, ‘OK. Let’s start this again.' So, I'm at this party. I see Rihanna. I'm like, ‘OK, let me say what’s up,'" he told the crowd. "You ever forget how old you are? Rihanna looked at me like I was one of her aunts."
Months later, appearing on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Rock said Rihanna "didn't even register me as a sexual being," and that he was more in the uncle category.
