A romance trope we’ve all heard before: Misunderstood celebrity - who falls for their protector after a long list of nasty exes, and hunky bodyguard - who can drive every form of transportation and regularly fantasises about getting with their boss - fall in love. Tale as old as time?
From Kim Kardashian to Princess Diana: Six celebrities who famously dated their bodyguards
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From Kim K to Diana, here are the A-listers who couldn't help simping for their security. Photo / Gfycat The Princess Diaries
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Never will we forget the early days of Keeping Up with the Kardashians - and their even-saucier spin-offs. In Kourtney and Kim take New York, Kim Kardashian has a whirlwind romance with her bodyguard Shengo Deane - and all the drama was aired for us to see.
Kardashian sheepishly asking her towel-clad bodyguard out to dinner, giggling as he agrees and then calling her sister to spill the tea straight afterwards is almost as iconic as her losing her diamond ring in the Bora Bora ocean and providing meme content for years to come.
Not to mention Deane’s “you’re the boss” comment over dinner that sealed the deal for the now multi-brand big boss Kardashian.
While the pair’s fire fizzled out quicker than Kylie Jenner’s foray into swimwear, we were grateful we got a glimpse into the star’s raunchy bodyguard romance as a fly on the wall.
Princess Diana
Princess Diana’s presumed affair with bodyguard Barry Mannakee - while not as headline-hogging as Charles and Camilla’s tampongate bonanza - was just as intriguing.
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Not only did the relationship start long before Charles and Camilla’s phone sex saga, but Mannakee was transferred once staff got wind of the affair - and Diana wasn’t too happy about it.
“[She was] throwing her shoes at the back of my head. She was distraught, and life was quite difficult for everybody,” said Allan Peters, a former royal protection officer.
What’s more, Diana’s alleged lover died a a year later in a traffic accident similar to her own.
Britney Spears
Britney Spears forayed into bodyguard territory in 2008, when she famously shared a few date nights and dance moves with her hired help, Lee.
A former Israeli soldier, Lee and Spears were seen frolicking in the pool and getting down on the dancefloor when on vacation in Los Cabos, Mexico, according to The Sun.
The affair made for hot goss at the time and a hot summer romance for Britt, but didn’t make the long haul.
Was he a womanizer? A criminal? Toxic? I guess we’ll never know.
Jennifer Lopez
Not long after Jenny left the block, she exchanged vows with her bodyguard.
Jennifer Lopez married her trainer and bodyguard Ojani Noa in 1997, just as she was entering the music scene. However, the pair divorced eleven months later and the Let’s Get Loud singer went on to marry three more times.
Lopez is now married to Ben Affleck - and husband No. 1 had something to say about it.
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“I wish her and Ben the best,” Noa told the Daily Mail in an interview last year, before adding that he’s “not convinced it will last.”
“Jen loves being in love but she’s been engaged six times. Ben is husband No. 4,” he told the outlet. “She told me I was the love of her life. When we lay in bed on our wedding night, she said we would be together forever.”
Sounds like someone still isn’t over the split. Someone get this man some ice-cream and a good breakup album. This Is Me... Then?
Heidi Klum
Proving that the perfect rebound is one on your payroll, Heidi Klum started locking lips with her bodyguard pretty soon after she and ex-hubby Seal split.
In 2012, romance rumours starting swirling around Klum and her hired security guard Martin Kirsten, according to People.
The model revealed in an interview with Katie Couric at the time: “[Martin]’s a great man and recently we just got to know each other from a completely different side.”
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“He’s been with our family for the last four years. He’s cared for our four children and helped us tremendously,” Klum also said during her Katie interview. “I trust him with my children’s life.”
The pair reportedly dated for a year and a half before calling it quits in 2013.
Pamela Anderson
In a fifth wedding, Pamela Anderson marries her lockdown bodyguard on Vancouver Island https://t.co/TBRW30tPek pic.twitter.com/EgYxdUXKUS
— The Windsor Star (@TheWindsorStar) January 31, 2021
Pamela Anderson may have avoided catching Covid-19 during the lockdown, but she couldn’t help catching feelings for her bodyguard.
The former Baywatch star tied the knot for the fourth time with Dan Hayhurst in 2021. The intimate ceremony was held on the grounds of her home on Vancouver Island on Christmas Eve.
The newly wed told DailyMailTV at the time: “I’m exactly where I need to be - in the arms of a man who truly loves me.”
Staying in his arms for just under a year, Anderson divorced Hayhurst in January 2022, dubbing the marriage “a disaster”.
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“It was worse than any of them. And I realized, ‘Oh my God, I’m caught up in this whole thing, what am I doing?’ It just struck me, this is another disaster. ... I was paying for everything, cooking, cleaning for everybody. And so I just got out of it as soon as I could”, revealed the actress.