I think my most embarrassing in light of current events is Prince William. I know as a child of the 80s I'm not alone here, but remember making fun of the one girl who liked Harry better? You know those girls are women who are now hydrated, moisturized, and enjoying a tiny hit of schadenfreude every day that goes by. I love this for those ladies.
Growing up in the Boston suburbs, it was Joe McIntyre always and forever. I even located his childhood home on a (paper) map and begged my mother to drive me there, where I promptly knocked on the front door and chatted with his dad. NKOTB posters everywhere through the late 80s/early 90s.
I remember having serious debates in high school about how Brandon Walsh would be a good husband, but Dylan McKay would be the better boyfriend. The Jason Priestly worship is embarrassing, but I stand by Luke Perry (RIP).
Massive Ethan Hawke crush in early college - no posters - but he moved to the neighborhood I lived in in my late 20s/early 30s, and I started to see him all the time and began to strongly suspect that he was a giant douche, so I carry that embarrassment to this day.
Despite having grown up in a quite similar environment to you, I am proud to say that when all the MS girls had huge crushes on Kirk Cameron...I was (and still am) a Michael J Fox girl ❤️
Also Luke Perry, Will Smith, Harrison Ford...and ever since A Time to Kill, my #1 crush Matthew McConaughey 🪘
I also had a Kirk Cameron poster. Growing Pains was a really good show and he was in every Teen Beat magazine in the 80's. I don't think he had even found religion yet!
My biggest celeb crush as a kid was Christian Slater. I definitely had a poster of him in my locker in 6th grade and the only math I could do quickly that year was calculating the difference in our ages, which was only 12 years! He does have a Legal Issues section on his Wikipedia page but lucky for me, my husband's voice sounds just like his and Heathers and The Wizard are still great movies.
Earliest crush: Davy Jones of The Monkees, proving that an accent will get me every time. Longest crush: Adam Ant (see: English accent above), plus dressed like a pirate/highwayman which I somehow found extremely attractive. Weirdest crush: Freddie Mercury. Now look, I know he's gay NOW, but when I was young, I didn't understand it. And I know there's the whole teeth thing, but my god the man was electric. I was mesmerized by him.
I can identify with crushing on Kirk Cameron with the same ick feeling now. I also had a crush on Brian Boitano despite rumors (and now reality) that he was gay. 🤷🏻♀️
TEAM JORDAN FOREVER!
I think my most embarrassing in light of current events is Prince William. I know as a child of the 80s I'm not alone here, but remember making fun of the one girl who liked Harry better? You know those girls are women who are now hydrated, moisturized, and enjoying a tiny hit of schadenfreude every day that goes by. I love this for those ladies.
Growing up in the Boston suburbs, it was Joe McIntyre always and forever. I even located his childhood home on a (paper) map and begged my mother to drive me there, where I promptly knocked on the front door and chatted with his dad. NKOTB posters everywhere through the late 80s/early 90s.
I remember having serious debates in high school about how Brandon Walsh would be a good husband, but Dylan McKay would be the better boyfriend. The Jason Priestly worship is embarrassing, but I stand by Luke Perry (RIP).
Massive Ethan Hawke crush in early college - no posters - but he moved to the neighborhood I lived in in my late 20s/early 30s, and I started to see him all the time and began to strongly suspect that he was a giant douche, so I carry that embarrassment to this day.
Despite having grown up in a quite similar environment to you, I am proud to say that when all the MS girls had huge crushes on Kirk Cameron...I was (and still am) a Michael J Fox girl ❤️
Also Luke Perry, Will Smith, Harrison Ford...and ever since A Time to Kill, my #1 crush Matthew McConaughey 🪘
I also had a Kirk Cameron poster. Growing Pains was a really good show and he was in every Teen Beat magazine in the 80's. I don't think he had even found religion yet!
My biggest celeb crush as a kid was Christian Slater. I definitely had a poster of him in my locker in 6th grade and the only math I could do quickly that year was calculating the difference in our ages, which was only 12 years! He does have a Legal Issues section on his Wikipedia page but lucky for me, my husband's voice sounds just like his and Heathers and The Wizard are still great movies.
I had a Kirk Cameron poster. 😳
Pretty sure I had a crush on Ralph Macchio, Sean Astin and River Phoenix. It’s all a bit fuzzy…
I can't believe you discussed Nelson and didn't tell us which one was Gunnar. (I hope it's the one with the bangs, he looks cuter to me.)
Also, the young Michael Rappaport...I get it. I don't entirely agree with it, but I can see it.
Jennifer Capriati!!! Obsessed!!!!
Earliest crush: Davy Jones of The Monkees, proving that an accent will get me every time. Longest crush: Adam Ant (see: English accent above), plus dressed like a pirate/highwayman which I somehow found extremely attractive. Weirdest crush: Freddie Mercury. Now look, I know he's gay NOW, but when I was young, I didn't understand it. And I know there's the whole teeth thing, but my god the man was electric. I was mesmerized by him.
Conan O’Brien! There IS something about tall, red headed people.
I can identify with crushing on Kirk Cameron with the same ick feeling now. I also had a crush on Brian Boitano despite rumors (and now reality) that he was gay. 🤷🏻♀️