Matt Damon Claims His Wife’s Celebrity Crush Was Ben Affleck

For many fans of the mega superstars in the entertainment industry, the height of their dreams is to one day meet their celebrity crush, take some pictures with them, get autographs, and at most share a hug.

On rare occasions, some fans get to see their love for a celeb manifest in real life. And by some stroke of luck, they end up dating these stars and even get hitched.

Case in point, Adam Shulman was a huge fan of Anne Hathaway before they met through mutual friends in 2008 and got married in 2012. More so, Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson all walked down the aisle with ladies they met at their own concerts.

Matt Damon’s wife Luciana Barroso is also an alum of the “fan weds celeb” club. However, her hubby recently revealed that “Dark Knight” star, Ben Affleck, was her preferred celeb crush before they met.

The couple's bond is a classic archetype of a successful marriage between a fan and a celebrity. They have spent more than a decade together, holding on through the storms that only married people go through.

With this, many assumed that Luciana had Damon on the top spot of her celeb crush list. It was therefore unexpected when he revealed that his wife had initially mooned over Affleck.

“My wife, in fact, she was the Ben fan before we met,” the actor told Shepard on an episode of Armchair Expert, “And her best friend was on my team.”

The Golden Globe Awards winner also revealed that they still get cracked up about her crush for Affleck, with Damon jesting that he has Luciana’s best friend as a second choice if she leaves him.

“And so we still joke about that,” Matt added. “I’m like, I always got Ilene if Lucy f— me over.”

In 2003, they had a chance meeting in a nightclub in Miami. The “Ocean’s Eleven” star was in town to shoot a movie and decided to go clubbing as an afterthought.

Although Damon had always recounted their story as a case of “love at first sight,” his partner’s point of view tilted in a different direction.

“I was working as a bartender in South Beach (Miami) and he was shooting a movie there and the crew ended up in the bar one Saturday night,” she told Vogue Australia in 2018. “Matt’s story is that he saw me across the room and there was a light on me. And I’m like: ‘Yeah it was a nightclub – there were lights everywhere!’”

She downplayed Matt’s sensational romance storyline stating it was more of having an instant connection rather than falling heads over heels in love.

“We definitely had a connection right away, it was so easy to talk to each other,” Luciana said, “we were very comfortable [with each other].”

Damon and Luciana might have slightly different romantic accounts, however, a recurring theme in their stories is that they shared a connection.

After dating for a while, they planned to tie the knot in the same city they first set eyes on. However, when news broke out about their upcoming nuptials, they skedaddled to New York and held the ceremony at City Hall.

It was not the end of the matter, as the couple later renewed their vows years later. They picked a more exquisite location, a rented-out luxury hotel in Santa Lucia.

The guest list included A-list Hollywood superstars like Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Ben Affleck, and many more. Matt and Luciana went all out to ensure the wedding was memorable for them, their friends, and their family.

“This isn’t a Hollywood wedding. Matt wanted it to be fun, happy, and private. He felt like Luciana deserves this, first and foremost,” said an insider at the wedding.

“They’ve wanted to do it for a long time. They had a tiny ceremony the first time and wanted to celebrate with family and friends.”

Before their romance, Luciana had a daughter, Alexia, with her ex-husband. They expanded their family with their first daughter Isabella in June 2006, their second daughter Gia in 2008, and their third daughter Stella in October 2010.

Most fans of Damon know that he adores his daughters, including Alexia, whom he adopted legally. In a recent interview, Damon described how his fatherhood journey impacted him positively.

“I feel like fatherhood has made my job a lot easier in a lot of ways,” Damon told Fatherly.

“All those emotions that I used to have to reach for are just readily accessible. I don’t have to twist myself into knots to find something – it’s just sitting right there all the time.”