While we're all out here fangirling over our favourite celebs, we rarely stop to think that they might be so-called "stans" for other A-listers themselves. Take Blake Lively, for example, who last week went to a Taylor Swift concert and looked like the rest of us jumping up and down with excitement and filming the whole thing on her phone.
But it turns out that Blake Lively has always had some kind of musical idol growing up. A photo of the former Gossip Girl actress has recently emerged of when she was not yet famous and just 10 years old at a Spice Girls concert.
A girl called Bria Madrid was rifling through old pictures when she came across one of her at a Spice Girls concert, standing with a young blonde girl who was dressed as Baby Spice - pigtails, white platform shoes and all. The girl was five at the time, so could probably hardly remember the moment. But looking at it again now that she was older, Bria realised that the blonde girl looked oddly familiar...
"Found a picture when I was 5 at my first concert," she wrote in the caption. "#SpiceGirls and took a picture with a girl dressed up as Baby Spice who I just realized now was @blakelively".
Sure enough, it appears a young Blake Lively attended a 1998 Spice Girls concert in San Bernardino, California. Interestingly, another fan recognised Blake's getup from back then, remembering that she was "jealous" of her look. She then realised that it was at the same concert at the Glen Helen Amphiteather – back then known as the Blockbuster Pavillion (RIP Blockbuster).
Her ticket shows that the date of the concert was August 16, 1998 – which would've been nine days before Blake's 11th birthday. Perhaps the tickets were an early birthday present for the actress?
Incredibly, the picture got so much attention that Blake herself came across it. She retweeted the post to her one million followers with the caption, "My secret is out..." and also shared it on Instagram.
"Pretending to be someone else... since 1997 (Thanks @briaaamadrid for the photo of us at the Spice Girls concert," she wrote, before tagging Baby Space herself and adding: "Sorry -not sorry- I tricked you into thinking I was @emmaleebunton).
The story takes another turn when it appeared that Emmalee Bunton saw herself tagged in Blake's post right away. The former Baby Spice left an adorable comment on the pic, writing: "So cute, you're rocking those pigtails!"
Blake responded in the most fan-girl way ever, using a whole heap of emojis and writing excitedly: "I'm officially ☠️☠️☠️☠️ Forever bowing down to you... I cannot believe you know who I am. This will never be normal."
Bria, the owner of the throwback picture, replied to Blake's retweet to suggest that they recreate the pic at the Spice Girls reunion tour. "Just two die hard Spice Girl fans! We should totally go to the Spice Girl reunion concert and re-create this picture ??❤️ @blakelively," she wrote.
Blake hasn't yet replied, but here's hoping!
