Hilary Duff was left utterly astonished by the audience's reaction when she disclosed her childhood crush during an appearance on the Jennifer Hudson Show. The 38-year-old singer and actress, who rose to fame as a teen idol, revealed that she once harbored deep affection for 1990s heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas. However, she quickly realized that a significant portion of Hudson's studio audience had no idea who Thomas was.
The revelation came in response to a fan's question, prompted by the news that actor Jacob Elordi had recently named Duff as his own celebrity crush. Duff first asked the fan, 'Do you remember JTT?' before turning to the rest of the audience. 'Look, you're too young. You're too young,' she remarked. 'Please raise your hand if you know who I'm talking about.' To her dismay, fewer than half of those present raised their hands.
Determined to educate the uninitiated, Duff proceeded to enlighten the audience and viewers at home about the 90s heartthrob, who is now 44 years old. 'OK guys, he was on Home Improvement,' she began, referencing Thomas's most notable television role. 'He was also in The Lion King. He was a kid. He was the voice of Simba, right?' The singer, who is married to musician Matthew Koma, then went on to name another crush from her teen years: Zac Hanson, the youngest member of the Hanson band.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas, often referred to by his initials JTT, became a household name as a pre-teen due to his roles in the ABC sitcom Home Improvement, alongside Tim Allen, and Disney's animated classic The Lion King. He also starred in films such as Man of the House and Tom and Huck. Over a decade ago, Thomas famously stepped away from television roles and Hollywood life altogether to pursue higher education. He studied history and philosophy at Harvard University before graduating from Columbia University in 2010, and also attended St. Andrews University in Scotland.
In a rare 2013 interview with People, Thomas opened up about his decision to leave the spotlight. 'I'd been going nonstop since I was 8 years old,' he said. 'I wanted to go to school, to travel and have a bit of a break.' He expressed no regrets about his time as a teen star, adding, 'I never took the fame too seriously. It was a great period in my life, but it doesn't define me.' His last acting role was as a recurring guest star on another Tim Allen-led sitcom, Last Man Standing, from 2013 to 2015. Thomas was last photographed publicly in late 2023 during a rare outing in Southern California.
As for Duff, she began her acting career at age 10 and became a teen idol herself. She starred as the titular lead in the hit Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire and later leveraged her film and television success into a pop music career. Her 2003 debut studio album, Metamorphosis, debuted at the top of the charts and achieved triple-platinum status. Duff recently released her sixth studio album, Breathe In. Breathe Out., marking her first musical release in over a decade, and will soon embark on The Lucky Me World Tour, her first since 2008. Her filmography includes family comedies and teen romantic comedies such as Cadet Kelly (2002), Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), Agent Cody Banks (2003), and A Cinderella Story (2004). In recent years, she returned to television with roles in Younger (2015) and Hulu's How I Met Your Father (2022).
While keeping busy with her career, Duff is also a proud mother of four. She married musician Matthew Koma in December 2019, and together they share daughters Banks, seven, Mae, five, and Townes, two. She is also mother to son Luca, 14, from her previous marriage to Mike Comrie.
