Woman Obsessed with “Footloose” as a Teen Grows Up to Date a Real-Life Version of the Star She Crushed On (Exclusive)
- - Woman Obsessed with “Footloose” as a Teen Grows Up to Date a Real-Life Version of the Star She Crushed On (Exclusive)
Ashley VegaFebruary 12, 2026 at 5:00 AM
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Mikayla Howard and Jon; Jon
Mikayla Howard
Mikayla Howard went viral after posting a TikTok about her teenage crush on Miles Teller in Footloose
The video pans out to reveal she’s now dating a man who viewers say matches that same energy
Howard says teenage crushes are less about the person and more about the personality traits that matter long term
At 14 years old, Mikayla Howard thought her dream guy only existed on a movie screen. More than a decade later, a single TikTok proved she may have manifested him into real life.
In the now-viral video, Howard shared a text overlay that read, “14 year old me crushing on Miles Teller in Footloose had no idea what was coming for her,” before the camera panned out to her boyfriend dancing around the room.
“As a freshman in high school, I was just learning about having a quote-unquote ‘type,’ ” Howard tells PEOPLE.
She says she watched the remake of the 1984 film and was completely taken with Teller's character. “I remember watching Miles Teller in the Footloose remake and being so enthralled with his quirky confidence and realizing for the first time ever that I, in fact, had a type and that was it,” she says.
At the time, she assumed that kind of magnetic, carefree personality was reserved for Hollywood scripts. Years later, she met her now-boyfriend, Jon, at work, and the realization came quickly — she didn’t waste much time pointing out the resemblance.
“I actually remember telling Jon that he reminds me of Miles Teller during one of our first conversations when we met at work,” she says, adding that he took it as “a huge compliment.” At that point, he didn’t even know the actor sat at the very top of her celebrity crush list.
Mikayla and Jon
Mikayla Howard
As their relationship grew, so did the affirmations from the people closest to her. After introducing him to friends and family, she says they all agreed he was exactly what she had always been looking for.
Still, the TikTok itself was posted almost as an afterthought. Howard says she half-heartedly uploaded the clip before bed, hoping it might give her friends a quick laugh.
Instead, she woke up to hundreds of thousands of views and hundreds of heartfelt comments. “Waking up the next morning with over 400,000 views and hundreds of the sweetest comments pouring in was a shock to us both,” she says. The video has now been viewed more than 2.5 million times.
The caption, “my dancing king,” only added to the internet’s affection for Jon, who suddenly found himself embraced by strangers. Howard says he was “equal parts excited and somewhat embarrassed in the best way.”
More than anything, she says it meant a lot to him that people were connecting with that joyful side of his personality.
“For me personally, this wasn’t a coincidence,” she explains. “I think teenage crushes are less about the person and more about their energy and personality.”
Looking back, she recognizes that what captivated her at 14 wasn’t just a character in a remake of Footloose, but the confidence to take up space and not take life too seriously. She says she always had a thing for guys who embraced a “not so serious” approach to life and weren’t afraid to stand out.
Mikayla and Jon
Mikayla Howard
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Deep down, she adds, she knew she wouldn’t settle for anything less in a future partner. If she could sit down with her teenage self now, she knows exactly what she would say.
“I would tell her that those qualities that she's drawn to at 14 are actually going to be some of the most important ones to have in a long-term partner one day,” Howard shares.
And in a world that can sometimes feel like “slim pickins’,” she says she would reassure that younger version of herself that her dream guy does exist. “When you meet him, it's going to be even better than what you saw in the movie.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
