What do Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne, and Ryan Gosling all have in common – aside from Canada?
If you said, ‘Duh, they’re all icons of their time,’ I’m right there with you. I mean, who didn’t have posters of Avril and the Biebs all over their bedroom walls circa 2000/2010? Don’t even get me started on The Notebook.
Unfortunately though, that’s the wrong answer. The right one – because I know you’re all sitting on the edge of your seats desperate to know – is they’re apparently all related.
Yep, you heard that right. Justin made the shock announcement on social media recently, sharing a family tree from Ancestry – something he described as seeming ‘super legit’.
The family tree documents the fact that all three superstars share a common family connection that goes back hundreds of years, culminating in their shared relatives Mathurin Roy and Marguerite Biré.
According to the post, Biebs and Gosling are 11th cousins once removed, while Lavigne is Bieber’s 12th cousin. Don’t ask me what that makes Gosling and Lavigne because honestly, I have no clue.
Sharing the news with his 118 million followers, the Love Yourself singer wrote:
I also just found out that I’m related to both Ryan gosling and Avril Lavigne this is the best day of my life.. it seems super legit it’s on ancestry.com
It soon became even more of a family affair when Lavigne got involved, writing in the comments: ‘I’ll host Christmas dinner this year’. Now that is something I have to see.
Sadly, Gosling is yet to respond to these claims although Ancestry confirmed the results were ‘totally legit’, adding: ‘What a glorious Canadian combo. This totally made our Saturday.’ And ours Ancestry, and ours.
Earlier that day, Biebs had also gone to lengths to point out his resemblance to another celebrity duo – this time Dylan and Cole Sprouse (aka Ben Geller on Friends, aka Zack and Cody on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody).
Sharing a collage which showed a young Justin side-by-side with a young Dylan and Cole, the singer pointed out their likeness before asking his followers if they thought he could have subbed in for the twins in Big Daddy.
You’ve got to admit, they do bear a slight resemblance to each other – what with the blonde hair, cheeky grins, and whatever colour eyes they have (blame the black and white lighting).
Maybe the Sprouse twins need to look up their own ancestors to see if there’s a reason for that likeness?
Who knows, they could be rocking out to a festive version of Sk8er Boi in no time.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).