The Latest Trendy Celebrity Hotspot? Online Dating Sites!

Still convinced that online dating is for losers, outcasts, and socially awkward recluses?

Think again.

Online dating sites have become the preferred method of finding love for countless singles across the globe, and while the average John and Jane Does of the world are creating superstar identities for themselves on dating and social networking sites, real superstars are using the same sites to shed the restrictive skin of their celebrity personas and find love with everyday people.

Some stars have only been rumored to use online dating services, but others are vocal about their use of the Internet to meet their matches. In a 2005 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, for instance, Rivers Cuomo, the lead singer and guitarist of alternative rock band Weezer, told the tale of a failed attempt to join an online dating site. After completing his profile, Cuomo said, the site sent him a message saying "We're sorry, but there is no one anywhere in the world that is appropriate for you." Cuomo abandoned online dating, but found love with Kyoko Ito, who he married in 2006.

Sassy comedienne Joan Rivers has also been open about her use of online dating sites. In her profile on Match.com, she described herself as interested in "coffee and conversation," as well as "smart men, funny men, elegant men." She also added that if she "had to choose between Brad Pitt stripped to the waist or an old George Clooney in a dinner jacket, George would win hands down."

Even the very top of the A list has discussed online dating. Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry talked about experimenting with dating sites and chat rooms with Contact Music, saying "I am never who I am. I have been to a couple of dating ones just to see what everybody is talking about. I chime in and say a little fun stuff."

Sometimes a rumor is all it takes to cause a commotion. When it was reported that Friends star Matthew Perry was a member of Rich Soulmate in 2008, where he described himself as "cute and adorable, yet pained and lonely," so many people visited the site that it crashed. There have also been rumors of Charlie Sheen using MillionaireMatch.com, and Chace Crawford, of Gossip Girl fame, has mentioned an interest in JDate.com, despite the fact that he isn't Jewish. "I have a bunch of different accounts that no one even knows about," he claimed in an interview with Now magazine.

Why are so many celebrities turning to the world of online dating? The answer is simple: they just want to be normal. Shira Kallus from Date.com tells Ed Krayewski that "Online dating lets people get to know you for what kind of person you are, not who you are," allowing the rich and famous to "stop being celebrities and start being people." By using online dating sites, celebrities can put aside their wealth and fame, weed out suitors who are interested in them for superficial reasons, and develop genuine relationships based on who they really are.

So next time you're contemplating rudely blowing an admirer off, reconsider - it just might be your long-time Hollywood love!