Leona Lewis and Lou Al-Chamaa: Why It's Good for Stars to Date Regular People

By Jo Piazza Posted Oct 26th 2009 01:49PM

Leona Lewis is fed up with her fans acting all classist about her electrician boyfriend Lou Al-Chamaa (whom she has been dating for 7 years). Speaking about the 'snide bewilderment' some fans have about her dating a minimum wage earning non-celeb Lewis said: "It does make me angry. Because he's a great person. And it doesn't matter what you do in life, what your job is, where you come from." You tell 'em Leona. Frankly, we at PopEater couldn't be more supportive of Lewis dipping her toes into the common people's dating pool. At the end of the day one celebrity dating another celebrity seems to make life much more complicated. You have twice the egos to contend with, twice the paparazzi and twice the drama. We can't fault Leona for wanting come home after a tough tour and cuddle up with the man who can rewire her track lighting.

Our experts weigh in on why dating "down" can work for a celebrity and other bold-facers who date the common-folk ... after the jump.

"Leona Lewis has been with her boyfriend for many years and that leads me to believe that his love and support may be one of the main reasons she has achieved her phenomenal success," explains dating and relationship coach Tracey Steinberg. She sounds like a woman who is comfortable with her own values and that she doesn't need her boyfriend to be a celebrity in order to be happy in a relationship. Dating a non-celeb may keep her grounded while she is skyrocketing to fame which is something many other celebrities aren't able to do."

'Desperate Housewife' Marcia Cross got engaged to her stockbroker beau Tom Mahoney after only six months. Cynthia Nixon's girlfriend Christine Marinoni couldn't be further removed from Hollywood. She is an education activist in NYC. And Ethan Hawke ended up marrying his kids' nanny Ryan Shawhughes.

"Celebs dating outside their caste system are a long-standing tradition in Hollywood. And although no one has ever reached the highs of Cher's bagel boy, Rob Camilletti, it's a great way for celebs to escape the industry talk that permeates their everyday life," says PopWrap's Jarrett Wieselman.

Poor Matt Damon and wife Luciana Barroso are always held up as the poster couple for Hollywood-goes-slumming. When Matt met Luciana she was working as a bartender in Miami. Not only have the two have been married for four years now and have three beautiful kids but how often do you see them making headlines for scandal? Never.

Public Relations guru and crisis manager Rebecca Brooks, President of the Brooks Group PR says that these mismatched couples do tend to work out, as long as the "normal" spouse can adapt to all the pressures of being attached to a star. So her advice for Lou is:

"As long as he accepts the lifestyle of a celeb, they will make a great couple," Brooks says. "Fans thinking less of her for not dating a celeb are ridiculous." Radio Host and author of 'The Cult of Celebrity' Cooper Lawrence says that Leona dating an average guy makes her just too relatable to her fans and that is why they are up in arms.

"It's disturbing to her fans because the expectation is that a celebrity's life is better than ours. So if a celebrity dates someone the rest of us can be dating it tarnishes her star.
It makes her like the rest of us and we don't want that from her," Lawrence says.

Well fans be damned because it doesn't look like Lou is going anywhere fast.

Now if you'll excuse us we have to go watch 'Notting Hill.'

Tags: Cher, Christine Marinoni, ChristineMarinoni, Cynthia Nixon, CynthiaNixon, Ethan Hawke, EthanHawke, Leona Lewis, LeonaLewis, luciana barroso, LucianaBarroso, marcia cross, MarciaCross, matt damon, MattDamon, ryan shawhughes, RyanShawhughes, tom mahoney, TomMahoney

Comments

(5)

Monday 26 October

By Jack C

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An electrician makes "minimum wage"? Really? It's not like the guy is working the window at McDonald's. I don't know how things are over there, but in the U.S. electricians and other trades generally make decent money, often higher wages than many occupations that require college degrees.

Of course they don't make as much money as a Platinum selling recording artist, movie star, or many other celebrities, but neither do most doctors and lawyers.

By Emi B

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Haha exactly what *I* was gonna say :D

By brucelee

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You are right. Money is money, and happiness is happy. It seems that off camera, most rich people are full of worry or sickness. The greatest blessing is health. No disrespect to Patrick Swayze or any rich person suffering with cancer, but having cancer can make money seem like something you give to the doctor while he charges you to make you feel better. The point is, it is better to be healthy and happy and seeing an electrician, than to be rich with cancer and seeing a doctor. Right.

By Gail

it does'nt matter what kinda work her boyfriend does, if they love each other that's the only thing that matters.

Monday 16 November

By alexander

I think the message here we should all appreciate is Leona is a regular person, like her boyfriend. Just because Leona can sing like an angel doesn't mean she should be elevated to royalty status. He is probably equally as good as as electrician but no one is likely asking him why he is dating "down," a non electrician. Remember, it was because of her boyfriend she even auditioned. Let's all just take a reality pill for a moment.

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