Bizarre celebrity fears and phobias

Fear is often irrational, it knows no gender, age or, of course, levels of fame. And when someone is afraid of something, they are simply afraid of it, no matter who you are.

Obviously, when a celebrity confesses a fear or phobia, it helps to visualise and normalise something that is more common than many people imagine.

So, here are some of the interesting phobias and fears that celebrities from all over the world have confessed to having.

About her fear of sea urchins, Taylor Swift said on the 'Ellen DeGeneres' show: "They’re like a grenade. If you’re in the Caribbean and you’re like, ‘Oh this water’s so beautiful, it’s amazing!’ Then you step on one... It has barbs and it goes into whatever it touches. You could lose your foot, you could lose your hand… you could lose your hand trying to get it off of your foot. I just don’t like sea urchins.”

Kristin Bell's husband Dax Shepard shared this photo on Instagram, illustrating his wife's fear of pruney fingers. "I'm acutely aware of ridges in fingertips," she told Jimmy Kimmel. "I would call it a very serious medical condition that tens of people in America might also suffer from... I will truly puke if I feel them." Her repulsion applies to feeling anyone's pruney fingers, including her children's.

Image: daxshepard/Instagram

The singer, like most humans, is afraid of spiders, but in his case, taking it to the extreme. “I’m really, really scared of spiders,” the singer admitted. “I just hate them. I was staying at a posh hotel and I had to call reception because I spotted one in my room. I was too scared to get rid of it myself,” he confessed in an interview for 'Smash Hits'.

“I’m super-scared of sea creatures. Even tiny fish,” Rihanna told Blender Magazine. “One time I was in the water – and the water in Barbados is so clear you can see your feet – I saw all these tiny fish swimming around my feet, and I had a panic attack. I just froze. This man had to lift me out of the water.”

Back in 2011, the actress confessed to 'New York Magazine' that her fear of birds is real: "I'm only scared of birds. Something about wings and beaks and the flapping. I'm terrified of them... If they'd asked me to put a bird on my shoulder I would've done it, but it would've been hard... Actually, my uncle is terrified of birds, as well, so it runs in the family."

It was Scarlett Johansson who told 'New York Magazine' that her partner in 'We Bought a Zoo'/ 'A Place to Dream' had a tremendous fear of snakes. Obviously, he didn't enjoy several scenes of the film.

A difficult flight turned into a trauma for Jennifer Aniston. The actress confessed in an interview with Lorraine Kelly on UK TV: "Flying. You can't get a big enough drink and it doesn't help. I've actually gotten much better," she said cynically.

Speaking to the Daily Star in 2014, the actor confessed that he had been "afraid of clowns for years". It is curious that many of his characters seem to be inspired by these comical characters - Jack Sparrow / the Mad Hatter?

The businesswoman confessed to Stephen Colbert that she is afraid of chewing gum and bans it from her office altogether. The reason stems from her grandmother, who was very poor, and used to stick it on the side of the bed to make it last longer. Then, Oprah - when she was little - would rub against it. Hardly surprising she doesn't want chewing gum around.

Aside from her well-known stage-fright, Adele also fears sea birds. "I was walking down the promenade in Tenby, eating a 99, when this huge f---ing seagull came down and swiped it off me. I've still got a scar from its claw on my shoulder. I thought it was going to take me away with it," the artist told the British newspaper 'Metro'.

As she confessed to People, even the thought of a dolphin makes Tyra squirm: “You think a dolphin is sweet and friendly — to me, they're not … I feel anxiety and I feel panic whenever I'm confronting or even thinking about or talking about a dolphin."

"Every time I have an avocado — every time I cut through an avocado, and I see the stone, I envision that stone being lodged in my windpipe. And every time I think I physically [cringe]. I can't stand it," the British actor said on The Graham Norton Show.

She confessed on Jay Leno's 'The Tonight Show': "I was recently sitting outside and this raccoon comes right up. I'm expecting it to be more afraid of me but I'm staring at it and it's staring right back like he will kick my butt! I didn't know what to do so I stood up and barked at him and he ran away."

In 2016, Kendall Jenner confessed on Instagram that she is "afraid of tiny little holes that are in weird patterns". And this fear has its logic, as the model explained: "I can't even look at little holes—it gives me the worst anxiety. Who knows what's in there??"

Curious that one of the most desirable women in history is afraid to look at herself in mirrors. She confessed to 'Daily Mail': "I have this phobia — I don't like mirrors. And I don't watch myself on television... If anything comes on, I make them shut it off or I leave the room."

The actress has a fear of enclosed, small or crowded spaces, something that was a problem on the set of 'Kill Bill', where she is buried alive in a coffin. As she confessed to the Daily Mail in 2004, "There was no acting required. Real screams available. It was horrific. Nobody wants to live that experience."

It all started with her mother's anxiety attack, which meant the actress had a deep feeling of not wanting to leave her alone. After the school she attended became worried she was tested and the results showed she suffered from anxiety.

"I always feel that when I go to the toilet that something's going to come out of the bottom. I have this thing where I think this tunnel must start from somewhere and sometimes I think, 'What if something comes out of the toilet?'" Rita Ora told the 'Daily Star'. What if, indeed?