In a revelation that could’ve been pulled straight out of a 2000s rom-com, Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus just shared the story of a hilariously mismatched date with Sabrina the Teenage Witch star Melissa Joan Hart—and honestly, it’s kind of adorable.
In his new memoir, Fahrenheit-182, Mark recounts the brief and awkward evening the two shared back in the late ’90s. According to an excerpt shared by Entertainment Weekly, the whole thing started with a bit of Hollywood matchmaking.
“[Melissa] and I had met at the Teen Choice Awards, and she must’ve found me interesting because she had her publicist reach out to my label’s publicist to give me her number. Totally normal courtship,” Mark writes.
When the two finally connected by phone, Mark tried to play it cool: “Oh, awesome, yeah, I’ll be in L.A. shooting my new music video, so we should have dinner after I wrap,” he told her.
But when it came to the actual date? The chemistry just wasn’t there.
“It was an awful date. She was very nice, but we weren’t connecting,” he explains. “Everything in her life revolved around acting, and it was hard to relate to her about anything else. I’d ask what she liked to eat besides sushi and she’d say, ‘Well, I’m usually eating whatever catering provides on set.’ I’d ask what she likes to read, and she’d say, ‘Well, I’m usually reading scripts for work.’ And I’m sure from her perspective, all I could talk about was music. We just weren’t a great match. It was tough.”
After dinner, Melissa invited him back to her place—which included a gorgeous view and a hot tub—but Mark decided to call it a night.
“She had a beautiful place nearby with a view that overlooked the city and a huge hot tub. I thought she might be hinting that we should get in the tub. I told her I had an early set time and that I should probably get going. She dropped me back at my hotel,” he writes.
Funny enough, that night ended up being a turning point—just not with Melissa. “That night, I ended up having a long, meaningful conversation with MTV booker Skye Everly,” Mark recalls. “She would eventually become my wife.”
So while the date didn’t exactly set off sparks, it did lead Mark straight into the next chapter of his real-life love story.
